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Sports & Fitness?

Rules of the game and rules of the gym. 21 questions and counting.

How long is a marathon, and why that number?26.2 miles, standardized because the 1908 London Olympics stretched the course so the race could start at Windsor Castle…
What is offside in soccer, finally explained?You are offside if, when a teammate plays the ball forward, you are past both the ball and the second-to-last defender i…
How many players are on a football team?Eleven on the field per side, but an NFL team carries a 53-man roster and dresses 48 on game day, running separate offen…
Should you stretch before or after a workout?Do dynamic movement before, save the long holds for after. Research shows static stretching pre-workout does not prevent…
How often should you actually work out?The federal target: 150 minutes of moderate cardio a week plus two strength sessions. That is five brisk half-hour walks…
What does par mean in golf?The number of strokes an expert is expected to need on a hole, typically 3, 4, or 5, with a full course usually totaling…
What is the infield fly rule?With runners on first and second (or bases loaded) and fewer than two outs, an easily catchable infield popup is an auto…
Why does tennis score 15, 30, 40?Most likely from medieval French clock faces, with a quarter hour per point, and 45 shortened in speech to 40. Four poin…
What counts as traveling or double dribble in basketball?Traveling is moving your pivot foot illegally while holding the ball; double dribble is dribbling, stopping, then dribbl…
What is a first down in football?A fresh set of four plays, earned by advancing the ball ten yards from where the last set began. Fail to gain ten yards …
Why do golfers yell fore?It is a warning that a ball is heading toward people, and you are obligated to shout it. The origin is likely military, …
What is a hat trick?Three goals by one player in a single game, in hockey, soccer, and elsewhere. The term comes from cricket, where a bowle…
How long is a football field?100 yards of playing field, plus two 10-yard end zones, so 120 yards or 360 feet total. Width is 53 and a third yards. T…
Why does baseball use three strikes and four balls?Both numbers were arrived at by trial and error over decades. Walks once required nine balls, dropping through eight, se…
Why do Americans call it soccer when everyone else says football?Soccer is a British word. It came from association football, shortened to assoc and then soccer by Oxford students in th…
What is icing in hockey?Shooting the puck from your own half across the opponent's goal line without anyone touching it. Play stops and the face…
How does a world record actually get certified?By the sport's international federation, not by whoever timed it. Track records need certified timing, an approved track…
How does a city get chosen to host the Olympics?The International Olympic Committee selects hosts, and the process changed sharply in 2019 from competitive public biddi…
Why do fighters weigh in the day before a fight?To give them a day to rehydrate, which is exactly the problem. Same-day weigh-ins were replaced for safety, but the 24-h…
What is the difference between rugby and American football?American football descends from rugby and diverged in the 1880s when Walter Camp introduced the line of scrimmage and do…
What does GOAT mean, and where did it come from?Greatest of all time. The acronym traces to Muhammad Ali's wife naming his 1992 company G.O.A.T. Inc., then spread throu…