‘Dumb’ Questions You Don’t Want to Ask Your BF

Dumb Questions about Football

• Why is the Super Bowl expressed in roman numerals?
  • Organizers did not want it to be confusing as the Super Bowl is played in a new year than the NFL season was played. For example: this Super Bowl represents the winners of their respective divisions for the 2018 season but it is played in 2019… So do you call it the 2019 Super Bowl or the 2018 Super Bowl? To make things clearer, we use roman numerals. Super Bowl 50 was the only Super Bowl (before Super Bowl V when the roman numeral notations were started) to not use roman numerals because Super Bowl L was too unappealing for marketing purposes.
• How do lines work?
  • A line means the amount a team is expected to win by. Its easier to explain with an example. Lets take the Orange Bowl for example. As of 12/6, the line was +14 for the home team. So if you  bet on Alabama in Las Vegas, you will only win money if Alabama wins by more than 14 points. If Oklahoma wins or loses by less than 14, then you lose your money to the house. If you bet on Oklahoma, even if Oklahoma loses the game as long as it is less than 14 points, you will win $$$.
  • You can bet on the Over/Under. This will be expressed as one number. Sticking with our previous example, the Oklahoma/Alabama Orange Bowl Over/Under opened at 79.5, which means the Las Vegas betting gods think that the combined score from both teams will be 79 points. If you take the Over, you win money if the sum of the two teams scores is 80 or more. If you take the Under, you’re hoping for a low scoring game. Not recommended in this game as Oklahoma is known for its high scoring offense and its bad defense.
• Can there ever be a 5th down?
  • No. Each team basically has 3 tries to get the ball to go 10 yrds. If they don’t get 10 yrds (this will be marked by a ref holding a marker aka ‘first down marker’) the offense can punt the ball or chose to go for it. Therefore, it is common that the offense will punt he ball away, putting the other team much farther away from their endzone as possible. However sometimes if the Offense was close to getting the first down, they can chose to ‘go-for- it’.
    • If they do not get it with that final down, the other team gets the ball wherever they stop the Offense, which can be risky. Typically teams go for it when within 1-2 yrds or when they’re in that no mans land too long for FG range but not long enough to punt (~30-40yrd lines). See Football Rules of The Game

• What’s the difference between an official review and a replay or a coach’s challenge?
  • An official review is when the refs decide that the call on the field is questionable and they decide to review it to make sure the call is right.
  • A coach’s challenge is when the coach of one team decides to make the refs look at the play again.
    • If the play is ruled what was called on the field, the coach’s team who called the challenge will lose a timeout
• What’s the difference between call stands and call confirmed?
  • Call confirmed means the referee and the replay booth officials have verified the ruling on the field and it was correct.
  • Call stands means the call can’t be verified and could’ve gone either way which means whatever was called on the field takes precedent.
• Why coaches cover their mouths when play calling and who they’re talking to on headsets?
  • Coaches are usually talking to the Offensive Coordinator or the Defensive Coordinator.
  • They are discussing plays and don’t want the other team to see the possible play they’re going to call
• Difference between a punt and a kick in football?
  • A punt is when the offense has exhausted their 3rd (of 4 downs) and they decide to punt the ball away
  • A kick is when the offense has scored a TD or FG and they kick the ball to the defense for their turn to score
  • See Football Vocab

Dumb Questions about Basketball 

• Has anyone guessed a perfect March Madness bracket?
  • No. No one has ever been able to prove that they have guessed all 67 games correctly. In 2017, 39 games were picked perfectly which is the supposed longest a bracket has stayed perfect (according to NCAA.com). The odds of filling out a perfect bracket (keep in mind this is an estimation) is 1 in 9 quintillions that’s 18 0’s. Look it up, its a thing!
    • Update!  2019 now has the record with the most perfect bracket with a streak of 49 correct games. That means the guy guessed every game correctly up into the Sweet 16. His streak ended when #3 Purdue beat #2 Tennessee in OT. 

• Why do the last 2 minutes of a basketball game take 30 minutes to watch?
  • Because at the end of a close game it’s all about clock management and strategically using your fouls. Usually one team will intentionally foul the other to get the ball back with the hope that the shooter will miss a free throw.

Dumb Questions about Golf

• What do the symbols on the card mean? 
  • The numbers on the card are obviously the score on each hole but let’s go through what the symbols mean. The circle around the number symbolizes a Birdie (-1). A filled in circle around the number means the golfer got an Eagle (-2). A square around a number means a Bogey (+1) and a filled in square means a Double Bogey  (+2) or more. Sometimes on the PGA Tour (on TV) there will be a double circle for an eagle and a double square for double bogey or worse – this depends on the channel and graphics they use. If there is nothing around the number that means the golfer shot par on that hole. 
  • Red numbers always signify a score under par and you will hear announcers say ‘He’s back in the red’

• Where can I get some of that sweet Masters swag?
  • You cannot get it unless you go to the tournament. I mean you can buy stuff on eBay but patrons can only buy Masters merch AT the Masters.  

• How long does golf really take? Or is my boyfriend avoiding me?
  • Golf can be a long game. If he’s playing 18 holes (a full game), it will at least take 3.5 hours. Most of the time though, it’ll take over 4 hours and that is without him warming up on the driving range or putting green. It also depends on how crowded the course is; on nice days, more people go out to play and it can get backed up which will increase the time waiting to tee off between holes. It is proper etiquette to wait until golfers have cleared the fairway where you can hit the ball or the green if you’re going for it. Obviously you don’t want to hit anyone with you ball – that smarts! 
  • Sorry there’s not a better answer but it does dramatically differ. It’s safe to say he won’t be back for 4 hours though. 
• Why doesn’t the same player hit first every time? 
  • The golfer with the better result on the previous hole shoots first. If that hole was a tie, then you go back to the hole before, etc. So if one golfer gets a birdie and the other in the group gets a par then the golfer who birdied that hole will drive first on the next hole. This continues until the other golfer wins a hole.  
  • After the drive, the player farthest away from the flag hits his ball first. This gives an advantage to the player who is closer as sometimes they can see the read of the green before they actually have to hit their ball. 

• Why are there so many clubs? Also see the ‘Equipment’ section in Rules of the Game 
  • Each club does something different or hits the ball a different length. 
  • Woods go further while irons go shorter and higher. Remember the higher the number, the shorter the yardage but the higher the loft. 
  • Sand wedge and pitching wedge are the shortest. 
  • The Putter is only used on the green when the ball is not supposed to go in the air. 
• What are the paddles that golf personnel hold up on the course?
  • Those are called standards and it has the players in the group’s name on it and their current score. Scoreboards aren’t always visible on the course so standard bearers (usually volunteers) follow a group around during tournament play to inform the crowd of the player’s score. The golfers do not use it but it’s a nice check. 
  • This is where those red numbers come into play (in the first golf question). Red numbers mean under par, black numbers mean over par. 

Dumb Questions about Olympic Sports 

Athletics:

• How far around is a track?
  • 400m (.25 miles)
• Why do they not race the mile and race the 1500m?
  • The first (modern) Olympics in 1896 ran the 1500m and it is sometimes called the ‘metric mile.’ Once the Olympics adopted the metric system, the 1500m stuck. The difference between running the 1500m and the 1600m is still debated and athletes do run 1600m in the Distance Medley Relay.
• Why is the marathon 26.2 miles?
  • The marathon was 25 miles originally as it was based on Greek legend of a messenger from Marathon who was running news of Greek victory over the Persians in 490 BC. The runner collapsed and died so to commemorate his efforts, the marathon was born. However during the 1908 London games, Queen Alexandra wanted it to end in front of her in the royal box at Olympic stadium but start at Windsor Castle so they extended it to 26.2 miles and it stuck.
• What is in the Decathlon and Heptathlon?
  • Decathlon is men’s event combining 10 events over 2 days and will always be in this order:
    • Day 1: 100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400m
    • Day 2: 110m Hurdles, Discus throw, Pole Vault, Javelin throw, 1500m
  • Heptathlon is a women’s event combining 7 events in 2 days and will always be in this order:
    • Day 1: 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, 200m
    • Day 2: Long Jump, Javelin, 800m
  • The winner is whoever scores the most points. Here is the Scoring calculator

• Why do runners start staggered?
  • Lanes are staggered for the difference in distance the runners run. If they all started at the same line for the 400m (one lap), lane 1 would end up running 53.7m shorter than lane 8. As you go outward, each lane adds ~7.7m.
    • So for events like the 200m, the staggered is less than the 400m as you’re only making up for one turn during the race. The 100m is a straight line so no stagger is needed.
    • The 800m and above starts on a very slight stagger as the runners break into lane 1 after the first curve.
• What is the hardest event?
  • Actual running wise, prob the 800m (or maybe that’s just my bias). The 400m hurdles is super hard as well
  • However the hardest team to make is the US Women’s 100m hurdles.
• What is the oldest WR for the men and women’s side?
  • The oldest men’s WR is the Discus of 74.08m by East German Jurgen Schult from 1986
    • Oldest running event for men is the 400m hurdles in 1992 by Kevin Young in a time of 46.78
  • The oldest women’s WR is the 800m in 1:53.28 by Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983.
    • The 400m is also old with a time of 47.60 by Marita Koch of East Germany in 1985.
  • WR table 
• What is the fastest anyone has ever run?
  • Usain Bolt is the fastest man in history. His 100m WR still stands where he clocked in at 9.58. His highest top speed was 27.5mph.

Gymnastics: 

• Has the USA always been dominate in women’s Gymnastics?
  • Heck no! The USA has only won the Team All-Around in the 1996, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. If you haven’t seen the courageous actions of Kerri Strug in the 1996 games, you need to check out this video. In the women’s individual All-Around, the USA has taken home gold since the 2004 Athens Olympics. Prior to that the Romanians and the Russians (by their multiple names) were the dominating countries.
  • The men have only won the team All-Around in 1904 and 1984, both Olympics were on home soil (St. Louis and LA, respectively). The only individual All-Around American men are Paul Hamm in 2004 Athens and Julius Lenhart in 1904 St. Louis. JPN and CHN have been dominant on the men’s side in recent years.
• What about the Perfect 10 system?
  • The scoring system changed in 2006 from the ‘Perfect 10’ system your parents know to the current one we have now. This encourages athletes to perform harder moves to be rewarded more highly rather than executing an easier routine more flawlessly.
    • This is also why Simone Biles is so dominant. In the last Olympics, her floor SV was a 6.8 when the rest of the field only hit 6.5. That gives her 0.3 deductions to play with before she would be equal to the other gymnasts.
    • An interesting fact from the Washington Post at the time of the Rio 2016 games, Kerri Strug’s vault (video linked in the previous question) would only have been out of a score of 15.2 today – which only would’ve put her in 4th in the qualifying round in Rio.
  • You can still see a perfect 10 execution score but it
• Who scored the 1st Perfect 10?
  • Nadia Comaneci in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She is considered the person who scored the most in competition. You will still see some, but mostly in college gymnastics.

Swimming:

• How often do swimmers breathe?
  • Most elite swimmers breathe every 2 strokes. Breathing on both sides is called bilateral breathing which keeps your swim consistent and smooth.
  • In the sprint events (like the 50m), it’s once or twice total!
• What is the order for the IM?
  • Order: Fly, back, breast, free
  • Order for relay: Back, breast, fly, free
    • Because back stroke starts in the water
• How long is the pool?
  • An Olympic standard pool is 50m long so each 100m is down and back.
• How far are the backstroke flags from the wall?
  • 5 meters (16ish feet)
• How cold is the pool?
  • An Olympic pool must be kept 25 degrees Celsius – 28 degrees Celsius (77 – 82 in Fahrenheit)
• What lane is best?
  • Lane 4 and 5 are the preferred lanes (the fastest qualifiers)
  • You will notice though that the outside lanes have almost what looks like a road shoulder; that is so those athletes don’t get hit with two much ripples from rebounding waves
• Can you be DQ’d for hitting a lane rope?
  • No, unless you grab it and pull. But it is definitely not a positive thing to hit the lane rope. Think of this as hitting a hurdle, it doesn’t penalize you technically but it’ll show in your time when we’re talking about these tight races.
• How do you get times down to 0.001 seconds?
  • The wall has a timing system in it that gets the most accurate touch reading to get those minuscule differences.
• What ever happened to those suits Phelps used to wear?
  • Suits from the 2008 Beijing Olympics (which includes the one seen in the Greatest Race documentary that just came out) have been banned since 2010. This is because the suits basically ripped apart the swimming record books with over 200 WR records falling (43 WRs alone in 2009 Worlds) due to the increased buoyancy and speed, lower fatigue the polyurethane suits provided.
  • Exactly half of the men’s long course records were set in those suits and have yet to be broken. Only 2 on the women’s side still stand and Titmus almost made it one.

Winter Olympics:

• What is the difference in the alpine skiing events?

  • Downhill: fastest, longest course with the gates set farthest apart. Get down the mountain as fast as possible.
  • Slalom: most technical event as the gates are closest together. Course is shortest but has quickest turns. 2 rounds on 2 different courses. Lowest time of both runs wins.
  • Giant Slalom: 2 runs on the same day on a longer slalom course
  • Super-G: aka Super Giant Slalom. But this one is longer and considered a combo between the Downhill & Slalom. Gates are further apart and 1 run takes it all. Oh ya and no practice run…
  • Alpine Combined: 1 Downhill (or Super G) run & 1 Slalom run. Lowest aggregate time of the runs wins.
  • Mixed Team Parallel Slalom: this event pitches 4 people from one country (2 women, 2 men) against another, side by side in a slalom course. If you beat the other person, you get a point. If the teams are split 2-2 after all 4 people go, the lowest aggregate time wins.

• What is the order of difficulty in figure skating?

  • Toe Loop –> Salchow –> Loop –> Flip –> Lutz –> Axel
  • These jumps are differentiated by take off foot, edges taken off/landed on, toe vs edge jumps (harder),
  • The Axel is most difficult. It involves at least 1.5 rotations as the skater starts facing forward but lands backwards on outside edge of the other foot
  • The Lutz is when the skater starts by skating backwards on a curve, taking off on the back outside edge of one foot and landing on the back outside edge of the other foot. The landing foot is also used to propel them upwards. The difficulty of this jump comes from the skater having to rotate the opposite direction of the curve
  • A Flip looks similar to the Axel because they land on the opposite foot of the take off, but they use the toe of the other foot to propel them forward and use the inside edge on the take off foot.
  • A Loop is an edge jump meaning the skater takes off and lands on the back outside edge of the same foot
  • A Salchow is where the skater takes off from the back inside edge of one foot but lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. Opposite edge and feet.
  • A toe loop is similar to the loop in the send that they take off and land on the same edge and foot but this jump uses the toe pick on the opposite foot to propel them into the air
  • If you want more detail, check out this link.

• What is the difference between the Short Program vs Free Skating?

  • Short program is only 2m 40s (+/- 10 seconds).
    • M must have: Double or triple Axel, 1 triple or quad jump, a jump combo (double/triple, 2 triples, quad/double or triple), 1 flying spin and camel or sit spin
    • W must have: Double or triple Axel, 2 triple, jump combo (double/triple, 2 triples), 1 flying spin, laidback or sideways leaning spin or sit or camel spin without change of foot, spin combo with 1 change of foot, step sequence of entire ice surface
  • Free skate is much longer. For the women and dance its 4m and men and pairs it’s 4m 30s. All +/- 10 seconds.
    • Must have up to 7 jumps (1 Axel), up to 3 spins (1 combo), 1 step sequence & 1 choreographic sequence

• Difference between Long track vs short track speed skating?

  • Long track is ~400m with 2 lanes. Only 2 skaters compete at a time and you must stay in their own separate lane. Long track skaters also race the clock>each other. Think of this like a time trial event. Long track skaters are known to the taller of the two disciplines. Another easy differentiator – no helmets are worn in long track.

• • Short track is ~111.12m aka the same as an international hockey rink with no lanes. 4-6 skaters compete each race and none have to stay in a lane. Skaters compete against each other to advance out of heats. This is also how you get a lot of crazy crashes. With all of these aspects, short track skaters are usually shorter

Dumb Questions about Formula 1

• Why are there so many laps and it’s different at each track?
  • The number of laps is determined by the shortest number of complete laps it takes to go 305km.
  • The largest number of laps on the F1 circuit is in Holland where they run 72.
  • The exception is in Monaco where the drivers only go 260.5km
  • The race cannot exceed 2 hours. If the race does go 2 hours, the race ends next time the lead car crosses the line.
• Why do the drivers have to come in for a pit stop?
  • The tires will eventually wear down that they will warrant a stop. Drivers like to optimize maximum grip with tires that will still last the whole race.
• Why do the cars spark?
  • That happens on uneven parts of the track that hit the floor of the car. There is actually a skid block (block of wood) on the bottom of the cars and if that wood is worn down more than a millimeter, the car is DQ’d.
• I heard the term penalty points. Are those the same as the ones on a regular driver’s license?
  • Kinda! Each driver accumulates penalty points for on-track incidents. After a racer has 12 = 1 race ban.

Dumb Questions about Soccer

• Why did I see a player go off and never come back in?
• • He was a substitute. Playing a 45 minute constantly running clock is exhausting so you can sub out a tired or injured player. But each team only gets 5 per game so they have to be used strategically. Once a player is subbed out he cannot go back in. You can only sub on dead balls.

• Why does the goalie wear a different color?
• • They do that so that their teammates, officials and fans can distinguish them from other players. Especially since they have a different set of rules, it makes things simpler to see that it was indeed the goalie who used his hands in a crowded goal.

• How to tell the difference between a free kick and a penalty kick?
• • A free kick (indirect or direct) can have the defending players in front of it (in a wall formation usually). This is when a foul occurred outside the penalty box
  • A penalty kick is literally just the shooter and the goalie. This is a big deal because it has been proven to produce a goal more than 80% of the time in World Cup matches.

• Literally the first goal in the World Cup was taken away due to offsides, why?
  • I definitely wouldn’t consider this a dumb question at all because this is a weird one. When the goalie comes out of his box and is ahead of other defenders, then the offense has to be in front of 2 players on defense otherwise he is offsides. Think of this like the final and last defender is now considered ‘goalie’ and the 2nd to last defender is the one the offense has to stay in front of. As shown in the red box, ECU Enner Valencia’s leg as in front of the 2nd to last defender when the ball was passed to him.
• Why is the governing body for soccer called FIFA and not IFAF?
  • Because in French it is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association

Dumb Questions about Other Sports

• Coming soon! 

 

Do you have a question? Any sport, any rule, any time! Feel free to contact me and I would be happy to answer. If I do not know, I will research it and explain it.