Well I think you've got me this time Nancy, I know absolutely nothing about football.
Calamity Jane and I are heading out to a 'Seedy Saturday' up island this morning, should be fun.
I'll check in later but doubt if clues will help me with this one.

Annette

Have fun Annette - I thought this might be a challenge for you - it would be for me!! I guess this makes up for the Canadian and Royalty trivia I do sometime!!

Nancy.

Ha, Nancy. Great minds think alike. :)

As much as I like football, I will be guessing on each and every one of these.
Fun questions.

Cynthia

Three shouldn't be too hard - I didn't mean to be rough on you!! Two will likely end up being guesses, or I'll find really good clues. Remember, American football started out as rugby - maybe that doesn't help you, though. Hmmm....

Nancy.

These are not things I know but I have a few guesses.
1. a
2. c
3. b
4.
5. b

I don't know any of these for sure, but, like Bobbie, I have some guesses.

1. a
2. c
3. a
4. c
5. b

TM

Okay, here are my guesses.
1. C
2. B
3. A (hard to decide here)
4. C
5. B

Cynthia

Isn't there an idea out there that guesses are about 50% correct? I remember something about that....

So, Bobbie your opening was strong, and you are batting 500 on your answered questions. Likewise TM, you have a great beginning and end. I guess the Presidential question is rougher than I thought. Hmmmm.....

Nancy.

Aahh, Cynthia - you posted while I was composing!! Strong finish!!

Nancy.

I'm interpreting Nancy's response that 1. a and 5. b are correct.
Eliminating the middles as wrong for me and others bring new guesses. 2. a. 3. c. 4. b just because Roosevelt seems like the rough football type

I was thinking that TR would likely have been a football fan, what with being a Rough Rider and all.

TM

Interesting to note, that the old Ottawa franchise in the Canadian Football League was called the Rough Riders, as is the Saskatchewan team - differentiated by their colours, they were the green riders and the black riders. The local franchise was bankrupted and moved wholesale to the States - the Shreveport Pirates. All Ottawa sports teams have red and black as their colours, so the new franchise will be called the RedBlacks - how original.

Has nothing to do with the trivia question, but fun trivia, anyway!!

Nancy.

I was thinking that TR wouldn't try to get rid of football if people died-thought he would figure they needed to toughen up and/or protect themselves better! :)

So, switching things around here:
1. a
2. c
3. b
4. c
5. b

Cynthia

OK, I seem to be confusing you more and more, Cyn. Not my intention.

1. A - American football evolved from the sport of rugby football. The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. The game was played between two teams of 25 players each, used a round ball, and resembled a combination of rugby and soccer in its rules; the ball could not be picked up or carried, but it could be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, with the ultimate goal of advancing it into the opponent's goal. Rutgers won the game 6-4.

2. C - The first instance of professional play in American football was on November 12, 1892, when William 'Pudge' Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association in a match against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. This is the first recorded instance of a player being paid to participate in a game of American football, although many athletic clubs in the 1880s offered to help players attain employment, gave out trophies or watches that players would pawn for money, or paid double in expense money. Despite these extra benefits, the game had a strict sense of amateurism at the time, and direct payment to players was frowned upon, if not outright illegal.

3. A - The introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected strategy changes. Previously, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position. A group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both contestants in a Yale-Princeton game used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records. Each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half. This 'block game' proved extremely unpopular with spectators and fans of both teams.

4. B - Football remained a violent sport despite these innovations. Dangerous mass-formations like the flying wedge resulted in serious injuries and occasional deaths among players. A 1905 peak of 19 fatalities nationwide resulted in a threat by President Theodore Roosevelt to abolish the game unless major changes were made. Sixty-two schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes on December 28, 1905, and these proceedings resulted in the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

5. A - Over time, professional play became increasingly common, and with it came rising salaries and unpredictable player movement, as well as the illegal payment of college players who were still in school. The National Football League (NFL), a group of professional teams that was originally established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, aimed to solve these problems. This new league's stated goals included an end to bidding wars over players, prevention of the use of college players, and abolition of the practice of paying players to leave another team. The NFL by 1922 had established itself as the premier professional football league. FYI - a rival, the American Football League (AFL), arose in 1960 and challenged the NFL's dominance. The AFL began in relative obscurity but survived for several years due to a television contract with the ABC network. Competition for players heated up in 1965, when the AFL New York Jets signed rookie Joe Namath to a then-record US $437,000 contract.

Well, I get so confused with these multiple choice questions - even more that you, I think. So, for everyone, and maybe TM a little more, here are some stars that make me think of cheerleaders!!
{{gwi:596883}}

See you next week, same time, same station!!

Nancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: American football

Though I didn't do too great guessing correct answers I did learn some new trivia about football. Hey, hey, ho, ho! Love the stars!

Love those stars, too! Fun questions even though I didn't do too well. Should have stuck with some and changed some that I didn't change. That is what makes it amusing, though! You always make us think.

Cynthia

So in (3) the snap would be choice b, rather than a, right? I'll just grab one or two of those cool stars for my unimpressive guesses. The answers were surprising. Fun stuff, Nancy. Thanks!

TM