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Quiz about Thats A Bad Call
Quiz about Thats A Bad Call

That's A Bad Call! Trivia Quiz


The fate of many athletic events has been decided by an official's mistake. See how much you know about these infamous bad calls.

A multiple-choice quiz by cag1970. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
cag1970
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
286,527
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
3894
Awards
Editor's Choice
Last 3 plays: Mandd2024 (3/10), kingramstone (3/10), pwefc (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Thanks to some bad officiating in the 2002 NBA Playoffs, the league instituted instant replay to help determine the legitimacy of last-second shots. Which team survived referee Bernie Fryer's misguided assessment that a player couldn't possibly shoot a ball in 0.7 seconds? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. There is a reason why the tops of NFL goalposts are 30 feet above the crossbar. The goalposts themselves painted bright gold, and two officials are stationed underneath them on field-goal tries. That reason came on December 26, 1965, when which kicker was credited with a field goal that was really no good? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Even with replay, a team can still get cheated out of what is rightfully theirs. In a September 2006 college football contest, Oregon was allowed to keep an on-side kick that was illegally touched, and which they never recovered. Which national power lost the ball and the win thanks to a botched replay review? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania hosted its seventh U.S. Open championship in 1994. The winner will forever carry with him the knowledge that an official's erroneous ruling helped keep him in the hunt. Which well known golfer picked up his first major title when the official allowed him relieve from a supposedly immovable object? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In game one of the 1996 American League Championship Series, 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier earned the proverbial 15 minutes of fame by reaching into the field of play and giving the Yankees' Derek Jeter a controversial home run. Which of the following umpires blew the call, and in the process helped send Baltimore to defeat? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Yelling at the referees in college basketball is a great way to pick up a technical foul. So too is having a weak heart, as fans found out in January, 2006. Which longtime coach was teed up when referees interpreted a fainting spell for a cheap tactic to show them up? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Still reeling from Brett Hull's infamous goal that cost them the Stanley Cup in 1999, the Buffalo Sabres got rooked by another illegal goal in the first round of the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Which team benefitted from the lack of a definitive replay which showed that the puck entered the goal through the side of the net? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Because of an incident on Thanksgiving Day 1998, the NFL later required that the visiting team make its call on the coin toss before the coin is actually tossed. Which team ended up losing to the Detroit Lions in overtime that day, because of a mis-heard and mis-spoken choice on the toss? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The Olympics are no stranger to controversy. In fact, in 1974, a Norweigan sports historian determined that American Anders Haugen and not fellow countryman Thorleif Haug had rightful claim to the bronze medal in which winter sport? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. No discussion of bad calls is complete without the infamous bad call by umpire Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series in game six. There's no doubt that Kansas City's Jorge Orta should have been out at first, as St. Louis' Todd Worrell beat him to the bag by a full step. Which Royal ended up scoring the winning run to force the decisive game seven? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Thanks to some bad officiating in the 2002 NBA Playoffs, the league instituted instant replay to help determine the legitimacy of last-second shots. Which team survived referee Bernie Fryer's misguided assessment that a player couldn't possibly shoot a ball in 0.7 seconds?

Answer: Charlotte Hornets

In their first-round meeting with the Orlando Magic in the 2002 playoffs, the Hornets' Baron Davis clearly released what should have been a catch-and-shoot game-winner before the clock hit zero. But Fryer, the head referee in that game, decided before the shot that there was no way Davis could even make the shot.

The Hornets ended up winning the game in overtime and advanced to the second round. The NBA Board of Governors voted to institute instant replay for review of last-second shots that summer, beginning with the 2002-03 season.
2. There is a reason why the tops of NFL goalposts are 30 feet above the crossbar. The goalposts themselves painted bright gold, and two officials are stationed underneath them on field-goal tries. That reason came on December 26, 1965, when which kicker was credited with a field goal that was really no good?

Answer: Don Chandler

Field judge Jim Tunney, who would later go on to referee three Super Bowls, and ruled that Green Bay's Chandler was good on a 22-yard field goal that actually went over the top of the right upright. Both the Packers and their opponent, the Baltimore Colts, thought that Chandler had missed. Tunney thought otherwise.

The gift field goal allowed Green Bay to win the playoff game in overtime, 13-10, on a good 25-yard field goal, and propelled them to another NFL title.
3. Even with replay, a team can still get cheated out of what is rightfully theirs. In a September 2006 college football contest, Oregon was allowed to keep an on-side kick that was illegally touched, and which they never recovered. Which national power lost the ball and the win thanks to a botched replay review?

Answer: Oklahoma

Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen not only suspended replay official Gordon Riese, the man who made the boneheaded call, and the on-field officiating crew for one week after this fiasco, he also apologized to both the University of Oklahoma and their head coach, Bob Stoopes. Adding insult to injury on the blown on-side kick call was an incorrect pass interference call on Oregon's game-winning drive.

The ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage by an Oklahoma player, in which case pass interference no longer applied on the play. Oregon won the game 34-33.
4. Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania hosted its seventh U.S. Open championship in 1994. The winner will forever carry with him the knowledge that an official's erroneous ruling helped keep him in the hunt. Which well known golfer picked up his first major title when the official allowed him relieve from a supposedly immovable object?

Answer: Ernie Els

Teeing off in the fourth and final round, Els hit his ball into waist-deep grass behind a ABC television crane. Terry Holland, an official with the United States Golf Association, forgetting that the crane had been listed as a moveable object, and had in fact been moved several times that day before Els's shot, gave Els line-of-sight relief.

The improved lie allowed Els to bogey the hole, and he ended up winning the tournament in a playoff the next day with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts.
5. In game one of the 1996 American League Championship Series, 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier earned the proverbial 15 minutes of fame by reaching into the field of play and giving the Yankees' Derek Jeter a controversial home run. Which of the following umpires blew the call, and in the process helped send Baltimore to defeat?

Answer: Rich Garcia

After seeing the replays that clearly showed Jeffrey Maier had committed spectator interference, Rich Garcia admitted to his error, but also stead-fastly contended that the ball was not catchable. In that situation, the umpire could have, at his discretion, given Jeter a number of bases instead of ruling the play a home run. That admission however, was of little solice to the Orioles, who went on the lose the series in five games. Jeffrey Maier, who was feted by the New York media and by its mayor Rudy Giuliani after his helping hands in the Yankees' win, ended up playing college baseball at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
6. Yelling at the referees in college basketball is a great way to pick up a technical foul. So too is having a weak heart, as fans found out in January, 2006. Which longtime coach was teed up when referees interpreted a fainting spell for a cheap tactic to show them up?

Answer: Tom Penders

With successful stops at Rhode Island, George Washington, and Texas already under his belt, Tom Penders was in his second season with the Houston Cougars when he suffered the fainting spell during a game against Alabama-Birmingham. Referee John Hampton, not knowing that Penders suffered from a heart condition that occasionally caused him to faint, believed that the coach was showing him up for a foul call.

This despite the fact that Penders, though unhappy with the call, hadn't even complained about it.

Despite the fact that emergency workers had to attend to Penders on the sidelines, Hampton refused to rescind the techincal foul.
7. Still reeling from Brett Hull's infamous goal that cost them the Stanley Cup in 1999, the Buffalo Sabres got rooked by another illegal goal in the first round of the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Which team benefitted from the lack of a definitive replay which showed that the puck entered the goal through the side of the net?

Answer: Philadelphia Flyers

Veteran forward John LeClair smashed a shot on the left side of the goal that appeared to get past stalwart goaltender Dominick Hasek. Hasek in fact, thought that the puck got beyond him cleanly. For some reason, the NHL's replay official on duty during the game didn't have access to footage from an ESPN camera that clearly showed the puck entering through the side of the net, and not through the front of the goal itself.

The footage that he had however, was inconclusive and the goal was allowed to stand. Buffalo lost the game 2-1 and the series 4-1.
8. Because of an incident on Thanksgiving Day 1998, the NFL later required that the visiting team make its call on the coin toss before the coin is actually tossed. Which team ended up losing to the Detroit Lions in overtime that day, because of a mis-heard and mis-spoken choice on the toss?

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers captain Jerome Bettis originally started to call heads when referee Phil Luckett tossed the coin before overtime, but immediately changed it to tails. According to the NFL rules at the time, Luckett had to go with Bettis's first choice. The coin came up heads and the Lions later won the game. Later that same season, Luckett's crew was involved in another controversial call. On that occasion, the Jets' Vinny Testaverde was awarded a game-winning touchdown that he had clearly not scored.

Not only did the gaffe cost the Seattle Seahawks a spot in the playoffs, it was also a factor in the NFL bringing back instant replay.
9. The Olympics are no stranger to controversy. In fact, in 1974, a Norweigan sports historian determined that American Anders Haugen and not fellow countryman Thorleif Haug had rightful claim to the bronze medal in which winter sport?

Answer: Ski jumping

In the very first Winter Olympics, held in Chamonix, France, in 1924, Thorlief Haug won three gold medals for his prowess in cross-country skiing and the Nordic combined (a combination of cross-country skiing and ski jumping). And he also won the bronze medal in what was then known as Individual Large Hill.

But as part of Norway's celebration of the 50th anniversary of those games, historian Jakov Vaage discovered an error in the scoring calculations. Haug should have finished fourth, behind Haugen.

The International Olympic Committee corrected the error, presenting the 85-year-old Haugen with the bronze medal he had earned half a century earlier.
10. No discussion of bad calls is complete without the infamous bad call by umpire Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series in game six. There's no doubt that Kansas City's Jorge Orta should have been out at first, as St. Louis' Todd Worrell beat him to the bag by a full step. Which Royal ended up scoring the winning run to force the decisive game seven?

Answer: Jim Sundberg

Don Denkinger had what could be considered a Hall of Fame career for an umpire. He worked in two American League Division Series, six American League Championship Series, and four World Series. But, he will always be remembered for "The Call" that cost St. Louis a World Series. Adding insult to injury was the fact that Denkinger, the crew chief during that series, was the home plate umpire for game seven.

The Cardinals, still steaming from the game six robbery, self-destructed, getting shut out 11-0 as the Royals won their first World Series title. Jim Sundberg, scoring the winning run is among many accomplishments during his 15-year career.

He won six straight Gold Gloves at catcher (1976-1981) and appeared in three All-Star games. The 1985 World Series win with Kansas City was his only Major League championship.
Source: Author cag1970

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nightmare before going online.
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