90s Sports Trivia
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This 90s sports trivia quiz has 58 free questions with answers and runs through the decade that gave us the Dream Team, Michael Jordan's two retirements, a cancelled World Series, Tiger Woods' first green jacket and a penalty kick at the Rose Bowl that ended with a sports bra on the cover of every magazine. It covers the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, soccer, boxing, golf, tennis, the Olympics, cycling and NASCAR, so nobody at the table gets to coast on a single sport. The questions start easy (who bit whom in Las Vegas?) and get genuinely hard (which pitcher gave up McGwire's 62nd? which team was leading baseball when the 1994 strike hit?). Difficulty is marked on every question so you can pick a level for a bar night, a family game or a 90s-themed party. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation, so when someone insists the Bills lost five straight Super Bowls, you can settle it on the spot.
30 of 58 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which team did the Bulls beat in the 1998 NBA Finals, ended by Michael Jordan's last shot as a Bull?
Utah Jazz
The Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in six games; Jordan's jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds left gave Chicago an 87-86 lead in Game 6 and a sixth title.
Q 02During his 1994 baseball detour, Michael Jordan played for which minor-league team?
Birmingham Barons
Jordan signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox and hit .202 for their Double-A Birmingham Barons, with three home runs and 30 stolen bases.
Q 03What regular-season record did the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls post, an NBA best that stood for twenty years?
72-10
Chicago's 72-10 stood as the NBA record until the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors went 73-9, though Golden State lost in the Finals and the Bulls did not.
Q 04How many points did Michael Jordan score in the 1997 'Flu Game' against Utah?
38
Jordan scored 38 points in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 25 seconds left, then collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms.
Q 05The 1994 baseball strike wiped out the World Series for the first time since which year?
1904
The 1904 Series was skipped when the Giants refused to play Boston; the 1994 strike began on August 12, lasted 232 days and cancelled 948 games, including the Series.
Q 06Which team owned the best record in baseball, 74-40, when the 1994 players' strike ended the season?
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos, 74-40, never got their shot at a title; the franchise moved to Washington in 2005. Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 when play stopped.
Q 07Which future Supreme Court justice's March 1995 injunction effectively ended the baseball strike?
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor, then a federal district judge in Manhattan, issued the injunction against the owners on March 31, 1995; players returned for a 144-game season starting in late April.
Q 08On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking whose record?
Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 straight games had stood since 1939; Ripken kept going until 1998, voluntarily ending his streak at 2,632 games, 502 beyond the old mark.
Q 09Which Cubs pitcher gave up Mark McGwire's record-breaking 62nd home run on September 8, 1998?
Steve Trachsel
Steve Trachsel's pitch became a 341-foot liner over the left-field wall, one of McGwire's shortest of the year; he finished with 70, Sammy Sosa with 66 and the NL MVP.
Q 10Whose walk-off three-run home run off Mitch Williams won the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays?
Joe Carter
Joe Carter's homer to left off Mitch Williams in Game 6 made Toronto the first repeat champion since the 1977-78 Yankees; Game 4 of that Series was a 15-14 slugfest.
Q 11Who hit the 11th-inning walk-off single in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Marlins?
Édgar Rentería
Édgar Rentería's single off Charles Nagy scored Craig Counsell; the Marlins were the first wild-card champion, and owner Wayne Huizenga then sold off the roster, leading to a 54-108 1998.
Q 12What was the final score of Super Bowl XXV, where Scott Norwood's kick went 'wide right'?
20-19
The Giants won 20-19 after Norwood's 47-yard attempt sailed wide right; Whitney Houston sang the anthem and New York held the ball for a Super Bowl-record 40 minutes 33 seconds.
Q 13Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXII after scoring three touchdowns despite a migraine?
Terrell Davis
Q 21Who lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta opening ceremony?
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali, visibly shaking from Parkinson's, took the torch from swimmer Janet Evans and lit the cauldron; a record 197 nations took part in Atlanta.
Q 22What world-record time did Michael Johnson run in the 200 metres at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics?
19.32
Johnson ran 19.32 in gold-coloured Nike spikes, slashing his own record of 19.66, and became the first man to win the 200 and 400 at one Games.
Q 23Which Canadian sprinter won the 100 metres in Atlanta in a then world record 9.84 seconds?
Donovan Bailey
Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 to take the 100 metres, then anchored Canada's 4x100 relay to gold ahead of the United States on home soil.
Terrell Davis missed most of the second quarter with the migraine and yet ran for a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns; Denver's win snapped the AFC's 13-game losing streak.
Q 14How many rushing yards did Barry Sanders gain in 1997, his co-MVP season with Brett Favre?
2,053
Sanders ran for 2,053 yards in 1997, topping 100 in each of the final 14 games, an NFL-record streak, and retired in 1999 by faxing a letter to the Wichita Eagle.
Q 15How far short of Walter Payton's NFL rushing record was Barry Sanders when he retired in 1999?
1,457 yards
Sanders retired with 15,269 yards, 1,457 yards short of Walter Payton's 16,726, walking away the day before Lions camp opened after ten seasons and one playoff win.
Q 16Which team did the Dallas Cowboys beat 30-13 in Super Bowl XXVIII in January 1994?
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills lost their fourth consecutive Super Bowl, the second straight to Dallas, after leading 13-6 at halftime.
Q 17The 1994 New York Rangers ended a Stanley Cup drought of how many years?
54
The Rangers' first Cup since 1940 ended a 54-year wait; they needed seven games to beat Vancouver after blowing a 3-1 series lead, and Mark Messier had delivered a guaranteed Game 6 hat trick against New Jersey.
Q 18Which country won the men's ice hockey gold at Nagano 1998, the first Olympics to feature NHL players?
Czechia
The Czechs, led by Dominik Hašek in goal, beat Russia 1-0 in the final. Nagano also introduced women's ice hockey, curling and snowboarding to the Winter Games.
Q 19At 15, who became the youngest individual Winter Olympic gold medallist at Nagano in 1998?
Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski, aged 15, upset the favoured Michelle Kwan in the free skate at Nagano and turned professional soon afterwards.
Q 20Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg on January 6, 1994, in the corridor of which building?
Cobo Arena, Detroit
The attack came at Cobo Arena, Detroit, the practice rink for the US Championships; Shane Stant swung a baton, the plot traced to Tonya Harding's ex-husband, and Harding was banned for life.
Q 24How many people were killed by the pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park during the Atlanta Games?
Two
Two people died: Alice Hawthorne was killed by the July 27 blast and a cameraman suffered a fatal heart attack; 111 were injured, and Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty and got life.
Q 25Who was the only college player on the 1992 US Olympic 'Dream Team'?
Christian Laettner
Christian Laettner, the Duke forward, was picked over LSU's Shaquille O'Neal; the team won by an average of 43.8 points and beat Croatia 117-85 for gold.
Q 26Which Detroit Pistons star was controversially left off the 1992 Dream Team roster?
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Thomas was passed over despite back-to-back Pistons titles, even though Dream Team coach Chuck Daly was his own coach in Detroit; Charles Barkley led the team at 18 points a game.
Q 27On November 7, 1991, which NBA superstar announced he had HIV and was retiring immediately?
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson announced his HIV diagnosis at a Forum press conference; he nonetheless played in the 1992 All-Star Game, scoring 25 points for MVP, then joined the Dream Team in Barcelona.
Q 28To how many games was the 1998-99 NBA regular season cut by the lockout?
50
Teams played a 50-game schedule starting in February 1999 after the 204-day lockout, the first NBA work stoppage to cancel games; San Antonio won the title.
Q 29Which team did Houston beat in the 1994 NBA Finals for the first of its back-to-back titles?
New York Knicks
Houston beat the New York Knicks in seven games; Game 5 was famously interrupted on TV by O.J. Simpson's white Bronco chase, and Houston swept Orlando the following year.
Q 30By how many strokes did 21-year-old Tiger Woods win the 1997 Masters?
Twelve
Woods won by twelve strokes over Tom Kite after shooting 40 on his first nine holes, finishing at 18-under 270, then a tournament record.