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The Greatest Gymnast

She's the 2016 individual all-around (four events) Olympic gold medal champion. She has won three all-around World Championships in a row. She was home-schooled and practiced gymnastics 32 hours a week. She is from Spring, Texas and is only 19 years old. Her name is… Simone Biles!

age of sports

Some of the Olympic sports -- foot races, wrestling, boxing, discus and javelin -- were invented in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago. Lacrosse was played by Native Americans as early as 1100. Other sports aren't quite that old. Here is a list of sports and the approximate year they began.
Baseball….. 1845
Soccer….. 1863
Ice Hockey….. 1875
Football….. 1879
Basketball….. 1891
Volleyball….. 1895
Snowboarding….. 1969
​BMX….. 1970

unbreakable

Records are made to be broken, or so the saying goes. But some records are more easily broken than others. And some seem downright unbreakable, such as:
Joe DiMaggio... 56 game hitting streak
Los Angeles Lakers... 33 game winning streak
Connecticut women's basketball… 90 game winning streak
Drew Brees… 54 straight NFL games with a touchdown pass
Wayne Gretzky… 51 game point streak
Cal Ripken, Jr…. 2,632 consecutive starts
Boston Celtics… 8 straight NBA titles
Wilt Chamberlain… 100 points in an NBA game
Eric Gagne… 84 straight baseball saves
Martina Navratilova… 74 straight tennis singles wins
Jerry Rice… 274 straight NFL games with a catch
Jack Nicklaus… 18 golf major victories

The biggest upset of all

The Miracle on Ice… In the 1980 Winter Olympics, a collection of U.S. college hockey players defied the odds by beating the U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union). The Soviets were a veteran hockey team that had won four Olympic gold medals in a row. A year earlier, they had beaten the NHL All-Stars 6-0. In an exhibition game prior to the Olympics, the Soviets crushed the young American team 10-3. Entering the third period down 3-2, Team USA scored two goals to stun the Soviet team 4-3.

gridiron nicknames

Sweetness… Walter Payton                                       Crazy Legs… Elroy Hirsch
Broadway Joe… Joe Namath                        Concrete Charlie… Chuck Bednarik
Beast Mode… Marshawn Lynch                        Honey Badger… Tyrann Mathieu
Ironhead… Craig Heyward                                     Megatron… Calvin Johnson
Prime Time… Deion Sanders                                 Refrigerator… William Perry
Galloping Ghost​… Red Grange                                     Mean Joe​… Joe Greene
Bus​… Jerome Bettis                                           Revis Island​… Darrelle Revis
Slash​… Kordell Stewart                                                    Too Tall​… Ed Jones
Bambi​… Lance Allworth                          ​               Ochocinco… Chad Johnson
Minister of Defense​… Reggie White                              Rocket​… Raghib Ismail
Night Train​… Dick Lane                                                A-Train​… Mike Alstott                   

BASKETBALL NICKNAMES

The Hick from French Lick… Larry Bird          Chocolate Thunder… Darryl Dawkins
Mr. Clutch… Jerry West                                         Black Mamba… Kobe Bryant
Hondo… John Havlicek                                 The Big Dipper… Wilt Chamberlain
The Big Fundamental… Tim Duncan                           The Doctor… Julius Erving
The Answer… Allen Iverson                                     The Mailman… Karl Malone
The Dream… Hakeem Olajuwon                                   The Glove… Gary Payton
Clyde… Walt Frazier                                                   Iceman… George Gervin
Dr. Dunkenstein… Darrell Griffith                         The Admiral… David Robinson
The Big O… Oscar Robertson                                 The Worm… Dennis Rodman
Skywalker… David Thompson                                         The Jet… Kenny Smith
The Human Highlight Film… Dominique Wilkins                  Silk… Jamaal Wilkes

fastest runners in the world

Here is a list of the fastest times ever for the 100 meter dash.
Men :  Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009, 9.58 seconds
Women :  Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA), 1988, 10.49 seconds
Boys (under 18) :  Yoshihide Kiryu (Japan), 2012, 10.19 seconds
​Girls (under 18) :  Candace Hall (USA), 2015, 10.98 seconds

short story

"You can't teach height," is a saying about the importance of tall basketball players.  But size isn't the only factor when it comes to success on the court. Just ask former NBA players Calvin Murphy, Spud Webb, Earl Boykins and Muggsy Bogues. Calvin Murphy, who was 5'9", averaged 18 points per game and totaled over 17,000 points in his 13 year NBA career. Spud Webb won the NBA Slam Dunk contest in 1986 despite being 5'7".  Earl Boykins was 5'5" and played for 12 NBA teams over 14 seasons, once scoring 32 points in a game. The shortest player ever to play in the NBA was Muggsy Bogues, who stood 5'3". Bogues was a first round draft pick in 1987. He went on to play for 15 seasons, averaged 7.6 assists per game, and even blocked 39 shots!

jim abbott

It's very difficult for anyone to make it to baseball's Major Leagues. Imagine how hard it would be to try to do it with one hand tied behind your back. Well, that's what Jim Abbott did! No, his hand wasn't tied behind his back; he only had one hand! Jim was born without a right hand, but that didn't stop him. Growing up in Michigan, Jim was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher. He learned to tuck his glove under his right arm when he threw, then quickly shove his left hand into the glove to field the ball. Jim would then shove the glove between his right arm and chest, pull his hand out of the glove, grab the ball and fire it to first base. Jim pitched for ten seasons in the big leagues. He won 87 games and even threw a no-hitter in 1993!

100 POINTS IN a GAME

On March 2, 1962, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks. Wilt averaged 50 points per game that season, but reaching the century mark was an incredible achievement that may never be repeated in the NBA. Chamberlain broke many scoring records as a pro, but he could do more than put the ball in the hoop. For his career he averaged 23 rebounds per game, and in 1968, the seven-footer led the league in assists. About the only thing Chamberlain couldn't do on a basketball court was shoot free throws. Although he made 28 of 32 in the 100 point game, The Big Dipper's 51% career free throw average is the third lowest in NBA history. 

THE GREATEST HITTER WHO EVER LIVED

Ted Williams may have been baseball's all-time greatest hitter. Williams had a .344 career batting average, six American League batting titles, 521 home runs, and a .482 career on-base percentage. He won the Triple Crown twice and was an All-Star 19 times. Williams accomplished all of this despite missing three whole seasons and parts of two more while serving in the military. In 1941, he became the last player to hit .400 in a season. Williams entered the final day of that season with a .39955 average (which rounds to .400). The Red Sox manager offered to give Williams the day off, but the slugger refused. He  had six hits in eight plate appearances in the doubleheader against Philadelphia -- finishing the season with a .406 batting average. Ted Williams ended his career in style. At the age of 40, he hit a home run in his final at-bat.

UNSTOPPABLE

It's extremely rare that an athlete is so good that the rules are changed to try to make it more fair for everyone else. That's exactly what happened in 1967 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) was the starting center for UCLA. In his first college game, Kareem scored 56 points. He averaged 29 points per game and led the Bruins to the college championship in that first season. He was named first team All-American and the college Player of the Year. In an attempt to limit Kareem's dominance, the NCAA made the dunk shot illegal following that season. But it wasn't enough to stop the unstoppable center. Abdul-Jabbar and UCLA won two more NCAA titles, and he finished his college career with a record of 88-2.

EXTRA EXTRA INNINGS

The longest game in Major League Baseball history was played in 1984. The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in a game that lasted 25 innings and 8 hours and 6 minutes. That's an extremely long game, but the longest professional game ever was a AAA contest in in 1981 in which the  Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Rochester Red Wings 3-2. That endless battle went 33 innings and lasted for 8 hours and 25 minutes (over three different days).  Two future Hall of Famers played in that historic game. Cal Ripken, Jr. went 2 for 13 for Rochester. Wade Boggs had 4 hits in 12 at bats for Pawtucket. Pawtucket DH Russ Larribee struck out a record 7 times.

A PAIR OF TWO-SPORT STARS

It's extremely rare today for an athlete to play in two different professional sports. Sports seasons have extended, and player salaries have exploded, making the two-sport pro obsolete.  The last two athletes to do it at a high level were Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, both of whom played Major League baseball and in the NFL in the 1980s and 90s. Sanders is the only player to hit a big league home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week. He also is the only pro who can claim to have played in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. Jackson was hardly a slouch. He is the only pro to be named an all-star in two sports. ESPN named Jackson the greatest athlete of all time.

BIKE KING

Greg LeMond was the first non-European cyclist to win the Tour de France. LeMond won the the Tour in 1986, 1989 and 1990. In 1983, he became the first American to win the World Road Race. LeMond took that title again in 1989. The Tour victory in 1989 was one of the most dramatic come-from-behind wins in the 102 year history of that famous race. LeMond began the final stage 50 seconds behind the leader. However, he averaged 34 miles an hour, the fastest ever recorded in the Tour, and won by eight seconds. That year, LeMond was selected as the Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

GREAT PITCHER, TERRIBLE TEAM

The 1972 Philadelphia Phillies were not a good baseball team. They finished the season with a 59-97 record, 37 games out of first place. But "Lefty" Steve Carlton pitched like a champion. Carlton won 27 games, which was an incredible 46% of the team's victories. No pitcher in the 20th Century topped that percentage of team wins. Carlton led the National League with a 1.97 ERA, 310 strikeouts, and 346 innings pitched. He threw 30 complete games and won the Cy Young award.

BAREFOOT RUNNER

Abebe Bikila was a last-minute replacement to run the marathon for Ethiopia in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. The shoes he was given didn't fit, so Bikila decided to run barefoot, the same way he had trained. He won the gold medal. At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Bikila again ran barefoot. He set an Olympic record and became the first runner in history to win the Olympic marathon twice.

WORLD CUP WINNERS

There have been 20 FIFA Men's World Cups since the first one in 1930, and eight different countries have won titles. France, Spain and England each have won one title. Argentina and Uruguay have won twice. Italy and Germany have won four times. The leader, with five titles, is Brazil. Netherlands has not won a title, but has been runner-up three times.

There have been seven FIFA Women's World Cups since the first one in 1991, and four different countries have won titles. Japan and Norway have each won once. Germany has won twice. The leader, with three titles, is the United States.

BEST TEAMMATE

Jack Twyman played 11 seasons in the NBA. He was a six-time All-Star and averaged 19 points and 6 rebounds per game. In the 1959-60 season, Twyman and Wilt Chamberlain became the first two players to average over 30 points per game. But it was Twyman's actions off the court that set him apart. When teammate Maurice Stokes was permanently paralyzed after a fall during a game in 1958, Twyman became Stokes' legal guardian. He helped pay the medical expenses and taught Stokes to communicate by blinking his eyes. Twyman remained Stokes' loyal companion until Stokes died in 1970. In 2013, the NBA announced the "Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award" would be given annually to the player that best represented the ideal teammate through selfless play and commitment and dedication to his team. Chauncey Billups and Shane Battier were the first two winners of this award.

HOLE-IN-ONE

It takes more than skill to make a hole-in-one. It also requires some luck. Otherwise, the top golfers would have the most holes-in-one. Jack Nicklaus, who won more major championships than anyone, had three aces in his career. Same for Tiger Woods. Arnold Palmer had two holes-in-one. But Rocco Mediate has six. Bob Tway has seven. Hubert Green and Gil Morgan both have eight. Robert Allenby has recorded nine aces. The golfer with the most holes-in-one on the PGA tour is Hal Sutton with ten.

LACROSSE LEGEND

Many consider Jim Brown to be the greatest running back in NFL history. After all, he led the league in rushing in eightof his nine seasons and is the only NFL player ever to average over 100 rushing yards per game for a career. But Brown may have been an even better lacrosse player! He was a first -team All-American at Syracuse and finished second in the nation in scoring in 1957. That same year, Brown scored five goals in one half of the college all-star game. He was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983. In his free time at Syracuse, Brown also was a member of the basketball and track teams.

THE OTHER "BABE"

Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was perhaps the greatest female athlete of the 20th Century. In the 1932 AAU track and field championships, Babe set four world records in four different events in one day. That same year she won two Olympic gold medals and a silver. During that time, Babe also was an All-American basketball player. In addition, she played baseball and softball, was a top diver and bowler. In 1935, Babe took up golf. She became the leading women's golfer in the 1940's and 1950's and competed in many men's tournaments.

THE GREAT ONE

There is little argument why hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was nicknamed "The Great One". When Gretzky retired in 1999, he held 61 National Hockey League records.  Here are a few.

Goals in one season: 92                                             Assists in one season: 163
​Points in one season: 215                                        Points in one final series: 13
Career goals (regular season): 894                              Career goals (playoffs):  122 Career assists (regular season): 1,963                        Career assists (playoffs): 260
Career points (regular season): 2,857                          Career points (playoffs): 382
Career hat tricks (regular season): 50                       Career hat tricks (playoffs): 10
Career points (reg season and playoffs): 3,239               Scoring championships: 10
200 point seasons: 4                                                        100 point seasons: 15
Career points/game average: 1.921                                 Scoring streak: 51 games
100 assist seasons: 11                                                        Most MVP awards: 9                  

HIT FOR THE CYCLE

"Hitting for the cycle" means a batter gets a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. This hashappened 306 times in the history of Major League Baseball. But only four players have hit for the cycle three times. John Reilly did it in 1883 and 1890. Bob Meusel hit for the cycle in 1921, 1922, and 1928. Babe Herman did it in 1931 and 1933. More recently, Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle in 2008, 2012, and 2015. No major leaguer has ever hit for the cycle in the playoffs or World Series.

TEAMS ON THE MOVE

In this era of free agency, few baseball players spend their entire careers with the same team. But teams have been changing locations long before players started doing it.

Philadelphia Athletics... Kansas City Athletics (1955)... Oakland A's (1968)
Boston Braves... Milwaukee Braves (1953)... Atlanta Braves (1966)
Milwaukee Brewers... St.Louis Browns (1902)... Baltimore Orioles (1954)
Washington Senators... Minnesota Twins (1961)
Washington Senators... Texas Rangers (1972)
Montreal Expos... Washington Nationals (2005)
Seattle Pilots... Milwaukee Brewers (1970)
Baltimore Orioles... New York Yankees (1903)
Brooklyn Dodgers... Los Angeles Dodgers (1958)
New York Giants... San Francisco Giants (1958)

ANIMAL ATHLETES

Colorful nicknames have been a part of the history of sports. Many of the nicknames come from the animal kingdom.

a)  Moose… Cobra… Catfish… Snake… Worm… Goose… Walrus
b)  Penguin… Mad Stork… Bear… Bird… Big Cat… Vulture... Hawk

a)  Bill Skowron… Dave Parker… Jim Hunter… Ken Stabler… Dennis Rodman…
     Rich Gossage… Craig Stadler
b)  Ron Cey...  Ted Hendricks… Paul Bryant… Mark Fidrych… Andres Gallaraga…
     Phil Regan... Ken Harrelson

A PERFECT LOSS

There have been 23 perfect games in the history of major league baseball. To pitch a perfect game, a pitcher must throw a complete game and retire all 27 batters in a row.  Pittsburgh Pirates lefty Harvey Haddix tossed a perfect nine innings against the Milwaukee Braves in 1959 – but he didn’t win the game! That’s because his Pirate teammates were shut out by Braves hurler Lew Burdette. The game went into extra innings. Haddix threw three more perfect innings, but again the Pirates failed to score on Burdette. Finally, in the 13th inning, the Braves broke Haddix’s perfect streak and scored the game’s only run. Haddix lost 1-0 despite throwing 12 perfect innings!    

ALPHABET BACKFIELD

During the 1959 and 1960 NFL seasons the San Francisco 49ers featured the "Alphabet Backfield".  Y.A. Tittle started at quarterback with running backs J.D. Smith, R.C. Owens and C.R. Roberts. Owens, a former college basketball rebound leader, was the creator of the "Alley Oop" play. Tittle threw the ball high and Owens used his size and jumping ability to snag the pass above the defenders.

THE DOMINATOR

182 wins and one defeat. That was Dan Gable's amazing record as a wrestler in high school and college. He won all 64 matches as a prep in Waterloo. Iowa, taking three state titles. Gable then reeled off 118 straight wins at Iowa State, winning three NCAA titles, before dropping his final collegiate match. Not only did Gable win the gold medal in the 1972 Olympics, he didn't allow a single point in any of his matches! As the wrestling coach at Iowa, Gable's teams won 21 straight Big Ten championships and 15 NCAA team titles, including nine in a row. Gable was named the top wrestler of the 20th Century by Gannett News Service.

HARD-HITTING PITCHER

Only one batter in the 139 year history of the National League has hit two grand slams in one game. No, not Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire or Hank Aaron or Willie Mays. Not Giancarlo Stanton or Bryce Harper or Ralph Kiner or Ernie Banks. The only National Leaguer to hit two slams in one game was a pitcher! Atlanta Braves fireballer Tony Cloninger hammered two grand slams and had nine RBIs on July 3, 1966. And he did it in San Francisco's Candlestick Park, which was never known as a hitter friendly ballpark.

FOSBURY FLOP

People laughed when Oregon high schooler Dick Fosbury developed his unusual high jump style in 1963. All world-class high jumpers faced the bar as they jumped. They rolled sideways over the bar, one leg following the other. But Fosbury turned his back as he approached the bar, then launched himself headfirst over the bar. People stopped laughing when Fosbury broke the Oregon State University record as a sophomore in 1967. He then won the 1968 NCAA title with a jump of 7'2" and followed that by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Fosbury won the gold medal with an American and Olympic record jump of 7'4". The Fosbury Flop quickly became the most popular high jump technique -- and it still is today!

THE FIRST JUMP SHOT

Yes, there was a time when the jump shot did not exist! From basketball's earliest days, players used the two-handed set shot. Using both hands, they pushed the ball up from the mid-section. Accuracy was okay, but the shot was easily defended due to its low release point. Wyoming point guard Kenny Sailors had a better idea. Tired of having his shots blocked by his older and taller brother, Sailors started jumping up as high as he could and shooting the ball with one hand. The result was basketball's first jump shot. Sailors perfected the shot and led Wyoming to the NCAA title in 1943.

HEISMAN TROPHY

The Heisman Trophy is given each year to the outstanding college football player. It is named after John Heisman, a college football coach in the first three decades of the previous century. Heisman was an innovator and developed one of the first shifts, had both guards pull to lead an end run, and had his center toss the ball back, instead of rolling or kicking it. He was a proponent of the legalization of the forward pass in 1906 and he originated the "hike" or "hep" shouted by the quarterback to start each play. Heisman also suggested that the game be divided into quarters instead of halves.

AGELESS SATCHEL PAIGE

As a boy, legendary pitcher Satchel Paige played "top ball" -- a baseball game that used sticks and bottle caps instead of baseballs and bats. After a long and successful career as a hard-throwing starting pitcher in the Negro Leagues, Satchel made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 at the age of 42. He finished that season with a 6–1 record, a 2.48 ERA and two shutouts. Satchel appeared in the All-Star game in 1952 and 1953. In 1965, the Kansas City A's signed 59 year old Satchel for one game. He pitched three scoreless innings. Satchel Paige was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

BASKETBALL'S BIGGEST WINNER

People argue who is the greatest basketball player of all time… Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant. But there can be no debate about the biggest winner in basketball history. Hands down, it's Bill Russell.  After being cut by his junior high team, Russell won back-to-back high school championships at McClymonds High in Oakland, CA. He repeated that performance  by winning two NCAA championships at the University  of San Francisco. After graduation, Russell led the U.S. team to the gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Finally, Russell's Boston Celtics teams won 11 NBA titles in his 13 year career.

MORE THAN A BASEBALL legend

Jackie Robinson's accomplishments on the baseball diamond are well known -- first African-American to play in the major leagues, Rookie of the Year, six time All-Star, batting champion, National League MVP, played in six World Series in his ten year career. But Robinson had many successes outside of baseball. He was the first athlete at UCLA to win varsity letters in four sports -- football, basketball, track and baseball. Robinson was a starting running back in football and won the NCAA long jump title. After college, he was a second lieutenant in the US Army during World War II. After retiring from baseball, Robinson was the first African-American network TV baseball analyst. He also was the first African- American to serve as vice president of a major American corporation (Chock full o' Nuts).