This 90s sports trivia quiz has 60 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 60 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
Jordan's jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds left gave Chicago an 87-86 lead in Game 6 and a sixth title. He retired for the second time the following January.
Q 02When Michael Jordan returned to the NBA in March 1995, which number did he first wear?
45
He announced the comeback with a two-word press release, "I'm back," and initially wore his baseball number before switching back to 23 after two games.
Q 03During his 1994 baseball detour, Michael Jordan played for which minor-league team?
Birmingham Barons
He signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox and hit .202 for their Double-A affiliate, with three home runs and 30 stolen bases.
Q 04What regular-season record did the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls post, an NBA best that stood for twenty years?
72-10
The mark stood until the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors went 73-9, though Golden State lost in the Finals and the Bulls did not.
Q 05How many points did Michael Jordan score in the 1997 'Flu Game' against Utah?
38
He also hit the game-winning three-pointer with 25 seconds left in Game 5, then collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms.
Q 06The 1994 baseball strike wiped out the World Series for the first time since which year?
1904
The strike began on August 12, 1994, lasted 232 days and cancelled 948 games. The 1995 season was shortened to 144 games.
Q 07Which team owned the best record in baseball, 74-40, when the 1994 players' strike ended the season?
Montreal Expos
Montreal never got its shot at a title; the franchise moved to Washington a decade later. Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 when play stopped.
Q 08Which future Supreme Court justice's March 1995 injunction effectively ended the baseball strike?
Sonia Sotomayor
She was a federal district judge in Manhattan at the time. Players returned for a 144-game season that started in late April.
Q 09On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking whose record?
Lou Gehrig
Ripken kept going until 1998, voluntarily ending the streak at 2,632 games, 502 beyond the old mark.
Q 10Which Cubs pitcher gave up Mark McGwire's record-breaking 62nd home run on September 8, 1998?
Steve Trachsel
The ball travelled just 341 feet, one of McGwire's shortest of the year. He finished with 70; Sammy Sosa, who was in right field that night, ended with 66 and won the NL MVP.
Q 11Sammy Sosa set a still-standing record in June 1998 with how many home runs in one calendar month?
20
He was NL MVP that year with 66 homers and 158 RBIs, even though McGwire out-homered him.
Q 12Whose walk-off three-run home run off Mitch Williams won the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays?
Joe Carter
Toronto became the first repeat champion since the 1977-78 Yankees. Game 4 of that Series was a 15-14 slugfest with 29 total runs.
Q 13Who hit the 11th-inning walk-off single in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Marlins?
Édgar Rentería
They were the first wild-card team to win it all. Owner Wayne Huizenga then sold off the roster and the Marlins went 54-108 the next year.
Q 21At 15, who became the youngest individual Winter Olympic gold medallist at Nagano in 1998?
Tara Lipinski
She upset the favoured Michelle Kwan in the free skate and turned professional soon afterwards.
Q 22Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg on January 6, 1994, in the corridor of which building?
Cobo Arena, Detroit
Attacker Shane Stant used a baton; the plot traced back to Tonya Harding's ex-husband. Harding was later banned for life by the US Figure Skating Association.
Q 23Who lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta opening ceremony?
Muhammad Ali
Q 14What was the final score of Super Bowl XXV, where Scott Norwood's kick went 'wide right'?
20-19
It was the first of four straight Super Bowl losses for Buffalo. Whitney Houston sang the anthem and the Giants held the ball for a record 40 minutes 33 seconds.
Q 15Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXII after three rushing touchdowns despite a migraine?
Terrell Davis
Davis missed most of the second quarter with the headache and still set a Super Bowl record. The win snapped a 13-game AFC losing streak in the big game.
Q 16How many rushing yards did Barry Sanders gain in 1997, his co-MVP season with Brett Favre?
2,053
He topped 100 yards in the final 14 games of the season, still an NFL record, and retired abruptly two years later by faxing a letter to the Wichita Eagle.
Q 17How far short of Walter Payton's NFL rushing record was Barry Sanders when he retired in 1999?
1,457 yards
He walked away the day before Lions training camp opened, having played only ten seasons and won just one playoff game.
Q 18Which team did the Dallas Cowboys beat 30-13 in Super Bowl XXVIII in January 1994?
Buffalo Bills
It was Buffalo's fourth consecutive Super Bowl loss, and the second straight to Dallas.
Q 19The 1994 New York Rangers ended a Stanley Cup drought of how many years?
54
They needed seven games to beat Vancouver after blowing a 3-1 series lead. Captain Mark Messier had guaranteed a Game 6 win over New Jersey in the previous round and delivered a hat trick.
Q 20Which 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.
Ali, visibly shaking from Parkinson's, took the torch from swimmer Janet Evans. A record 197 nations took part in Atlanta.
Q 24What world-record time did Michael Johnson run in the 200 metres at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics?
19.32
He is still the only man to win the 200 and 400 at the same Games, and he did it in gold-coloured Nike spikes.
Q 25Which Canadian sprinter won the 100 metres in Atlanta in a then world record 9.84 seconds?
Donovan Bailey
He anchored Canada's 4x100 relay to gold as well, beating the US team on home soil.
Q 26How many people were killed by the pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park during the Atlanta Games?
Two
The July 27 blast also injured 111. Eric Rudolph later confessed and was sentenced to life in prison.
Q 27Who was the only college player on the 1992 US Olympic 'Dream Team'?
Christian Laettner
The Duke forward was picked over LSU's Shaquille O'Neal. The team won its games by an average of 43.8 points and beat Croatia 117-85 for gold.
Q 28Which Detroit Pistons star was controversially left off the 1992 Dream Team roster?
Isiah Thomas
Charles Barkley led the team in scoring at 18 points a game under coach Chuck Daly, who happened to be Thomas's own coach in Detroit.
Q 29On November 7, 1991, which NBA superstar announced he had HIV and was retiring immediately?
Magic Johnson
He still played in the 1992 All-Star Game, scored 25 points and won MVP, then joined the Dream Team in Barcelona.
Q 30To how many games was the 1998-99 NBA regular season cut by the lockout?
50
The 204-day lockout ran from July 1, 1998 to January 20, 1999 and was the first time NBA games were cancelled over a labour dispute. San Antonio won the title.