OLYMPICS FEVER! - Answers [May Contain Spoilers, Believe It Or Not]

Here's a refresher:

OH WAIT HOW DID THAT GET IN THERE? Here's the REAL refresher:

And here are the answers (which may contain spoilers, if you live under a rock or are watching the Olympics only in primetime like some kind of Luddite or something):

#1 = Mary Lou Retton. (1st woman on a Wheaties box!)
#2 = Greg Louganis. (Still and always my favorite.)
#3&4 = (L-R) Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. (Just lost their first SET ever in Olympic play, still undefeated in matches.)
#5 = Michael Phelps. (Went went on to set a record for number of individual Olympic medals since I posted the original, plus JUST TODAY became the first man to win the same event - 200m IM - in three consecutive Olympics.)
#6 = Janet Evans. (I wanted to be her, until I realized that the 1500m is a VERY LONG SWIM.)
#7 = Ian "The Thorpedo" Thorpe. (From Australia. Adorable nickname. I am a sucker for puns.)
#8 = Mia Hamm Garciaparra. (Women's soccer FTW! Plus, she married Nomar, God bless her.)
#9 = Mark Spitz. (Who probably wishes he was Michael Phelps right now.)
#10 = Nadia Comăneci. (She of the first perfect 10 in the Olympics, in Montréal, and also adorable pigtails.)

OLYMPICS FEVER!

Yup, I have it - even though I haven't actually be able to WATCH any of it, since I spent opening weekend in class and almost getting disappeared from the face of the Earth due to some sort of derecho-type weather situation with hailstones the size of nickels and horizontal rain and lightning-struck trees. (These things may or may not be related - I honestly can't tell.)

ANYWAY.

Let's play my favoritest game in the world: What in the world is going on in rockle's mind? In this case, I have made a collage of my top ten favorite summer Olympic athletes ever as of about 20 minutes ago. Can you guess who they are, what sport they competed in, and how many Olympic medals (of any color) they won? Hints below the picture.

HINTS:
#1 = 1984.
#2 = 1976, 1984, 1988.
#3&4 = 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012.
#5 = 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012.
#6 = 1988, 1992.
#7 = 2004.
#8 = 1996, 2000, 2004.
#9 = 1968, 1972.
#10 = 1976, 1980. (Plus: 10.)

Twenty Questions: America, F*ck Yeah!

Sorry, that's kind of an obnoxious title, but I meant it ironically, so. In honor of the upcoming long Memorial Day weekend, as well as the unofficial start of summer, this week's random trivia is just that -- a random hodgepodge of stuff from different categories that I have cleverly disguised as an "Americana" quiz. Or not, depending on how flexible your definition of "Americana" is. Anyway, can you come up with answers to the following questions?

• Three songs that contain "U.S.A." in the title (easy)
• Three TV shows that featured a beach in the opening credits (easy)
• Three kinds of salads that might be served at a picnic (easy)
• Three kinds of beverages that people drink in the summer (easy)
• Three games or activities that are played outdoors (easy)
• Three movies that "reference" the 4th of July in the title (moderate to hard)
• Two songs about American cities that were recorded by foreigners (hard)

Twenty total points possible. Approximate difficulty of the questions is in parentheses (didn't want to tax your brains too much, what with it being a long weekend and all). You shouldn't use your Google-fu -- and for this one you shouldn't even need it -- but how will I know if you do? I will post my answers in the comments on Tuesday (so you have time to come up with good answers and still have time to get your party on).

Twenty Questions: Heavy Cloud, No Rain

Hey, remember way back around the Super Bowl, when I said I wanted to start doing Trivia Fridays, and then I sort of ... stopped? Well, I'm bringing sexy back, babies! And in honor of the 40 days and 40 nights of rain that we've had in these parts, with more on the way, I decided to do a quiz about The Weather. Specifically, "songs about the weather." Can you come up with songs that fit the criteria below?

• Three songs from the 1970's that have "Rain" in the title
• Three songs from the 1980's that have "Rain" in the title
• Three songs from the 1990's that have "Rain" in the title
• Two songs that have "Weather" in the title
• Two songs that have "Hurricane" in the title
• Two songs that have "Thunder" in the title
• Two songs that have "Lightning" in the title
• And, the "change-up": Three songs by Earth Wind & Fire

Twenty total points possible. You should name the artist if possible but if it is a correct song title you won't lose any points. For the first three questions, "Rainy" or "Raining" or some other form of "rain" is acceptable, but "rainbow" is not. For question #6, a compound word containing "thunder" as one of its parts is acceptable (which means I just gave a REALLY BIG CLUE). You shouldn't use your Google-fu, but how will I know if you do? I will post my answers in the comments on Sunday (so you have time to come up with good answers).

Smells Like Team Spirit

Today is "Spirit Day" at school, and the kids were supposed to dress in their favorite sports gear or team colors. I briefly entertained the idea of putting Cupcake in her Eagles cheerleading outfit, but decided to save that for Super Bowl Day, because I am WEIRDLY SUPERSTITIOUS and do not wear actual team colors or logos or anything on game days, because I've had a run of bad luck in the past. And the way I figure, it's not like the Eagles can possibly lose next week, although I am sure they will figure out how.

There has also been some discussion as to whether this jersey is cursed, because Cupcake wore it like twice on Sundays, and it did not end well for Pittsburgh. For that, though, I blame my husband. Because, why not? He doesn't even read my blog, so he has no opportunity to defend himself. Haha, sucker. In any event, I decided to go with the officially licensed NFL gear and the piggies, because OMG have you seen her? So CUTE!

It's a slow day at work today, plus it's a Friday, so I thought I'd finish out this post with a Totally Useless But Hopefully Fun Sports Quiz for you. Can you name professional sports teams that fit into the categories below? (No, college teams do not count.) Good luck!

1. Two teams whose names contain the color "Red"
2. Two teams whose names contain the color "Blue"
3. Two teams whose names contain another color
   
4. Two teams named for celestial bodies
5. Two teams named for terrestrial features
6. Two teams named for meteorological events
7. Two teams whose names contain numbers
8. Two teams whose names contain occupations
9. Two teams named after cats
10. Two teams named after birds
11. Two teams named after fish/fishlike creatures
    
12. Three teams whose names DO NOT end in "S"

Twenty-five total points possible. Number 8 is kind of a trick question, so I will give partial credit (i.e., real or imagined occupations will count, but I will tell you right now that "Celtic" isn't a job, and neither is "Pacer"). You shouldn't use your Google-fu, but how will I know if you do? I will post my answers in the comments tomorrow.