random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them

[MikeyPatriot]

BillNye,

Missing field goals does more than take points off the board. I highly doubt ATL would have gone 13-2-1 if they missed every FG.

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]
Please,

We all know that only baseball play...err Barry Bonds does steroids!

[/ QUOTE ]

ESPN did a special series today on cheating in different sports, undoubtedly inspired by the recent events.

For the NFL, they had about a 3,000 word piece on cheating in the NFL that mentioned steroids exactly once...and it was in this context:

"Most people think steroids, but...."

Shawn Merriman's name or suspension was not mentioned at all.

The Steelers doctor indicted for purchasing $150k worth of HGH was not mentioned at all.

Some anecdote about a 1960's college football rival where they stole hand signals was mentioned.

And it went on to describe several other cute anecdotes of gamesmanship, and a paragraph or two on ephedra as a banned substance.

See....the NFL doesn't have a steroid problem, it was solved by testing they instituted back in the '80s!!!. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ACG2x]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought everyone knew the thing about the #1 seeds and the FF?

[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone probably does. The thread title was to post a "random sports stat/fact that surprise(d) you when you first heard it".

That stat surprised me when I first heard it. It's also random.

[BillNye]

[ QUOTE ]
BillNye,

Missing field goals does more than take points off the board. I highly doubt ATL would have gone 13-2-1 if they missed every FG.

[/ QUOTE ]

Its MIN, and that is amazingly obvious, it would change the whole game, but from a points perspective (which I thought was very clear, from the topic) they didnt need Andersons "perfect FG season" save for the 1 he missed.

Also, even if he did miss all of them, the whole game changes but I think they still make it to the ATL game.

[SL__72]

Please quit talking about that game.

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]
In the past 25 years no team had outscored their opponents by a 2-1 margin. Under Dilfer, the Ravens outscored their opponents by a 3-1 margin.

[/ QUOTE ]

'00 Ravens outscored opponents by 2.02-to-1 margin. (not 3-1)

First other team I checked in the last 25 years....

'85 Bears outscored opponents by 2.30-to-1

And there could be more, but didn't bother after that...

[RickAstleyFan]

Mike Pemberthy has more NBA Championship rings than Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing do, combined.

[MikeyPatriot]

BillNye,

Whoops on MIN/ATL.

I understand what you were trying to say about MIN and points, etc. I just think it's really contrived, irrelevant, and not really in the spirit of the thread.

[jogsxyz]

[ QUOTE ]

Similar note, Brent Barry was a slam dunk champ. Not surprising if you've followed the NBA for a while. But if you started watching during this year's playoffs, it'd surprise you that some 3 point shooter once won the slam dunk contest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not surprising. Barkley talks about it often. The NBA canceled the slam dunk contest after Barry won.

[slothinator]

That Brooks Kieschnick actually put up decent numbers as a PH/RP for the Brewers in 03/04. I thought he sucked, but I was wrong. Kind of surprised Milwaukee didn't hang on to him for another season or two.