20 Incredibly True Sports Facts

The highest level of competition is often what brings fans to a stadium or arena. Fans want to see the best athletes and teams create memories that last a lifetime.

The greatest performances—by a team or an individual—lead to an array of indelible and incontrovertible sports facts. 

In this piece, we look at 20 sports facts that are both incredibly true and memorable.

Wilt Chamberlain: Scoring Machine

Wilt Chamberlain is one of the greatest American sports legends. While arguments have been made that Michael Jordan and Bill Russell were better and more effective players, there has never been a scorer like Chamberlain when he was at the peak of his abilities.

Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 27.4 rebounds per game while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1961-62.

Chamberlain also owns the Nos. 2 and 3 scoring seasons, with marks of 44.8 in 1962-63 and 38.4 in 1960-61.

The Pack Is on Top

There have been many powerful teams in the Super Bowl era, but no team has won three Super Bowls in a row. That includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers or the New England Patriots.

However, the Green Bay Packers, who won Super Bowls I and II with Vince Lombardi at head coach and Bart Starr at quarterback, also won the NFL crown in 1965, the year before the first Super Bowl. The Packers are the last NFL team to win three championships in succession.

Jack Nicklaus' Remarkable Reign

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

Jack Nicklaus broke Bobby Jones' record for major golf championships when he won his 14th in 1973.

Nicklaus would add four more majors and has held the record for most major titles for an incomprehensible 43 years. 

Bob Beamon's Leap of a Lifetime

Bob Beamon was hopeful of winning the gold medal in the long jump pin the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He even had high hopes of breaking Igor Ter-Ovanesyan's world record of 27 feet, 4 ¼ inches since Mexico City's altitude favored impressive leaping performances. However, neither Beamon nor the rest of the jumping world had any idea of what Beamon would do.

He blew past the competition and destroyed the record with a jump of 29 feet, 2 ½ inches. No long jumper had ever gone past 28 feet, let alone 29 feet, in 1968. Beamon held the long jump record until Mike Powell jumped 29 feet, 4 ½ inches in 1991. Beamon's leap is still recognized as one of the greatest Olympic achievements of all time.

Ted Williams: Last Man Standing

Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams became the last man to hit .400 or better in the major leagues when he batted .406 in 1941.

Since that remarkable achievement, no player has a had a higher batting average than Tony Gwynn, who batted .394 for the San Diego Padres in 1994.

Roger Maris: No Respect

Ray Stubblebine/Associated Press

Roger Maris

Roger Maris broke one of baseball's most iconic records when he hit 61 home runs in 1961, surpassing Babe Ruth, who had belted 60 in 1927. 

Despite having one of the best home run seasons in the history of the game—non-steroid aided—Maris did not receive one intentional walk that season.

Mickey Mantle batted behind Maris that season, and he hit 54 home runs. No pitcher wanted to walk Maris to get to Mantle.

Barry Bonds: Maximum Respect

While the specter of performance-enhancing drugs hangs over his career, there can be little argument that Barry Bonds was a man of significant accomplishment throughout his 22-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants.

Bonds is a seven-time National League MVP winner who holds the all-time record with 762 home runs. 

Pitchers seemed to know that they could not win the battle against Bonds, and that lesson was driven home in 2004 when he received 120 intentional walks. Bonds had received 68 and 61 intentional walks the previous two seasons.

Prior to that, the legendary Willie "Stretch" McCovey held the record with 45 intentional walks while playing for the Giants in 1969.

The Great Gretzky Blows Past Espo

Phil Esposito became the NHL's single-season goal-scoring record holder when he scored 76 goals in 1970-71 for the Boston Bruins. It appeared that record would be his for years and years.

However, Wayne Gretzky blew past Esposito's record when he scored 92 goals in 1981-82. Gretzky also has the No. 2 goal-scoring season, as he scored 87 times in 1983-84.

Joe Louis: Longest Reigning Heavyweight Champion

His legend has dimmed considerably over the years, but Joe Louis should never be sold short. If he was not the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, he's clearly in the top three with Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano. 

While not as fast as Ali and perhaps a bit less explosive than Marciano, Louis was a supreme warrior in the ring and he held the title for 11 years, eight months and eight days between 1937 and 1948. No heavyweight fighter ever held his title for a longer period.

Cleveland Browns: Reversal of Fortune

It was just a remarkable start for the Cleveland Browns when they began play in the All-America Football Conference in 1946. They would win the championship game in each of the four years they played in that league.

Upon their entry into the NFL in 1950, they also won the championship. The Browns, coached by the legendary Paul Brown and led by quarterback Otto Graham, played in the NFL title game in their first six years in the league and won three times. 

After adding another title in 1964, the Browns have not won again. They have never played in the Super Bowl.

Motown on a Roll

The most memorable season in Detroit sports history?

That's easy. It has to be 1935-36, because all three of Detroit's major teams won their league championship that year. The Detroit Tigers defeated the Chicago Cubs in the 1935 World Series, the Detroit Lions beat the New York Giants in the 1935 NFL title game and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1936 Stanley Cup Final.

The NBA had not yet began play in 1935-36, and Detroit remains the only city to win three titles in a single sports year.

1970-71 Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins of the early 1970s were led by the incomparable Bobby Orr, who was almost certainly the top defenseman in NHL history.

The Bruins won the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cups, but it was their 1970-71 team that may have been the best of the Orr era. They recorded a 57-14-7 regular-season record and they scored 399 goals that year, 108 more than the Montreal Canadiens, who finished second in that category.

Orr scored 139 points that season, which is still a record for NHL defensemen.

Additionally, the Bruins had an average goal differential of 2.46 per game. However, despite their historic dominance, the Bruins lost their first-round playoff matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.

The 1970-71 Bruins were the best NHL team that did not win the Stanley Cup.

Dodger Duo Goes to Extremes

The 1968 season was the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball, and Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers did his part to show why hurlers had it all over hitters.

Drysdale was on fire in the second half of the season, as the powerful right-hander set a major league record by throwing 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

Twenty years later, Orel Hershiser broke Drysdale's record as he threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings. The 1988 Dodgers would go on to win the World Series and Hershiser captured the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP.

The two Dodgers pitchers put on the most incredible shutout streaks in baseball history.

Babe Ruth's Price

Babe Ruth knew it was a milestone. When he bashed his 700th home run in July 1934 at Detroit's Navin Field, he wanted the ball.

The New York Times reported that the Yankees sent "emissaries" to retrieve the historic ball, and they came back with a youngster named Leonard Beals. Ruth gave him $20 and a signed baseball in exchange for the home run ball that he hit off Tiger pitcher Tommy Bridges.

That was Ruth's price. He also paid that amount for his 500th and 600th home run balls, according to the Times' Richard Sandomir.

Only 51 Years Between Postseason Wins

The Chicago Cardinals, who called Comiskey Park their home during the majority of their time in the Windy City, won the 1947 NFL championship when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21.

The Cardinals would leave Chicago and move to St. Louis. They would pack up and leave the Arch City and head for the desert, where they became the Phoenix Cardinals. They would eventually change their name and become the Arizona Cardinals.

But one thing would remain consistent despite the moves and name changes. The Cardinals would not win another postseason game for 51 years.

That didn't change until the 1998 season, when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 20-7 in the Wild Card Game.

Yankee Managerial Duo

A pair of Yankees managers are at the top of the class when it comes to winning the World Series.

Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel each led the Bronx Bombers to seven world championships. McCarthy managed the Yankees from 1931 until 1946, while Stengel managed the Yankees from 1949 through 1960.

Ravens Couldn't Score, but They Were Champions

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens played relentless, fearsome and brutal defense. They may be the second-best defensive team besides the 1985 Chicago Bears. 

The defense, led by Ray Lewis, simply had to dominate. That's because their offense was punchless through the majority of the season. Before beating the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV, the Ravens went through a five-game stretch without scoring a touchdown. 

They managed to go 2-3 in that stretch before finding a modicum of success on offense and becoming a dominant team.

Hall of Fame QB Steve Young Is One of a Kind

Steve Young is a two-time MVP, a seven-time Pro Bowler and a three-time first-team NFL All-Pro. He is also the only living left-handed quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Ken "The Snake" Stabler is finally being inducted posthumously this year, but Young is the only living left-handed signal-caller in the shrine. Stabler died in 2015.

Leadership in Steel City

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Tomlin

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowls, more than any other team in the league.

Much of that may be due to the Steelers' steady leadership. From 1969 to the upcoming 2016 season, the Steelers have been coached by only three men. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin are the only coaches that the Steelers have had in that time frame.

Noll coached the Steelers to four Super Bowl wins, while Cowher and Tomlin have one Super Bowl victory each.

Los Angeles Lakers Finally Celebrate

The 1972 Los Angeles Lakers were one of the greatest teams in NBA history. They finished 69-13 in the regular season and won a league-record 33 games in a row.

They defeated the Chicago Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks in the postseason to win the championship.

It was the first title for the franchise after moving to Los Angeles from Minneapolis following the 1959-60 season. The Los Angeles Lakers lost seven straight NBA Finals series before they finally won. They lost six of those championship matchups to the Boston Celtics and one to the Knicks.