C.R.E.A.owners
Sports are going on in some limited or reduced capacity, but it seems pretty obvious that the various leagues should have postponed or cancelled their seasons
It’s funny that sports, and enjoyment of sports, represents such a weird dividing line in our culture. Not weird, just funny. It’s not that I don’t get the perspective(s) of people who don’t like sports, or sports culture — there’s a lot to dislike. The other side of the coin is that there’s a hell of a lot to like, and to locate yourself within.
Jonathan and I wouldn’t be friends if not for a Facebook group devoted to the Toronto Blue Jays, and if a day goes by without messages in a specific WhatsApp group chat about fantasy basketball, I tend to wonder if my friends Simon and Tyler are alive. Sports, fantasy or otherwise, have helped me keep in touch with friends and texturize relationships since I left my parents’ nest in the 1990s. I wrote a piece about this for the Toronto Standard in 2012 or 2013, and to a degree, Oddball is a continuation of that idea, because all we’re really doing here is talking, listening, and communicating. Sports is the vehicle, but connection is the goal.
Anyway, thanks for connecting with us. In these fractious times, that really does mean something.
— DJ
Answers from last week’s issue
Among active NBA players, who has the most career (regular season) personal fouls?
This one may have seemed easy, but that’s only because it was. Dwight Howard, whose goonery helped the L.A. Lakers win a chip, goes into tonight’s action with 3,643 regular season fouls.
Among active MLB players, who has the most career (regular season) triples?
This was the hardest one, and we offer our finest artisanal kudos to anyone who got it. It’s Dexter Fowler, with 82. Rounding out the top five are Brett Gardner (69/nice), Dee Strange-Gordon (54), Ryan Braun (49), and Elvis Andrus (48).
Among active NFL quarterbacks, who has thrown the most career pick-sixes in the regular season?
Drew Brees, whose likely last career moment was — LOLOLOLOL — watching another quarterback take a knee, has 27 career (regular season) pick-sixes.
Among active NHL players, who has the most career (regular season) penalty minutes?
The answer is none other than Washington’s newest Capital, Zdeno Chara, whose career started in another millennium (1997-98) and who has 1,958 regular season PIM as of this writing.
#whenrevere
If it wasn’t clear, we’re asking “when” and “what year” -type questions this week. Address all complaints to the Monsanto Corporation.
In what season (i.e. 1954-55, 1987-88) did LeBron James average 30 points per game in the regular season for the last time?
In what year did the American League adopt the designated hitter rule?
What year’s NHL entry draft year saw a European go #1 overall for the first time?
What was the first year the Super Bowl was not played in January?
#postscript
Thanks to Ben Revere for being named his name and to you for being named your name, unless your name is Lyle Lanley, because we tried your goddamn monorail and both got bit by a possum.
We know you love us and want to help Oddball out, so please click the heart and share this issue (and all the other issues!) with likeminded friends, enemies, and frenemies you think may enjoy the challenge. Same goes for the challenge of our weekday trivia over on Facebook — which we are thinking of moving to Instagram.
If you have an opinion about that or anything else, get thee to the comments section.
DJ/JY