You’ve had time to shelter at home and bone up. Your 2020 year-end sports quiz awaits. Like much else these days, quizzes will be graded on the curve:
January
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The IOC sets conduct guidelines for athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. What does it specifically bar?
a. Therapy pets at the Athletes Village, such as pythons and parrots.
b. Political messages and gestures on the medal stand.
c. Bitcoin deposits to Thomas Bach’s offshore account.
February
Pete Rose again asks to be reinstated to baseball. His latest reason?
a. The Houston Astros drew more lenient treatment for sign stealing.
b. Gambling, like baseball, is now a national pastime.
c. He is approaching 80, and enough is enough.
March
Tom Brady writes in an Instagram post that his “football journey” will …
a. “mean farewell to Foxborough.”
b. “take place elsewhere.”
c. “move the chains.”
April
Wimbledon is canceled because of the new coronavirus. When was the Grand Slam tournament last called off?
a. 1945 -- World War II.
b. 1918 -- World War I.
c. 1066 -- Norman conquest of England.
May
The Bundesliga is the first major soccer league to return during the pandemic. In connection to German soccer, what does the term “Geisterspiele” mean?
a. a defensive soccer tactic.
b. a popular stadium sausage.
c. a ghost game in an empty stadium.
June
The phrase “Compassion, Love, Understanding” refers to ...
a. a statement by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the need to transform social justice.
b. the words on the car hood of Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.
c. the title of a new memoir by UFC star Conor McGregor.
July
The renamed Washington Football Team might get another rebrand. Which name/logo has NOT been mentioned as a possible choice?
a. The Washington Red Tails; a propeller plane celebrating the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
b. The Washington Red Wolves; a fierce wolf looking up against a silhouette of the Capitol.
c. The Washington Skins; a board-certified dermatologist giving a high-five.
August
San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. offends baseball purists by …
a. hitting a grand slam on a 3-0 pitch with his team way ahead late in the game.
b. calling players who run to first base “lame, sorry losers.”
c. laying down a bunt to break up a no-hitter.
September
The Big Ten changes its mind and says it will play football this season because …
a. it is now assured of daily COVID-19 testing and safety protocols.
b. it feared “withering litigation” from parents and alumni.
c. it would lose streams of recruits to the SEC and ACC.
October
Which traditional school sports song comes under scrutiny because of its unsavory history?
a. University of Florida — “We Are the Boys from Old Florida.”
b. University of Texas — “The Eyes of Texas.”
c. Columbia University — “Roar, Lion, Roar.”
November
Who is Kendall Hinton?
a. a sidelined Vanderbilt kicker whose absence allowed Sarah Fuller to play in a Power Five football game.
b. a practice squad receiver pressed into service as the Denver Broncos’ quarterback.
c. the amateur golfer with the best score at the Masters.
December
The NBA fines Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets $25,000. Why?
a. for making a tampering overture to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
b. for saying Knicks owner James Dolan has made an “unconscionable mockery” of New York basketball.
c. for not speaking to the media during the preseason.
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Answers: January (b); February (a); March (b); April (a); May (c); June (b); July (c); August (a); September (a); October (b); November (b); December (c).