18
votes
Accepted
What's the etymology of the term Red Zone?
Joe Gibbs, the former Washington Redskins coach (1981–1992, 2004-2007), is widely credited with making the phrase popular in a Washington Post article in 1982. Supposedly, he tried to use it to ...
14
votes
Are the NBA champions called World champions? Why is that?
Like it or not, American sports has a history of calling the winner of each of its major professional sports each year "World Champions." This tradition goes back to the 1884 World Series. Besides ...
12
votes
What is the difference between a manager and a coach in case of a football team?
As you said in question these terms are used interchangeably. From Wikipedia:
In association football, a manager is an occupation of head coach in the United Kingdom responsible for running a ...
12
votes
Accepted
Who are the "Olympic Athletes from Russia"?
The Russian Olympic Committee was suspended from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games as a result of state-sponsored doping and testing fraud in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. They are ...
Nij♦
- 7,985
11
votes
Abbreviations in a football league table - what do they mean?
Nice and easy:
P: Games played
W: Games won
D: Games drawn
L: Games lost
GS: Goals scored
GA: Goals against
+/-: goal difference (ie goals scored minus goals against); often abbreviated to "GD".
Pts: ...
11
votes
Accepted
What is a protected pick?
A protected pick is one which will be traded only if it is below a certain point in the draft order. For example, in the Cousins trade, the first round pick that the Pelicans are sending to the Kings ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why isn't the term "hat trick" used in American Football?
I'm not sure where you get the idea that American football has meaningful links to association football (American soccer). It shares a name, sure, but otherwise it is much closer to Rugby (Union/...
Joe♦
- 12.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Why was USA disqualified from the 4x100 men's relay final in the Rio Olympics?
4x100m relay are composed by 4 runners that run approximately 100m each. To avoid that a faster athlete run a longer section are imposed limits for the passage of the baton.
In the image below you ...
9
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between ping pong and table tennis?
There is no difference. Ping pong is simply another name for table tennis. The two terms are used by the vast majority of people interchangably.
Historically, the name Ping Pong was a trademarked ...
8
votes
What is the difference between a manager and a coach in case of a football team?
The short answer is that these 2 terms have equivalent meanings in football. And whenever you read one of these words in a sports article, most of the times, authors don't distinguish between terms ...
8
votes
Accepted
What does the superscript used in tennis scores mean?
When a set reaches 6-6, a tiebreaker is used to determine the winner of the thirteenth game and hence the set. The first player serves once, then the players alternate serving twice consecutively, ...
Nij♦
- 7,985
8
votes
Accepted
Is the convention for reporting football results universal?
Yes, the convention in the US is to report the winning team first.
Take Wednesday's article in the New York Times on Tuesdays's Yankee-White Sox. matchup played at Guaranteed Rate Field (the home ...
8
votes
What are scrubbed tyres?
"Scrubbed" tires in F1 parlance are ones that have done a short number of laps (perhaps one run in qualifying for example but not enough to be worn out). They will have been through a heat cycle and ...
8
votes
Do position and role mean the same thing in football?
I'm basing my answer on years of watching soccer while not paying too much attention what the commentators say, and not any official lingo. As a disclaimer, I never played organized soccer either. But ...
7
votes
NFL broadcast info---HS or college affiliation? What does that mean?
There are no rules. Players get to give a shout out to one school and they say whatever they want. Would the networks let a player who went to Miami say they went to Oregon? Probably not. But as ...
7
votes
Accepted
What is a team basket in basketball?
Huh, this is a tricky one to actually try to look up due to the terms used. I can't find an instance of the term in the NBA or NCAA rules. However, I'm nearly positive a "team basket" is usually noted ...
7
votes
Accepted
Why do the Golden State Warriors call themselves dubnation?
Dub = short for W
W = Warriors
Different way of saying Warriornation.
7
votes
In North American football, why are 2 of the 5 offensive linemen called "tackles"?
Looking deeper into the initial development of the word tackle, from dictionary.com:
Middle English (denoting equipment for a specific task): probably from
Middle Low German takel, from taken: ...
7
votes
Accepted
Rushing yards vs passing yards vs receiving yards?
That is just a bad definition of "passing yards" - as can be seen from (for example) this boxscore, passing yards are most definitely counted for individual players (Flacco and Mallett for the Ravens ...
7
votes
Accepted
Are there any languages where people use a different word for goal?
The list:
Arabic (Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt): هدف [pronounced as "hadaf"], Gol
Catalan (Spain, France): Gol
Croatian (Croatia): Gol, Cilj
Danish (Denmark): Mål
Darija (Morocco): Bite
Dutch (...
Community wiki
6
votes
Accepted
Shouldn't they call it a fair pole?
It is probably to just keep with the same terminology. The lines extending from home to first to right field and then third to left field, are both called foul lines. Anything outside of them are ...
6
votes
Accepted
What is a "go-ahead three-pointer" in basketball?
A three-pointer is a shot that scores three points by virtue of the taker being outside the three-point arc at the time of taking it.
The "go-ahead" shot or goal in any sport is that shot or goal ...
Nij♦
- 7,985
6
votes
Foot fault on a jump serve in volleyball
From FIVB rules of the game
12.4.3 At the moment of the service hit or take-off for a jump service, the
server must not touch the court (the end line included) or the floor
outside the service ...
6
votes
Accepted
Would the Copa del Rey change its name for a queen?
No.
The Copa del Rey was originally named in honour of Alfonso XIII, and is now a generic king's cup.
The Copa de la Reina is the cup awarded for the corresponding women's competition. There does ...
Nij♦
- 7,985
6
votes
Accepted
How can one team "own" another team's first-round pick?
Draft picks are an asset, and (in the NBA anyway) they can be traded between teams (subject to some restrictions). Whichever team has the pick on the day of the draft gets to select a player and have ...
6
votes
Accepted
What does this three-number notation mean in football?
In association football, people usually denote first number of wins, then number of draws, and then number of losses.
So, in this case it means 0 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss for Germany and 1 win, 0 draws, ...
6
votes
Accepted
What is it called when one runs for the second run without touching the crease during the first run?
This is called a short run. Quoting from Law 18:
18.3 Short runs
18.3.1 A run is short if a batsman fails to make good his/her ground in turning for a further run.
18.3.2 Although a short run ...
6
votes
What's the official term for the batting player in women's cricket?
As of 22nd September 2021, "batter" is the offical term in both men's and women's cricket - see e.g. Law 25 Batter's innings; Runners.1
"Third man", "nightwatchman" and ...
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