The DD Experience: July 2012

Q1. How many different events are included in the all-around competition in women's gymnastics?
a) 4
b) 5
c) 6

Q2. Cleveland was recently appointed host city for the 2014 Gay Games. In what year and city were the first Gay Games held?
Note: do not confuse this with the Outgames
a) 1982 San Francisco
b) 1984 New York City
c) 1986 Los Angeles
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Q3. Which Winter Olympics country has the most lopsided medal count in terms of % of total medals won in a single sport?
—a) Norway – nordic skiing
b) South Korea – speed skating
c) Austria – alpine skiing
—

Q4. Where were the Southernmost Winter Olympics held
—a) Salt Lake City, USA
b) Turin, Italy
c) Nagano, Japan

Q5. Where were the Northernmost Summer Olympics held
a) 1980 Moscow
b) 1952 Helsinki
c) 1976 Montreal

Q6. London 2012 is the 30th Olympiad. Including London 2012 and excluding the three games cancelled due to war (1916, 1940 and 1944), how many different cities have hosted the summer games?
a) 22
b) 23
c) 24

Q7. Somehow, yachting is an Olympic event. How many crew members are on each boat in the Star class competition? Be sure to include the skipper!
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3

Q8. How many times has a single nation swept the podium in the men's OR women's 100m dash:
—a) 0
b) 2
c) 3

Q9. In 1972 American Swimmer Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals. Which of the following events did he NOT win:
a) 200m freestyle
b) 200m butterfly
c) 400m individual medley

Q10. In 2008, Liu Chunghong won the gold medal in the women’s 69kg weight class
What was her winning lift in kg’s in the Snatch (as opposed to Clean & Jerk)?
a) 108kg
b) 118kg
c) 128kg

Q11. The 1956 Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia, but due to biosecurity concerns the equestrian events were held early. In which city were they held in September 1956:
a) Tokyo
b) Dover
c) Stockholm

Q12. Which of the following nations has NOT been represented by athletes at all 32 Modern Olympiads (excepting those cancelled due to war)?
a) Great Britain
b) France
c) Switzerland

Q13. What is the smallest city (by current population as of 2010) to have hosted the Summer Olympic games?
a) Antwerp
b) Stockholm
c) Athens

Q14. Which of the following island nations has the highest overall medal count (Summer Games only)
—a) Trinidad & Tobago
b) Mauritius
c) Puerto Rico
—

Q15. Europe’s reigning monarchs have how many Olympic medals between them?
a) 0
b) 2
c) 4
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Q16. The ancient Olympics were held at Olympia, Greece. In what US state is a modern city named Olympia?
a) Tennessee
b) Washington
c) Nevada
—

Q18. Anne, Princess Royal competed in equestrian events at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. What was the name of her horse?
a) Doublet
b) Goodwill
c) Rarity

Q19. Which of the following actors did not appear in the Classic 1981 made-for-TV movie Miracle on Ice?
a) Karl Malden (Patton)
b) Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy)
c) Dennis Quaid (Great Balls of Fire!)

Q20. The Olympic marathon record (42km) is 2:06:32. What is the current record in the wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon?
a) 1:12:28
b) 1:18:32
c) 1:22:06

Q21. The tug-of-war was an Olympic sport between 1900 and 1920. How many competitors were on each team the last time it was contested in 1920?
a) 5
b) 7
c) 8
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Q21. Pigeon shooting appeared as an event at the first three modern Olympic games. What total did the gold medallist get in 1904 St Louis?
—a) 22
b) 32
c) 42

Q22. Ramadan is the month of the year when Muslims fast during daylight hours, and will affect Muslim athletes in London. In what year did Ramadan last fall during the Olympic games?
a) 1972 Munich
b) 1980 Moscow
c) 1988 Seoul

Q23. Contested since 1972, which nation has won the most Olympic medals in Handball (men's)?
a) Romania
b) Spain
c) Germany
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Q24. Since professionals were allowed to play basketball at the Olympics starting in 1992, how many of the 5 contested gold medals has the USA's men's “Dream Team" won?
—a) 3
b) 4
c) 5

Q25. This is a picture of the famous "Black Power" display on the podium at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. From which nation did the silver medallist hail?
a) England
b) Russia
c) Australia

Q26. Jamaica famously entered a bobsled team in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, and was coached by John Candy in the movie Cool Runnings. How old was Candy when he passed away in 1994?
a) 43
b) 47
c) 51

Q27. How many nations competed in the first Modern Olympics in 1896 Athens?
a) 10
b) 14
c) 18

Q28. Since when has American fast food chain McDonald's been a title sponsor of the USA Olympic team?
a) 1968 Mexico City
b) 1976 Montreal
c) 1984 Los Angeles

Q29. Who was not an official mascot of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing?
—a) Beibei
b) Nini
c) Singsing

Q30. As of 2012, how many members of the USA Men’s gold medal 4x400 relay team from the 2000 Olympics have not admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs?
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2

Q31. The 1994 movie Muriel's Wedding features the title character marrying an Olympic hopeful from which nation?
a) South Africa
b) France
c) Poland

Q32. Contested since 1956, what is the mens’ world (not Olympic) record in time for the 20km walk?
a) 1:17:16
b) 1:25:32
c) 1:37:22

Q33. What nation has won the most medals in Men’s aerial freestyle skiing since the event's inception in 1992?
a) Belarus
b) USA
c) Switzerland

Q34. Canadians get a bit excited about ice hockey. How many times has Canada won the men’s gold medal, out of the 20 Winter Olympics held?
a) 8
b) 12
c) 16

Q35. How old, in months, was the youngest medalist ever, speedskater Kim Yoon Mi from South Korea, who took home a medal in Lillehammer?
a) 154
b) 158
c) 162

Q36. Greg Louganis famously hit his head on a dive tower at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. During which event was he competing?
a) 5m Springboard
b) 10m Platform
c) 3m Springboard

Q37. The Detroit Lions are a notoriously terrible football team. How many times in a row did the city of Detroit bid, and fail, to be nominated the host city of the Summer Games, starting in 1952?
a) 4
b) 5
c) 6

Q38. The 1992 Winter Olympics were held in Albertville, France. In which provence is Albertville?
a) Lyon
b) Champagne
c) Savoie

Q39. Pre-London 2012, how many medals has New Zealand won (including Summer and Winter games)?
a) 75
b) 87
c) 99

Q40. The ski jump is everybody’s favourite Olympic event. How long is the world’s longest ramp at Vikkursunbakken, Norway?
a) 175m
b) 200m
c) 225m

Q41. Romanian Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in an Olympic event, in 1976 Montreal. Which of the following scripts spells her name in the Cyrillic (Romanian) alphabet?
(ref: translit.cc)

a) Приме Дирецтиве
b) Цаптаин Авесоме
c) Надиа Цоманеци

Q42. US figure skater Tonya Harding was involved in an unsavoury incident leading up to the 1994 Olympics, in which her partner assaulted another competitor with a police baton.
How long was her 2000 jail sentence for having assaulted her partner with a hubcap?
a) 3 days
b) 3 weeks
c) 3 months

Q43. Which of the following actors did not appear in the monster movie Lake Placid, set in Lake Placid, New York?
—a) Bill Paxton
b) Brendan Gleeson
c) Betty White
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Q44. A total of twenty-two nations officially boycotted the Montreal Olympics because the IOC refused to ban which country from attending:
a)Soviet Union
b)Taiwan (Democratic Rep of china)
c)New Zealand

Q45. Montreal famously racked up $1.5 billion in debt to host the 1976 games. In what year was the debt finally paid off?
—a)1996
b)2001
c)2006

Q46. Which of the following is not an event in the “modern pentathlon”
—a)Long jump
b)Show jumping (equestrian)
c)Shooting

Q47. Which of the following was permitted in ancient Olympic wrestling:
a)Biting
b)Hair pulling
c)Eye gouging

Q48. In the NBC sitcom Friends, which Olympian was on Ross’ “5 Celebs” list?
a)Katarina Witt
b)Dorothy Hamill
c)Florence Griffith-Joyner

Q49. Chariots of Fire is an inspirational 1981 film about the Olympics.
Who wrote the inspirational 2011 autobiography A Shore Thing.
a)Jwoww
b)Snooki
c)Mike “The Situation”

Q50. The Olympics have had 40 host cities. How many of them has the quizmaster Dustin personally set foot in (airports and train stations do not count on their own)?
a)12
b)20
c)28
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My apologies in advance for the wacky formatting - Blogger changed my interface and I'm still getting used it it, and accidentally tripped the "highlight background" function on about half of the text, which got messed up and will take too long to correct. But try to enjoy the photos despite this.

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This post is significantly overdue, but since I haven't really addressed the World Cup in detail I better put some thoughts to it. The Rugby World Cup was, in all, a success. For a tiny little nation at the edge of the world, New Zealand did right by itself by throwing a national event across 12 host cities, with only one little mishap at the start.

My precious . . . The Webb Ellis cup

Here's a few background facts on International Rugby Board (IRB) competition leading up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) in New Zealand

Tournament Structure

the tournament occurs ever 4 years
20 teams compete in four pools of five
The teams selected are the top 12 IRB ranked teams at the end of 2009, plus 8 qualifiers
All teams play four pool games, and the top two teams in each pool qualify for quarterfinals
Teams cross pools so you won't replay a team in your pool until the finals

New Zealand History

The first RWC was held in New Zealand in 1987, which New Zealand won
New Zealand had not won since the inaugural championship in New Zealand, despite being the #1 ranked team for much of the past 24 years
New Zealand had not made a final since 1995 (which was held in South Africa, and was made into a little movie by the name of Invictus)

[In Team America voice] Matt Damon

Loves me some Matt Damon (Photo per Warner Brothers)

Pools are sorted so the teams ranked 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 are placed in separate pools
Lead teams were New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England

Who to Cheer For

If you live in New Zealand, it is not difficult to figure out who to cheer for. Here's a handy guide in case you find yourself in a Kiwi pub during a rugby match.

Rule #1 - If the All Blacks are playing, you cheer for them

It is not uncommon for fans to participate in the
pre-game haka,regardless of how public the bar they're in

Also, for kicks: worst haka ever.

Rule #2 - If Australia are playing, you cheer against them

We hates Australia, trying to takes our precious

I personally have some mixed feelings

This Recovery Session photo courtesy of Zimbio

Rule #3 - In descending order, you cheer against England, France, and South Africa

Results

Here's what the IRB rankings look like today, 7 July 2012, which are largely unchanged since 2010.

IRB World Rankings - 02 July 2012

Position (last week)	Member Union	Rating Point
1(1)	NEW ZEALAND	91.43
2(2)	AUSTRALIA	87.05
3(3)	SOUTH AFRICA	84.87
4(4)	ENGLAND	83.09
5(5)	FRANCE	83.03
6(6)	WALES	82.26
7(7)	IRELAND	79.85
8(8)	ARGENTINA	79.25
9(9)	SCOTLAND	77.97
10(10)	SAMOA	76.23
11(11)	ITALY	76.03
12(12)	TONGA	74.79

The five top teams are the only ones to have ever played in the final, thus the other 15 teams in the tournament essentially have no hope of winning. What makes the pool play fun is that upsets from the number 6-12 ranked teams can dramatically affect later rounds.

Results

Ireland beat Australia 15-6, becoming the #1 team in their pool
South Africa narrowly beat Wales 17-16, retaining the #1 spot in their pool
New Zealand and England swept their pools
France was in New Zealand's pool, and crossed as the #2 team

Quarterfinals

New Zealand walked over Argentina
Wales defeated evenly matched Ireland
France squeaked one over England 19-12
Because Australia lost to Ireland, they had to play South Africa in the quarterfinals and escaped 11-9

Semifinals

New Zealand played Australia and won 20-6. Tickets were extremely hard to come by, and several cruise ships docked in Auckland and offered rooms for a cool five or six hundred a night
France played Wales

Wales was winning 3-0, but had possession, momentum and all that other good stuff going. Then, in the 17th minute, this happened. It's the equivalent of Zennadine Zidane getting sent off during the Soccer World Cup final in 2010. Down a player for the rest of the match, Wales lost 9-8 and their 23-year old captain Sam Warburton joined Sad Keanu and Sad Tom Brady on the bench.

Photo pulled from the Telegraph.co.uk

Hilariously, the two would run into each other again courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Finals
The World Cup Final featuring hosts New Zealand versus those cheese-eating surrender monkeys who infamously [in New Zealand] knocked them out in the quarterfinals at the 2007 RWC in France.

It was, for you Canadians, the USA versus Canada at home for the Gold Medal game in Vancouver 2010. Except if Canada hadn't won a single other medal at the games, and it was generally acknowledged that this would be the last Olympics held in Canada.

Photo from Getty Images here

Right, so it was the All Blacks against the French, and it was dangerous because France had just squeaked out two wins by fewer than 7 points each. And they were a notoriously sneaky bunch.

We went to a real Kiwi bar to watch the final in the big screen, and it was a pretty harrowing adventure. 15-minutes in, the All Blacks got on the scoreboard when Loosehead Prop #1 Tony Woodcock slid across the try-line on a set play from a line out. In NFL terms, this is the equivalent of throwing the ball to an offensive lineman because the defense won't expect it (except legal). Conversion was missed and New Zealand was up 5-0. Just after halftime in the 46th minute, Steven "the Beaver" Donald extended the All Black's lead to 8-0, which put France out of range from one score, and success seemed assured for New Zealand.

A minute later France's captain scored a converted try, leaving the score 8-7 for a spectacular 33 minutes of back-and forth rugby.

In the end, New Zealand held out for victory, and two of their more adorable players made confetti angels.

Pic from Yahoo! UK here

Then, we got the single most fascinating moment that John Key has delivered in his stint as Prime Minister, including his stint doing the Top 10 List on Letterman.

If you thought the worst haka ever featured above was bad, have a look as our Prime Minister (the investment banker on the left) tried to hijack this handshake.