Kiwanis Sports Trivia Championship (Team Zealot still has a lot of work to do)

kiwanis sports trivia 016 Today, the Champaign-Urbana Kiwanis held their 2nd annual Sports Trivia Championship.  Much as Iā€™d like to think that this is an effort to humble me and my Team Zealot teammates, I just have to admit that their are a lot of guys out there who are smarter than me at least when it comes to sports trivia.  And Iā€™m fine with that because I had a blast today regardless of the outcome. 

I wonā€™t tell you how bad Team Zealot (myself, Shawn Lee, and team newcomer Nick Zahos) did other than to say that we didnā€™t come in last  (whew!).  The questions were tougher in my opinion, from last yearā€™s inaugural Sports Trivia Championship.  During the halfway break, we were mentally exhausted. 

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They did give us the answers to the first halfā€™s questions during the break and while they were tough, I think we caught a break and got a lot of lucky answers (including questions like what was the height of the Illinois state high school record high jumpā€¦ we got that through pure luck).  We really werenā€™t in the running by the halfway point but I thought we did ok. 

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Overall, we generally scored 7 out of 10 on most categories.  Weak points for Team Zealot were (donā€™t hate us Illini fans) Illinois football (4 out of 10) and Illinois basketball (5 out of 10).  Ironically, we managed to score 8 on the NFL (I havenā€™t followed football religiously since the 80s).

The biggest trivia question surprise to us?  It was in the Major League Baseball category.  Ok, hereā€™s the question:

Which franchise had the most players in the Hall of Fame?  The choices:  Yankees, Cardinals, Giants, Red Sox. 

Iā€™ll tell you the answer later in the article.  I will say that I think all three of us agreed on the same answer and got it wrong anyway. 

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Much kudos go to the winners named ā€˜Team Rain Delayā€™, who scored 83 out of 100 questions correctly.  If you think of it, they would have had to score eight or nine out of ten for each of the ten categories.  They had four members on their team so they will have to split that $1,000 check four ways.  Be nice, guys!

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Thanks to Brian Barnhart who was the Master of Ceremonies.  Some of you may know Barnhart as the broadcaster for Illini football and basketball games.  Others may remember him from his days as broadcaster for the Angels in the late 90s.  He did an excellent job and quite honestly, kept the event going at a pretty good pace. 

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Biggest thanks go to Jim Sheppard, longtime former public address announcer for Illini football and basketball games.  His work with Kiwanis to organize the Sports Trivia Championship to raise money for the service projects that they are involved should be recognized. 

Oh, the trivia question.  Which franchise had the most players in the Hall of Fame?  The answer is the Giants.  The lesson here is:  Donā€™t go with the obvious.  The three of us all thought it was the Yankees. 

Jim Sheppard told me that they plan to do a third Sports Trivia Championship next year.  Those in the East Central Illinois area should keep that in mind for a fun afternoon for a good cause.

Short sluggers

Steve Lombardi of the Baseball Reference Blog lists the top career homerun hitters of those players 5ā€™6ā€ or shorter

First of all, I never knew Hack Wilson was so short.  He just makes the 5ā€™6ā€ requirement.  He tops the list.  Heā€™s also pretty much the only legitimate slugger.  Wilson outpaces #2 Tommy Leach by a remarkable 244 to 57 margin. 

ESPN announces broadcast lineup for 2011

ESPN announced their broadcast teams for the 2011 season today.

They are:

Wednesday Night Baseball

Dave Oā€™Brien (PBP) and Nomar Garciaparra

Monday Night Baseball

Sean McDonough (PBP), Aaron Boone and Rick Sutcliffe

Sunday Night Baseball

Dan Schulman (PBP), Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine (Jon Sciambi (PBP) Chris Singleton on ESPN Radio)

A’s bringing back the gold

Are we seeing a retro trend in uniforms?  The Oakland Aā€™s have announced they are ā€œgoing with the goldā€ similar with the Finley-style unis.  Team GM Billy Beane refers to them as ā€œcanary yellowā€.  These uniforms will serve as the alternate to the white home uniforms (hint: theyā€™re beta-testing them). 

Yeah, itā€™s another move to move more merchandise to the baby boomers but I like the style.  Next up, Houstonā€™s bright orange with the star on the chest???

Grant Smith paintings

Iā€™ve just been perusing Grant Smithā€™s paintings on his website (http://grant9smith.com).  As the saying goes, I donā€™t know art but I know what I like.  And I like these.  It helps that a good portion of Smithā€™s work is devoted to baseball (see his Fine Prints section for a good representation of his work). 

Again, Iā€™m no art critic but even I can appreciate the way that Smith uses symbolism in his paintings.  See his Rube Foster work entitled ā€œWe Can Dreamā€ for an example of this.  Smith uses a bit of dark humor in the selection of his titles.  Youā€™ll see what I mean. 

Why the ā€˜9ā€™ in his domain name?  Smith addresses this on his ā€˜aboutā€™ page:

I made reference to the number 9 originally because of Ted Williams. As I grew older I sensed added meaning in the number, seeing it as the highest number before additional digits are added.

Minnie Minoso: ‘Respect the Game’

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(From L to R:  Bernardo Ruiz, Dr Adrian Burgos, Orestes ā€˜Minnieā€™ Minoso, and Fernando Perez)

I went to tonightā€™s ā€˜Fireside Chatā€™ put on by the University of Illinois Latino/Latina Studies program.  The topic was Pioneering Latinos: Building a Legacy on and Beyond the Playing Field.  Hosted by U of I professor Adrian Burgos, the panelists on the stage were impressive. 

pioneering latinos 048Orestes ā€˜Minnieā€™ Minoso, who played for the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians during the integration of baseball, headlined the event.  At age 86, heā€™s still pretty vivacious.  Minoso (left), a Cuban national and was the first black to play baseball in town of Chicago (He received an award presented by Dr Burgos on behalf of the U of I Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Planning Committee marking the 60th  anniversary of that event), told a lot of stories from his days with the White Sox.  A overriding theme throughout the night with Mr Minoso was ā€˜respect the gameā€™. 

 

Another panelist came from a slightly different perspective.  Fernando Perez is a current baseball player drafted by the Tampa Rays and was recently traded to the Chicago Cubs.  Perez (right) is no dumb jock.  He graduated pioneering latinos 056-1 from Columbia in American  Studies and Creative Writing.  Not only that, heā€™s apparently put some of that learninā€™ to good use.  Heā€™s published a couple essays in the past few years and written for a blog for the New York Times (hereā€™s an example of his work from 2009).  I found Perez quite thoughtful and well-reasoned especially considering his youth.  Seeing that heā€™s been traded to the Cubs, now I just hope he can hit.  

 

pioneering latinos 044Finally, Bernardo Ruiz is the director of the film ā€˜Roberto Clementeā€™.  I must admit I have not seen ā€˜Clementeā€™ yet but now I want to.  Ruiz (left) said that he made the movie  because there was not a film out that adequately addressed Clemente and his life.  He wanted to tell his story.  He encouraged people to not stop there as there other stories around Latino baseball that still need to be told. 

 

It was nice to see former Negro League pitcher and Champaign native Ernie Westfield in the audience.  It was even better when Dr Burgos introduced him  pioneering latinos 033and had him read a poem before the panel discussion.  Westfield (right) is a hidden treasure in Champaign-Urbana.  No, Iā€™m not a big poetry fan but I could listen to Westfieldā€™s poems any day. 

Thanks to the Department of Latina/Latino Studies and Dr Burgos for putting on the Pioneering Latinos event.  I know Burgos is a great fan of Mr Minoso (and he said so at the event).  This must have been a fulfilling project for him. 

  More photos of the event here.

Pioneering Latinos event coming soon

Another local note:  A collaboration billed as ā€œPioneering Latinos: Building a Legacy on and Beyond the Playing Field is coming up soon here at the University of Illinois.  Itā€™s generating some real interest among baseball fans and Latino activists alike. 

Events will span a couple daysā€¦ January 19-20 and will include a movie showing of Roberto Clemente, a lunchtime speaker plus a nightly ā€œfireside chatā€ with former Sox player Minnie Minoso

It will feature some other big names, too.  Besides Minoso, 2008 Raysā€™ Minor League Player of the Year Fernando Perez is speaking  Perez is now with the Cubsā€™ organization.  Bernardo Ruiz who directed the film, Roberto Clemente will also speak. 

For more information, browse to the University of Illinois Latina/Latino Studies web site where they have more details. 

Zealot friend and U of I professor, Adrian Burgos will be facilitating the event and was key in putting this all together. 

All events are free to the public.

Don’t forget to register for the upcoming Sports Trivia Championship

Registration for the Second annual Kiwanis Sports Trivia Championship is coming to a close.  The date of the contest is January 30th but if you want to enter, youā€™ll need to register by January 15th.  Do it now!  You can register at Kiwanisā€™ web site they have set up for the event.

The Sports Trivia Contest will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign, Illinois. Event organizer Steve Zahos is mum on the types of questions being asked other than to say that there are a few new categories.  Indeed, he is right.  Here is the list:

  • Illini Men’s Basketball
  • St. Louis Cardinals
  • National Football League
  • What’s The Number?
  • Illini Football
  • Super Bowls
  • Chicago Cubs
  • NCAA Men’s Basketball
  • Major League Baseball
  • Chicago Bears

Alas, I donā€™t remember Whatā€™s the Number, Super Bowls or NCAA Menā€™s Basketball from last year. 

Team Zealot will once again make an appearance this year.  The good news is that we canā€™t do much worse than last year.  Thereā€™s Room for Improvement!  Thatā€™s our slogan and weā€™re sticking with it.

Finally, Blyleven (and the last we’ll see of KB on the ballot)

Iā€™ve said it before.Ā  And even before that.Ā  Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall of Fame.Ā  Now Iā€™ll shut up about it.Ā  Maybe.

No longer will he be the leader among non-eligible onlookers in strikeouts.Ā  Heā€™ll be looking from within.Ā  Or third in wins.Ā  Heā€™ll have his plaque up in the hallowed hall.

Glad to see him get his due.

One player who didnā€™t get much consideration was Kevin Brown.Ā  He got 12 votes. That amounts to just 2 percent of the vote which means he wonā€™t remain on the ballot next year.Ā  Iā€™m no KB fanboy but I would have thought his career would have garnered more than a passing ā€œCā€™yaā€.

211-144 over 19 seasons with great 3.28 ERA (considering the era he pitched).Ā  He pitched in six All-Star games.Ā  Letā€™s not forget he won five postseason games and won the Cy Young award.

Again, not a huge Kevin Brown fan but I expected to see him on the ballot for a while.