41 Fascinating Sports Facts - mental_floss List Show Ep. 333

A weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John shares some fascinating sports facts!
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[@jr52990]

The Paint Ball fact needed this to be added. "Charles Nelson of the Nelson Paint Company invented the paintball & concept of the paintball marker during the mid-60s. Nelson had patented a number of devices that foresters could use to mark timber. One of those was a squirt gun that sprayed paint. But the paintball was invented because the Nelson Paint Company was asked by the US Forestry Service for a reliable way of marking trees from a distance." Much more interesting start.

[@RDSk0]

Why is it badminton, and not goodminton, not greatminton?

[@matthewbell479]

+KinRedysko It was created buy the duke of Badminton an area in england

[@Dyenosoreusrex]

+Matthew Bell Why was his name the duke of Badminton, and not goodminton, not greatminton?

[@matthewbell479]

Its an area historically called badminton, whys york called york or inverness called inverness?

[@nicholasricci8342]

It appears that a few people did not get the joke

[@TheRelentlessKnight]

+KinRedysko cause the sport is shit

[@phonyshoemaker7379]

1 hockey fact. ONE hockey fact. My favorite sport. 1 fact. You owe me a hockey list!

[@mackenziewadsworth699]

AND CHEERLEADING. ITS A SPORT.

[@chrispatterson3211]

YES! BRING BACK JOHN! whenever there's a video without him in it I don't even bother watching it. no one is near as good and entertaining as he is

[@gzuzfrk1]

Can we have a Misconceptions on Making Mental Floss. Like "does John Green have a fish tail since we never see below his waist"?

[@lonelynightm]

*FOR CONTEXT ON CHESS BOXING* Chess Boxing is actually a really smart cool sport. The purpose of boxing in chess is actually smarter than you might think. The boxing is trying to get your heart rate up as a way to get you to make more mistakes while playing chess because of the adrenaline making it hard to concentrate. They play chess 3 minutes on and 3 minutes off with boxing. So not only do they have to play chess on time, but after getting the shit kicked out of them. It is like the ultimate battle of both brain and brawn. You either win with a knockout or a checkmate. *Chess Boxing is actually a really well thought out sport.*

[@koberko]

Soo, after being subscriber for almost 2 years, and watching almost all of Mental Floss videos, now that I finally found out who John Green is, I might actually get to read some of his books. Better late then never :)

[@phantasmagoria217]

What about quidditch? come on john!

[@kennethwright8081]

Yay Johns back.

[@bigbro44]

John Green rocks!!! Love his segments!

[@GarrettStrother]

Wow, this video is a real sports almanac (because it's Back to the Future Day)

[@giantcarlo1785]

Loved your part on Marketplace John :)

[@RMoribayashi]

The Fog Bowl was a NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears on December 31, 1988. The fog was so thick players could not see far enough to throw a pass, forcing them to play a running game. Fans and announcers could not see the field. Referee Jim Tunney ended up announcing the down and distance for each play on his wireless microphone as viewers at home watched a white screen.

[@fencingperson]

pole vaulting definitely originated as a method for soldiers to cross rivers with bamboo poles. It was a distance event.

[@ICanLevitate]

In Scorecasting by Tobias Moskowitz et. al., they showed that Home Field Advantage actually exists primarily because referees are less likely to call penalties on the home team. They chalk it up to social influence and not wanting to upset the crowd.

[@chaosof99]

Surprised you left out the fact that Lord Stanley himself never watched a single hockey game.

[@Megora100]

3:04 Is that... is that Matt Rhule?! *gets all excited because Temple football made it into a Mental Floss video*

[@mepeck316]

Why does Jeff Knox not have a Wikipedia page? Internet, make this happen!

[@ruudvisser4293]

+Meredith Peck give it an hour

[@truboo4268]

+Ruud Visser (meadowhunter) Liar.

[@theinvincible316]

Here's a fact you may not know: The record for lowest fan attendance for a sporting event occured on Nov 12, 1955, when the Washington State football team hosted San Jose State. The combination of horrible weather (and an even worse win-loss record) drew a total crowd of 1. Post-note: This record would eventually be broken in April 2015 by the Baltimore Orioles, who played a game against the Chicago White Sox in front of 0 (zero) paying fans. EDIT - As it turns out, the number I presented is not entirely accurate, as the number does not include tickets bought in advance, and students who got into the game for free. Only 1 ticket was bought at the gate for this particular game. Apologies for the mix-up.

[@BeefyPreacher]

The highlights for the game with no one is hilarious, there tipping their cap and throwing balls into the crowd to no one lol.

[@nilz__]

Another one: One of the best archers in the world, Im Dong-hyun from South Korea is practically blind. He shot the Olympic record in 2012.

[@BBall0027]

To go along with fact #24, in 1991, ex-Philadelphia 76ers player and coach Billy Cunningham had his number 32 unretired when Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV. The reason was that Charles Barkley wanted to wear Johnson's number in honor of him when Magic retired, but the number was retired for Cunningham already.

[@kateburnham67]

I find it kind of funny how they mentioned how the Stanley Cup got its name, but not the story of how the trophy has changed over the years. It started out as just a bowl. The current cup is much different then ones from the past. That's the interesting part about the cup.

[@Goldguy92]

In WWII, two other teams that combined were the Cardinals and the Steelers. They were called Card-Pitt. However many people called them the "Carpets" because of how other teams, figuratively, walked all over them.

[@asd36f]

The cricket Test Match between South Africa and England at Durban in March 1939 was abandoned after 12 days because the England team had to catch their ship back home.

[@iainhewitt]

There's a local legend in the North East of England that when pickles found the Jules Rimet, it wasn't the real thing, but a copy made by a local gangster. He apparently had the original melted down into jewellery that he wore quite publically, even after he went 'legit'. He wound up owning a football club before going to prison for tax avoidance.

[@TheRealE.B.]

The very first paintball game was played in a very large tract of woods among a small group of friends. It was very slow-paced, and the winner never actually fired a shot, if I remember. So it was rather rather more like The Most Dangerous Game than either modern paintball or most people's idea of warfare.

[@SaraAnneMiller]

John, our favorite KZbinr who pronounces things wrong! 👍🏻

[@sfgiantsfan921]

The version of Heidi that was shown at the end of the Jets-Raiders game was not the Shirley Temple film but a 1968 version.

[@TheRoyalSpoon]

you could do one of these on Lord Stanley's Cup alone. Easily the most storied and mythic trophy in sports.

[@richs322]

Don't blame Shirley Temple , the version of Heidi that interrupted the game was a 1968 tv movie with Jennifer Edwards as Heidi.

[@MrSwordsofvaul]

bonus fact: did you know that seb brown saved 2 penalties against luton town to send the afc wimbley womblies into the football league?

[@okasukuroji]

Of course Hoyt Wilhelm never hit another home run. He was a relief pitcher.

[@drewg.4779]

I actually laughed out loud at the Vonnegut one, I just finished reading Breakfast of Champions and I was like "yeah I can see that"

[@NepsName]

"Soccer", or its real name, football, is the biggest sport in the entire world but somehow it is called a miscellaneous and has right to a single fact... Well, that's great, just great /:

[@simoputtonen2799]

Was about to comment on that.

[@TheRelentlessKnight]

+NepsName soccer is played by pussies

[@NepsName]

+TheRelentlessKnight That earn more in a month then your entire family will in the next 200 years. Soccer is the master sport, deal with it ;)

[@TheRelentlessKnight]

NepsName I'm sure Kim Kardiashian will do the same. But she is still talent-less. And soccer is still for pussies who are scared of physical contact.

[@NepsName]

+TheRelentlessKnight Surely you have never watched soccer, which is a contact-filled sport. There is almost no match without yellow cards and those come with contact. It is just a sport that requires WAY more talent and work from the players to reach the high rankings, because the competition is MUCH more fierce then any other sport, ever

[@chillsahoy2640]

Fascinating Sport Fact number 42: AFC Wimbledon is the best soccer/association football team in the UK, and is almost as interesting as the cold, dead rock (with some salty water) that we call Mars.

[@solarflare317]

More about Jackie Mitchell: After striking out Babe Ruth, he threw a tantrum and said women were too delicate to play baseball. Then a few days later, Jackie's contract was terminated and women were deemed unfit to play. So she joined the House of David exhibition team and would wear a fake beard at times for publicity.

[@simpletn]

Interesting. Coincidence today I played Badminton and topped my class

[@PinkThorn242]

That thing about Disaster Drafts isn't funny. It's actually happened in the past.

[@RMoribayashi]

Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff Kt CBE, chemist at the University of Nottingham and host of the KZbin series The Periodic Table of Videos caused a publicity stir when he calculated that the World Cup could not be solid gold but had to be hollow or would be too heavy to lift overhead.

[@KlintLawsisfat]

Jordan didn't retire, it was a secret suspension so the NBA commissioner didn't get his betting scandal blown up.

[@ICanLevitate]

+Dig Diddlier This is one conspiracy theory I am 100% a believer in.

[@silviubalasescu9138]

A dog named "Pickles", that sounds familiar! :))))))

[@dezza2001]

Terry Francona has gone on record as saying that had MLB Players not gone on strike and owners threaten to call up minor league players as scabs, Michael Jordan would have continued to play baseball and eventually make it to the majors. It was Jordan's strong belief in Players Unions from his time in the NBA that led him to leave the game and return to Basketball at that time.

[@memaikey]

Amsterdam medal at 0:08, go dutchies!

[@SantomPh]

23: GRR Martin conceived a character called Ser Patrek of King's Mountain whose logo was a single star, the same as the Dallas Cowboys. It comes from a bet between Martin and his friend Patrick St.Denis over the season performance of the Patriots (Martin's team) and Patrick's Dallas Cowboys. After Dallas actually did better than the Patriots one year, Martin created Ser Patrek only to squish him against a wall. 31: The World Cup was later stolen and never found again, believed to be melted down for its gold. The current World Cup is never granted to any nation; winning the tournament gets them a few days with it but then the winners get a replica.

[@Regolith86]

Most large gold objects are only gold plated. Humans have mined a surprisingly little amount of gold. I've heard estimates that all the extant mined gold in the world would fit in only 2-4 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

[@itsOasus]

#20, that game is infamously referred to as "The Heidi Game"

[@nathan_middleton_]

Disappointing there was virtually nothing on Rugby, despite this video being posted during the World Cup.... Not to mention all the other major sports around the world that were barely mentioned such as Hockey, Skiing, and Swimming...just to name a few

[@pablom9223]

ChessBoxing is inspired on a great graphic novel by Enki Bilal!! (The Nikopol Trilogy)

[@de132]

Lord Stanley was British, not Canadian. Lord Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen Victoria as Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888,

[@jr52990]

Wait... I always thought paintball started as an invention to mark livestock with paint. Then the farm hands started having fun shooting each other, then it became a popular game.

[@70BTHS]

Would you look at that! Coach Matt Rhule of Temple University with the appearance!!!!

[@Shanoninoni8]

what about gymnastics? arguably one of the hardest sports!

[@futebolefernando]

Another intereting fact similiar with 31 - jules rimet missing. After the trophy being earned by Brazil in 1970 (for having won the World Cup three times) the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen in Brazil and never found again. The thieves are believed to have melted the gold to sell out.

[@martijnkosters9024]

Now do one on winter sports. Seriously, 0 winter sports?

[@braddavis1733]

Hockey was in there

[@MetFanMac]

+Brad Davis (davisbr2) She specified "sports".

[@de132]

+MetFanMac Fuck you

[@MetFanMac]

***** Verbose!

[@dariowiter3078]

The Jules Rimet trophy reappeared before the start of the 1966 FIFA World Cup tournament, not "before the game," in reference to the World Cup Final that occurred on Saturday, July 30, 1966(it should have been played on Sunday, July 31, 1966, instead of FIFA adhering[sp?] to the custom of British pro soccer being played on Saturdays). 😐😐😐😐😐

[@Crismodin]

Chapstick. It's what you need.

[@bentoth9555]

That comparison by GRRM is really unfair. The Lannisters don't deserve that kind of slander.

[@meganhumble1120]

CHAT-ta-NOO-ga. It's in a very famous song. Why do northerners always say Chat-in-oo-ga, or worse, Chat'nooga? But I did not know that about Jackie Mitchell. Super cool.

[@MrHeems]

Happy back to the future day!

[@Mrepifany]

The huddle being invented by that deaf guy story is a got darn LIE. LOL

[@DemonicPanda65]

Mr Pickles is such a good boy

[@GinEric84]

John is back!

[@lukaslambs5780]

in response to your opening statement, you are not a bad soccer player when you don't fuel your body with cigarette smoke and Wendy's.

[@sethheasley9538]

Home field advantage for baseball make sense since they get to bat last. With other sports, I think it's mostly that refs call things in favor of the home team more often than not. (Mostly with the NBA.)

[@_Flibble]

Was waiting for a Bert Trautmann reference

[@Mad_Elf_0]

Wow. Only 65% pure US sports trivia. Much lower than expected... still, it would have been nice to see fewer NFL- and MLB-specific factiods , and instead a few mentions of the hundreds of other sports scenes.

[@nogmaxjoo]

Why is there so many facts about sports no one plays like baseball or American football.

[@kyngsuper6434]

I love thiis one

[@bswtsp21]

Every time I hear John say mental floss, I hear menopause.

[@lukaslambs5780]

how much of your material do you and John think of?

[@jrlepage2a03]

Seeing as this video completely omits my favourite sport... Jeff Gordon (#24) is retiring from NASCAR competition at the end of this year. How about 24 facts about auto racing sometime? (: Besides it'd be pretty topical since John recently raced a racecar around a dirt track.

[@zephankelby5461]

Surprised that there wasn't a fact about quidditch. Still loved the video though!

[@Resmungo]

Chess boxing sounds awesome until you think about how it would feel to lose.

[@LukeNguyen112]

disc golf!! thank you for not saying Frisbee golf

[@curtisgibb3635]

When do we start getting FIFA 16 videos???? Go Wimbly Wombly's!

[@waynebillupa814]

Nashville

[@Auros2525]

Looking a little grey at the temples John. How about you play Reed Richards in the inevitable Fantastic 4 reboot?

[@ultron1809]

The most dangerous game, my English class is reading that

[@Regolith86]

Congratulations, you've read something that's been taught in 99.99% of High School English classes, along with The Gift of the Magi and whatever the teacher's favorite Shakespear play is.

[@higginswalsan]

42. The Cubs will win the world series

[@natalieohern5362]

no swimming!

[@DarkWolf-wo5ze]

Please make a playlist of all craig's videos

[@realspacemodels]

How is it that there were no facts about AFC Wimbledon?

[@SantomPh]

+RealSpaceModels what is so special about it? While MK Dons are a franchise team their counterparts are simply a pro club.

[@realspacemodels]

Because John is an avid supporter of AFC Wimbledon.

[@LudoRex]

The game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders,which would become know as "The Heidi Bowl" was not the theatrical film starring Shirley Temple! It was made for television movie with Jennifer Edwards in the title role. www.imdb.com/title/tt0063051/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4

[@BaseballObsession27]

Woo! Paintball!

[@querps1043]

I was semi expecting you guys would do a list on Canada, then I remembered that you hate us.

[@BeakerInShortShorts]

Lacrosse, Canada's national sport.

[@air-iq]

Only thing that bothered me in this video is that when talking about calories and energy in our food we use kilo-calories or calories with a capital C. So saying that they each had 6000-9000 calories is equal to about a tenth of one of those granola bars that say they are 80 Calories. Not saying to rerender and redo this fantastic video in the editing department I just noticed a slight flaw. But the amount those athletes consume is 6000-9000 Calories.

[@BeefyPreacher]

You beat me to it :)

[@drewg.4779]

In the US (I think other countries might always say kilocalories) we almost always say calories instead of kilocalories when referring to food. I didn't even know the technical term was kilocalories until like last year.

[@MeisterHaar]

+Magic Penguin i think he is only refering to the box where the text is written it says calories but the it should be Calories with a capital C wich refers to kilo-calories.

[@DomJaoII]

+wikithefish Technically a "Calorie" is the same as a Kilocalorie; and is comprised of 1000 "calories." (It's case-sensitive.)

[@robmckennie4203]

+wikithefish ... really? I'm skeptical that _any_ food would have 80,000 calories. According to wolfram alpha, that could be as much as the kinetic energy in a car at highway speed.

[@lukaslambs5780]

great videos!!!

[@ewu7344]

What about afc Wimbledon, John?

[@superfishman3243]

flippin makes me mad too john, that a race horse would run away

[@Michele8340]

Nothing about how Hurling/Camoige is the fastest field sport in the world no? Okay

[@gusnombregaming3851]

what is an urn doing on the wall

[@WCG72]

I don't know what a Lannister is

[@elliottmcollins]

.01% of high school football players would presumably include me, which makes that totally unsurprising since I sucked. What's the success rate among kids who *want* to go to the NFL?

[@SuperSMT]

+Elliott Collins - Probably not much better, most kids tend to "want" to go to the NFL.

[@elliottmcollins]

SuperSMT Heh, I'm not sure about that. Relatively few guys on my team were so into it that they wanted an NFL job.

[@shaniathomas506]

I know it doesn't answer your question exactly, but only 6.5% of high school players actually go on to play NCAA football. Of those roughly 70,00 kids playing NCAA football, only 6,500 are scouted by NFL teams and only 350 are invited to the combine. Of those 350, only 256 are drafted each year. I would assume that most guys playing NCAA football would like to play in the NFL and only 256 of them experience getting drafted each year.

[@Grace-xd4mx]

Nothing about AFC Wimbledon? Only one measly hockey fact? 😢

[@4Nn1E]

Are those crumbs? Chapped lips? I need to know.

[@JamesCook-tj2fq]

Will we ever see Merideth?

[@Xanous]

Is John going grey, or is it just lighting?

[@annagoethe3941]

This episode is 333 the time is 3:33...illumanati confirmed

[@bwalyankonde8581]

Did John get new glasses?