the average nfl career lasts 3 years.

the american nfl tried to sue rapper m.i.a. for her lifetime earnings for flipping the bird during her 2012 superbowl halftime show.

painting was an olympic event for 36 years.

lacrosse, a game invented by native americans, originally involved hundreds to thousands of players per team, on fields as big as 6 miles across. a single game could last for days.

sportcasters can tell when a team is going to win just 47.6% of the time.

in 1982, the university of pittsburg's rugby team was caught using human heads to warm up before a game.

statistically, people with brown eyes tend to be better at sports that require fast reaction times.

according to a 2013 report, only 8.01% of the money spent on pink nfl merchandise goes to cancer research - the reason that it's pink.

between 1912 and 1948, olympic medals were awarded for architecture, music, painting, and sculpting, in addition to sports.

ferret legging is a 'sport' that began in the 70's somewhere in the u.k. you shove two live ferrets down your pants while not wearing underwear and stand as long as you can. the current record is more than 5 hours.

on average, nfl kickers score more points per game than quarterbacks or running backs.

a man's testosterone jumps 25% when 'his' team scores.

fewer than 2% of college athletes go pro. if they are injured and can no longer play, any sport scholarships go away, so many have to drop out. although college athletes can't be paid, their coaches often make more than the school's dean, and can trademark their name for clothing deals , radio shows, books, etc.

there is no proof that having sex before a sporting event hinders performance.

the average life of a major league baseball is just 7 pitches. (sounds wasteful to me.)

carrying the olympic torch from greece to the site of the current games began as a publicity stunt, undertaken by nazi germany in 1936.

jackie robinson was the 2nd black professional baseball player. the first was moses fleetwood walker.

60% of former nba players and 78% of former nfl players go bankrupt a few years after they retire, largely because they are easily talked into making bad investments and lack even basic knowledge of how to make a business work.

david beckham, will smith, and tom cruise all enjoy fencing.

octopus wrestling was a popular west coast sport in the u.s. for more than 20 years.