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The Games People Play
Almost every sport you can name was codified in a fifty-year window. Here is where each came from.
About this topic
Sports are ancient, but sport as we know it — with a written rulebook, a governing body and standardised dimensions — is mostly a nineteenth-century invention. Before that, football meant whatever the village agreed on that afternoon. What changed was the railway and the school. Teams that could travel needed rules both sides recognised, and organised education needed activities that could be supervised and scored. These questions cover where the major sports were codified and by whom.
Questions & answers
The Games People Play: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1Basketball was invented in 1891 by a teacher looking for what?
- A A game requiring no equipment
- B An indoor game for winter Correct
- C A replacement for boxing
- D A sport playable on ice
Answer: B. An indoor game for winter
Why: James Naismith nailed peach baskets to a gymnasium balcony. The bottoms were closed at first, so the ball had to be retrieved after every score.
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2The rules of modern football were codified in which country?
- A England Correct
- B Brazil
- C Italy
- D Argentina
Answer: A. England
Why: The Football Association was formed in 1863, largely to settle whether handling the ball was allowed. Those who wanted it went on to form rugby.
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3Judo was developed in which country?
- A China
- B Korea
- C Mongolia
- D Japan Correct
Answer: D. Japan
Why: Jigoro Kano founded it in the 1880s, adapting jujutsu into a form emphasising throws and safe practice. It became an Olympic sport in 1964.
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4Cricket's laws are maintained by which body?
- A The Football Association
- B Lord's Trust
- C Marylebone Cricket Club Correct
- D The International Cricket Council alone
Answer: C. Marylebone Cricket Club
Why: The MCC has held responsibility for the laws since 1788, and they are called laws rather than rules.
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5Which sport was originally called "mintonette"?
- A Table tennis
- B Volleyball Correct
- C Badminton
- D Squash
Answer: B. Volleyball
Why: It was renamed after an observer noted the volleying action. It was designed as a gentler alternative to basketball.
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6Tennis scoring uses 15, 30 and 40 for a reason that is most likely what?
- A Derived from a clock face, with 45 shortened to 40 Correct
- B A translation error from Latin
- C Named after a French king
- D Based on the number of court paving stones
Answer: A. Derived from a clock face, with 45 shortened to 40
Why: The clock-face explanation is the most commonly given, though the origin is not firmly documented.
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7The modern Olympic Games were revived largely through the efforts of whom?
- A Avery Brundage
- B Juan Antonio Samaranch
- C Thomas Arnold
- D Pierre de Coubertin Correct
Answer: D. Pierre de Coubertin
Why: He was influenced by English public-school sport and by excavations at ancient Olympia. The first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896.
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8Sumo wrestling is most closely associated with which tradition?
- A Confucian ceremony in China
- B Hindu festival in India
- C Shinto ritual in Japan Correct
- D Buddhist monasticism in Tibet
Answer: C. Shinto ritual in Japan
Why: Elements of the ceremony, including the salt thrown into the ring, come from Shinto purification practice.
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9Why were so many sports codified in the nineteenth century?
- A Governments made it compulsory
- B Railways let teams travel, so both sides needed the same rules Correct
- C A single international body ordered it
- D Printing had only just been invented
Answer: B. Railways let teams travel, so both sides needed the same rules
Why: Schools and workplaces organising teams needed rules that travelled with them, which local custom could not provide.
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10Baseball's origin story crediting Abner Doubleday is now regarded how?
- A As a myth, invented by a commission in 1907 Correct
- B As firmly documented
- C As a translation of a Dutch account
- D As proven by his diaries
Answer: A. As a myth, invented by a commission in 1907
Why: The game descends from English bat-and-ball games such as rounders. The commission was set up partly to establish an American origin.
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