Ultimate Sports Scandals Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Ultimate Sports Scandals Quiz
Image: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

About This Quiz

What would sports be without scandals? Without doping allegations, betting rings, sex-addicted golfers and cheating referees, the sports world would be a much more boring -- albeit upright -- place. So, how much do you remember about these athletic scandals?
Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe was stripped of his two gold medals from the 1912 Olympics for violating his amateur status. In which events did he win those medals?
100- and 200-yard dash
decathlon and pentathlon
freestyle wrestling and weightlifting
shot put and discus
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Thorpe won the decathlon and pentathlon in 1912, but he was found to have played semipro baseball before the Olympics. His medals were restored to his name 50 years after he died.

Which team lost the 1919 World Series because eight of its players took bribes to throw the games?
Cincinnati Reds
Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Boston Red Sox
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The 1919 White Sox became known as the 'Black Sox' when the 'eight men out' took bribes to lose the Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

The owner of this team has long been suspected of fixing the 1958 NFL Championship game.
New York Giants
Cleveland Browns
Chicago Bears
Philadelphia Eagles
Baltimore Colts
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants in that game by a touchdown in overtime. Rumor has it that the Colts passed up a chance to win by an easy field goal because the team's owner, Carroll Rosenbloom, and two friends had bet $1 million that the Colts would win by six.

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The 1972 United States Olympic basketball team lost to this country in the gold-medal game, allegedly because of biased referees.
Canada
Great Britain
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Members of the U.S. team contend to this day that impartial referees and bad timekeeping gave the gold medal to the Soviets.

Three Olympic boxing judges were suspended after the middleweight gold medal bout in the 1988 Summer Olympics, which involved this American boxer.
Eric Lucas
Mike McCallum
Roy Jones Jr.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Roy Jones Jr. clearly dominated South Korea's Park Si-Hun in the fight, but three judges gave the gold to Park, resulting in their suspensions.

All-time Major League hits leader Pete Rose was banned from the sport in 1989 for betting on baseball when he was a player and manager. For what infraction did he go to jail in 1990?
tax evasion
money laundering
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Rose spent five months in jail for tax evasion.

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What medal did figure skater Nancy Kerrigan go on to win at the 1994 Winter Olympics after Tonya Harding hired a hit man to injure her?
gold
silver
bronze
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Kerrigan captured the silver just seven weeks after the attack on her knee.

Members of the Olympic organizing committee from this city were found to have bribed International Olympic Committee members in 1995.
Atlanta
Athens
Salt Lake City
Sydney
Nagano, Japan
Torino, Italy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

IOC members reportedly accepted millions of dollars in gifts during Salt Lake City's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Mike Tyson bit a chunk out of this boxer's ear in 1997.
Ray Mercer
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Mike Tyson tore the top off Evander Holyfield's ear in 'The Bite Fight' on June 28, 1997.

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In 1999, this university's basketball team got four years probation for an academic fraud scheme.
University of Arkansas
University of Vermont
University of Michigan
University of Hawaii
University of Minnesota
University of Texas
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

During the fraud investigation at the University of Minnesota, the NCAA discovered that a tutor had written more than 400 papers for multiple basketball players.

How old was pitcher Danny Almonte when he played in the 2001 Little League World Series?
11
12
13
14
15
16
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Almonte was 14, two years older than the age limit, when he struck out 62 of the 72 batters he faced in the LLWS.

Three days after Lakers star Kobe Bryant was charged with rape in 2003, how much did he spend on a purple diamond ring for his wife?
$1 million
$2 million
$3 million
$4 million
$5 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bryant dropped $4 million on the 8-carat ring.

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Which former baseball star admitted to taking steroids and wrote a tell-all book about it?
Mark McGwire
Pete Incaviglia
Dale Murphy
Jose Canseco
Jason Giambi
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jose Canseco's 2005 book 'Juiced' detailed his steroid use and named lots of names.

What percentage of Major League players did Canseco claim use steroids?
33 percent
50 percent
65 percent
85 percent
99 percent
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Canseco's shocking -- and controversial -- estimate was 85 percent.

When former Major Leaguer Mark McGwire testified before a congressional committee investigating steroid use, which phrase did he repeatedly use?
I'm not here to talk about the past.
I take the Fifth.
No comment.
I have never taken steroids.
Why is everybody always picking on me?
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Although he kept insisting to the contrary, McGwire was, in fact, there to talk about the past. But he wouldn't do it.

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Which of these former Major League Baseball stars has NOT been called to testify to Congress about steroids?
Roger Clemens
Mark McGwire
Sammy Sosa
Alex Rodriguez
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Alex Rodriguez has admitted to taking steroids, but he hasn't had to testify in front of Congress about it.

How many Olympic medals did Marion Jones have to return after she admitted to taking steroids?
one
two
three
four
five
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jones was stripped of all five of her medals from the 2000 Olympic Games.

Isaiah Thomas was the general manager of this team when he lost a huge sexual harassment suit in 2006.
New York Knicks
New Jersey Nets
Detroit Pistons
Chicago Bulls
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A former Knicks employee won $11.6 million from Thomas after a scandalous trial.

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In 2008, what prison sentence did former NBA referee Tim Donaghy receive for wire fraud and transmitting betting information?
15 months
15 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Donaghy got a 15-month sentence for betting on games and making calls that affected the point spread.

What make of car did Tiger Woods crash into a fire hydrant near his home in November 2009?
Porsche Cayenne
Lexus RS
Cadillac Escalade
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Woods drove an Escalade into the hydrant, allegedly in an attempt to escape from his angry wife, who had just found out about his extramarital affairs.

You Got:
/20
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