Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Thursday Quiz XL

The Fourth Season finale is a long-awaited, never-before-seen Thursday Quiz about.... sport!

The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is an "Is It or Isn't It" game. From the list of twelve items, your job is to determine whether each IS or ISN'T a true example of the week's category.

Remember always to Play by the Rules:
No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. The Thursday
Quiz is a POP quiz. Violators will be traded down to the minors.
This Week's Category will experience the joy of athletic activity on your behalf!

Team Names in American Professional Athletics

Is it a true account of the team's name, or is it just another michael5000 "hail Mary"?

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – The name makes more sense when you realize this basketball team was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, a state whose history of allegiance to the Cavaliers during the English Civil War lives on as an important part of local identity and legend.

2. Houston Rockets – This team was originally based in Miami, where it took its name from the launches at nearby Cape Canaveral.

3. Kansas City Chiefs – The baseball team has been in K.C. for most of its history, but spent its first two years in Seattle. "Chiefs" is a nod to "Chief Seattle," the Native American from whom that city takes its name.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers – This L.A. baseball organization was originally located in Brooklyn, New York. There, they were originally known as the "Trolley Dodgers," a reference to the density of light rail around the Brooklyn stadium during the 1890s.

5. Los Angeles Lakers – Southern California is not renowned for its lakes, but Minneapolis, this team's original home, is famously in the "Land of a Thousand Lakes."

6. Philadelphia Phillies – The euphony is just a coincidence. This baseball club was originally founded in Louisville, and took its name from the Kentucky horse-farming tradition.

7. Saint Louis Cardinals – This baseball club, as well as football's Arizona Cardinals (formerly of Saint Louis), derive their names from Saint Louis' status as seat of the Archbishopric of the Missouri Valley, a nod to the cultural heritage of this most Catholic of American cities.

8. Saint Louis Rams – This football club was founded in Los Angeles, and takes its name from the iconic wild sheep that graze the hills and mountains surrounding the L.A. Basin.

9. Tennessee Titans – The team's name was changed after a season as the "Tennessee Oilers." "Oilers" had made a lot more sense in the franchise's earlier home, Houston.

10. Utah Jazz – The almost oxymoronic name becomes comprehensible when you know that the franchise was originally located in New Orleans.

11. Washington Nationals – When the franchise moved from Montreal, it also replaced a name – the "Expos" – associating it with the 1967 World's Fair. That idea seemed a little dated.

12. Washington Wizards – This rather twee name replaced the earlier "Washington Bullets," which had started to seem like just a little too appropriate for the crime-ridden federal capital.

Submit your answers with professional caliber grace, power, and skill.

28 comments:

fingerstothebone said...

Right...

Cartophiliac said...

1. isn't
2. isn't
3. isn't
4. is
5. is
6. isn't
7. isn't
8. is
9. is
10. is
11. is
12. is

The Calico Cat said...

All of the names are correct & I think that all of the stories are legit too!

Jennifer said...

Oh, man! Finally a sports category, and it's all stuff I don't know!

I can't even give it "the ol' college try" since it's all pro teams, but I'll do my best anyhow:

1. is
2. isn't
3. isn't
4. is
5. is
6. isn't
7. isn't
8. is
9. is
10. is
11. is
12. is

Yankee in England said...

wow my first Thursday quiz and you could not have choosen a more unknow specialist subject than anything to do with sports unless you had choosen flat pack assembly.

1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. T
6. F
7. T
8. F
9. T
10.T
11.T
12.T

11&12 are the only ones I am sure of as they fall under useless bits of information floating around in my head.

mhwitt said...

Some of these I know well, but not enough of them to feel cocky here.

Is: 4,5,9,10,11,12
Ain't: 1,2,3,6,7,8

d said...

ok. maybe, just maybe i can get this one. don't hold your breath.

1n, 2n, 3N!(the chiefs are football), 4Y!, 5(ummm)y, 6n, 7n (the cardinal is the state bird), 8y(they did start in la, but i'm not sure about the sheep thing), 9yep, 10y, 11n(i think the expos are still around), 12n.

Anonymous said...

Sucks to be me...after reading for months and not playing, I go and miss the English major quiz last week, the one category of question I could answer in my sleep. Sports? ACK!

Seriously, your blog is Teh Cool.

Anonymous said...

Although much of it is guess work

1t
2f
3f
4t
5t
6f
7f
8t
9t
10t
11t
12f

love the blog m5k, keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

1 / No
2 / No
3 / No
4 / Yes
5 / Yes
6 / No
7 / No
8 / No
9 / Yes
10 / Yes
11 / Yes
12 / Yes

Some of these stories are so good, you could be inventing whole fantasy nations!

Anonymous said...

@oily gus -- Great name. If you like Rock, you might enjoy the album "Very Greasy" by David Lindley.

DrSchnell said...

1. I have no idea, but your explanation sounds like bullshit.
2. No. But Houston has a little rocket thing of its own going on ("Houston, we have a problem..."
3. I think the story is false, but even if it's true, the Chiefs are football, therefore it's still false.
4. true
5. true
6. absolute poppycock
7. Most catholic of American cities? Nonsense!
8. No. Rams moved to LA from somewhere else, at some other time. Probably a place with rams.
9. Yes
10. Yes. One of the funniest pro team names.
11. Yes.
12. I think this is true. Washington Bullets was also a song by the Clash, so they would have had an interesting theme song.

Nichim said...

1. Isn't
2. Isn't
3. Isn't
4. Is
5. Isn't
6. Is
7. Isn't
8. Is
9. Is
10. Is
11. Isnʹt
12. Isnʹt

McGuff said...

Results and favorite characters associated with the team

1. Loser - LeBron James who appeared to be 32 years old as a high school senior
2. Loser - Rudy Tomjanovich, player, coach and guy I met at an IBM customer event
3. Loser - well, it's not a baseball team, so no entry.
4. Winner - Ron Cey, known as "the penguin" and iconic crossword puzzle answer
5. Winner - George Mikan the first big man in the hoop game
6. Loser - City of un-brotherly-poor-sport-disgrutled sports fans . Screw ya and any decent players ya ever had.
7. Loser - Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Stan "The Man" Musial
8. Loser - Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch
9. Winner - "Bum" Phillips head coach of the Oilers
10. Winner - "Pistol" Pete Maravich and his never washed socks
11. Winner - Nope. Nothing. OK - I guy I play golf with a guys who played a couple years with Expo's in the early 80's. No one would know his name, but it's a cool one: Brad Trickey.
12. Winner - "Earl the Pearl" Monroe, and another guy known as MJ

Anonymous said...

Oh, they're all real teams! I'm glad I read the italics. Because, you know, otherwise, I might have embarrassed myself. . .
1 My dad used to have a Chevy Cavalier, but I think it was from Detroit. . . yes
2 no. Mission control, dude.
3 uh, no.
4 what the hell, yes.
5 uh, yes?
6 no, that's chrazy tawk.
7 no, it's just the pretty red bird
8 iconic wild sheep in the L.A. basin? coyotes, maybe. no
9 yes
10 yes
11 uh, yes
12 yes?
Ah, well. Hail Mary x 12.

Rex Parker said...

1. wrong
2. wrong
3. wrong
4. right
5. right
6. wrong
7. right
8. wrong
9. right
10. right
11. right
12. right

rp

Dan Nolan said...

1. Isn't.
2. Isn't.
3. Isn't.
4. Is. Brooklyn for sure and the TD name seems likely enough considering the neighborhood.
5. Is. Let's go Celtics!
6. Isn't.
7. Isn't. Both have the birds on their hats/helmets, so I'm guessing no.
8. Is. LA for sure and wild sheep for guess. Go Celtics!
9. Is.
10. Is. Now the N'Awlins team is named the Hornets, a name it picked up in its former home, Charlotte.
11. Is.
12. Is. Amazing how long they lasted as the Bullets actually - late 90's?

Chance said...

Also, 'Washington Bullets' is the name of the best song on the Clash's 'Sandinista!' album.

Ben said...

1. foul
2. foul
3. foul
4. fair
5. fair
6. foul
7. fair
8. foul
9. fair
10. fair
11. fair
12. fair

Anonymous said...

I think there was a Stephen King book called The Trolley Dodgers.

Anonymous said...

1. isn't
2. is
3. is
4. is
5. is
6. is
7. isn't
8. isn't
9. is
10. isn't
11. is
12. is

You are darned good at fabrication. I cannot tell for sure any of these and only suspect one or two. But also suspect I am wrong. I want to sit next to phineas at the exam.

Michael5000 said...

It is time.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – Nope. Pure fabrication.

2. Houston Rockets – Nope. They took their name from Houston's own involvement in the space program.

3. Kansas City Chiefs – Nope, for a number of reasons.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers –Yep! "Trolley Dodgers"!

5. Los Angeles Lakers – Yep.

6. Philadelphia Phillies – Disappointingly, no.

7. Saint Louis Cardinals – No.

8. Saint Louis Rams – No. The Rams started life in Cleveland. Their name, according to the Wiki, which is never wrong, came from the nickname of Fordham College. Whatevs.

9. Tennessee Titans – Yep.

10. Utah Jazz – Yep.

11. Washington Nationals – Yep.

12. Washington Wizards – Yep.

Michael5000 said...

Aaaand it's an awesome showing across the board today, but you had to be perfect to make it to the winners circle.

The first one in, taking home the TQXL Gold Star -- his second gold and third Star overall -- representin' the Yellowhammer State -- it's mhwitt!

Next in, taking the Silver, is Karmasartre.

Drschnell checked in third, sweeping the set to secure the Blue Star and consolidate his grip on third place on the all-time Star acquisition list.

And last across was Phineas, a man who appears to follow sports, nabbing the Green Star.


Now, it's a remarkable week in that not one but two of our winners join that elite corps of Quizzers with a complete set of Stars. Karmasartre's Silver and Phineas' Green fill their last respective gaps. Congrats to both of these perenial contenders.

Michael5000 said...

And, it's great to see some newcomers as well this week! Welcome to Yankee in England, in medias res, oily gus, and Ben (kind of a weird name... "Ben"...); thanks for reading and for playing the Quiz, guys.

@fingers: Next week will be about book arts. I promise.

@in medias res: Thank you for finally pushing me to the Wiki (which, again, is never wrong) to investigate this whole "teh" business. Having done so, I can say with confidence that anybody who thinks my blog is Teh Cool is OK in my book.

@oily gus: same goes for you.

@boo: It's funny to be told I'm good at fabrication, because in person I have a very frustrating inability to lie. But thanks. I'll seat you next to Phineas when we do the live show.


FINALLY -- those of you who are hard core, brace yourself -- the Quizzes are going to take a week off before starting the next season. Quiz action starts again with MQXXXI on June 16.

Anonymous said...

I just (sniff) want everyone to know I only got one wrong. And some day I'm gonna get me a blue star. . .

Anonymous said...

@karmasartre: thanks, I shall have to check it out.
et tu M5K, I've lurked for some time so it is only proper to finally participate.

I look forward to the book arts challenge!

The Calico Cat said...

OUCH! I bet you are good at Balderdash!

McGuff said...

Boo - you flatter me. But I'm hunching over my paper anyway.

In reply I offer my favorite absurdist cartoon.

[Man approaches bar accompanied by an alligator adorned with lipstick, holding a 1960's style handbag, wearing pearls.]

Man: I'll have a Midori and Fresca, and a Slim Jim for my alligator.
Bartender: Does the lady have any ID.
Alligator: Why sir, you flatter me.

Somewhere toward the late '80's I served Midori and Fresca at a party in honor of this awesome cartoon.

Phin