Ninh explains the Top 10 Most Common Sports Myths that people believe in.
Educational and entertaining – Ninh Ly tries to explain sports things,
1. Ice Hockey was invented by Canadians.
– Ice hockey is actually a Scottish sport, as it was played by British soldiers during wintertime.
When these soldiers were stationed in Canada, they brought the game over and the Canadians adopted it as their own.
2. Basketball was invented by the Americans.
– In a strange twist of fate, whilst Basketball is considered to be an American sport, it was actually invented by Dr James Naismith in 1891 … who was a Canadian!
3. In the Grand National – the favourites never win.
– The Grand National is the biggest horse race in the world, with anywhere up to 50 runners and riders.
Because of such a huge number of horses, it’s generally assumed that the favourites never win because they’ve only got a 1 in 50 (2%) chance of winning.
But they’re called favourites for a reason. And during the last 44 years, 7 favourites have actually won the national – that’s a 16% success rate.
4. William Webb Ellis invented Rugby.
– In 1823 the Rugby School pupil supposedly picked up a ball and began running with it during a football game. When this was investigated in 1895, pupils who had attended the school after William Webb Ellis remembered that handling the ball was still forbidden during their years. Therefore, he couldn’t have invented the game – but it’s generally accepted that Rugby school did.
5. The English invented Football (Soccer)
– Believe it or not, football was invented by the Chinese in the 1st century BC. The Ancient Greeks also played a similar game, but the closest to modern day soccer is the Chinese version.
6. The distance for the marathon should be 26 miles and 385 yards.
– 26 miles 385 yards is supposedly the distance between Marathon and Athens in Greece.
The actual distance is less than 25 miles.
The reason why the Marathon distance is what it is today is because of the 1908 London Olympics.
It is the exact distance between Windsor Castle to White City Stadium plus one lap of the track. The distance has been that way ever since.
7. The Americans invented Baseball.
– Once again, this is another sport invented by the British – who invented a form of baseball in the 1700’s and was invented around the same time as cricket and rounders.
8. Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time and the Chicago Bulls have won the most NBA Championships.
– Whilst Michael Jordan may be the greatest basketball player of all time, the Chicago Bulls have certainly not won the most championships.
The Boston Celtics actually hold the record with 17, followed closely by the Lakers with 16. Chicago is third on the table with 6, but nowhere near the 17 championships of the Celtics.
9. Rugby League and Rugby Union are virtually the same sport.
– You could not be more wrong. Due to the difference in the rules of Rugby League, these are completely different sports. Check out my video for an exact description of the difference.
10. In American Football, punting the ball away on fourth down is the best play.
– In every statistical study ever done on the subject, it has shown that playing the ball on fourth down yielded the best chance of scoring and therefore the best chance of winning the game.
Punting the ball away may be the safest play, but as far as ‘playing the percentages’, this is a complete sham.
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Video is copyright from the AP (permission granted).
Music is copyright from Mezzoforte (permission granted).
Copyright Ninh Ly 2014 – http://www.ninh.co.uk
