1. The original owner of the Detroit Tigers was killed by a tiger attack while on vacation in Bangladesh.
2. Dunking a basketball is against the law in Belgium and can earn a week in jail and a €750 fine.
3. Testing done in 1991 found that the Stanley Cup is covered in more fecal bacteria than the average public restroom toilet.
4. The distance of the Indianapolis 500 is actually 494.6 miles.
5. The first protective cups were made from the shells of lobster tails.
6. During a friendly lacrosse game at the first Thanksgiving, the Native Americans beat the Pilgrims by a score of 87-0.
7. Facial hair and beards were banned in hockey until 1968.
8. According to Rule 326.4(f) in Major League Baseball’s official rulebook, a manager can enter the game to pitch in relief if all of his pitchers have appeared in the game and the opposing manager approves the move.
9. The term “mascot” comes from an 1800s St. Louis Browns player named Abraham Mascot who had elephantiasis and entertained fans between innings.
10. Six members of the Soviet Union’s 1980 Lake Placid Olympics hockey team were not hockey players, but Soviet spies.
11. A bowling ball rolled by PBA a bowler is hurled with more force than a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher or football thrown by an NFL quarterback.
12. Gordon Johncock won the 1974 Indianapolis 500 thanks to his accelerator getting stuck to the floor for the final 17 laps.
13. Wayne Gretzky played hockey on figure skates until the age of 15.
14. In 1987, the Washington Generals fired their head coach after a franchise record two-game winning streak.
15. Ty Cobb was voted “Friendliest” in his high school yearbook.
16. Per tradition, the annual Heisman Trophy dinner serves steamed carrots as the only side dish.
17. The Meat is Murder Football League (MiMFL) was formed in 1988 to give animal rights activist football players a league to play in that did not use a ball made of leather.
18. Many supposed ski “slopes” are just optical illusions.
19. The Tour de France was originally competed exclusively in Switzerland.
20. The Negro Leagues banned white players until 1947 when Ducky Mathers, a white player who lost his job when Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, joined the league.
21. It is not against the law to defecate in the bleachers or upper deck of a sporting venue in the state of Illinois.
22. Ray Lewis was a criminal justice major at the University of Miami.
23. Due to ice rink refrigeration problems at the 1928 Winter Olympics, figure skaters were required to do their routines on a slushy surface while wearing boots.
24. A team featuring 14 Inuit Sled Dogs and two Cockapoos finished in second place at the 1979 Iditarod.
25. Rudy Ruettiger’s younger brother was 6-foot-4, 240 pounds and attended nursing school.
