“Name the Nebraska football player who became the Huskers’ first winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and name the year in which he won.”

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Answers:

Tommie Frazier

1995

I know THIS one!!!

“After Sunday’s win over Wisconsin in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, how many Final Four appearances has the Nebraska volleyball program reached since 1982?”

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Answer:

18, including 7 in the past 10 seasons.

18 is the second-most Final Four appearances all-time (Stanford, 23) and 7 Final Four berths leads the nation over the last 10 seasons.




(And, yes, I made this the daily trivia question purposely to poke fun at myself lol)

ACC Championship Game
Clemson 34, Southern Methodist 31

American Athletic Conference Championship Game
Army 35, Tulane 14

Big 12 Championship Game
Arizona State 45, Iowa State 19

Big Ten Championship Game
Oregon 45, Penn State 37

Conference USA Championship Game
Jacksonville State 52, Western Kentucky 12

Mid-American Conference Championship Game
Ohio 38, Miami (OH) 3

Mountain West Championship Game
Boise State 21, UNLV 7

SEC Championship Game
Georgia 22, Texas 19 (OT)

Sun Belt Championship Game
Marshall 31, Louisiana-Lafayette 3

December 11
1816 - Indiana became the 19th state.

1844 - Nitrous oxide was used for the first time in dentistry.

1936 - Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson; his brother, Prince Albert, assumed the throne and became King George VI.

1941 - Germany and Italy declared war on the United States during World War II.

1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

1978 - Nearly $6 million in cash and jewelry were stolen from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport; the "Lufthansa Heist", the largest cash robbery in history at the time, was immortalized in the film "Goodfellas."

1980 - President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating a $1.6 billion environmental "Superfund" to pay for cleaning up hazardous chemical spills and toxic waste dumps.

1994 - Russian troops invaded Chechnya in an unsuccessful attempt to restore Moscow's authority in the region.

1997 - More than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan to control Earth's greenhouse gases.

1997 - Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros was indicted for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI.

1998 - Majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, over Democratic objections.

2008 - Bernard Madoff, an investment manager, was charged with defrauding clients of as much as $50 billion in what might be the largest swindle in Wall Street history. (Madoff died in April 2021 while serving a 150-year federal prison sentence.)

2020 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden's presidential election victory, ending an attempt to get legal issues that were rejected by state and federal judges before the nation's highest court.

Birthdays
28 - Hailee Steinfeld (actress)
34 - Alexa Demie (actress)
37 - Shane Gillis (comedian)
37 - Alex Russell (actor)
45 - Rider Strong (actor)
46 - Courtney Henggeler (actress)
50 - Rey Mysterio (professional wrestler)
52 - Daniel Aflredsson (hockey player)
57 - Mo'Nique (actress/comedian)
66 - Nikki Sixx (musician)
70 - Jermaine Jackson (singer)
80 - Brenda Lee (singer)
93 - Rita Moreno (actress)

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Today in Sports History - December 11
1938 - The New York Giants defeat the Green Bay Packers 23-17 to win the NFL Championship Game.

1947 - The Pacific Coast League's bid for major league professional baseball status is rejected.

1949 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the San Francisco 49ers 21-7 in the final AAFC Championship Game.

1951 - Joe DiMaggio (New York Yankees) announced his retirement from major league baseball. DiMaggio only played for the Yankees during his 13-year career.

1971 - The Los Angeles Lakers established a new NBA record with their 21st consecutive win.

1972 - Don Maynard of the New York Jets becomes the NFL's all-time receptions leader with 632.

1981 - Muhammad Ali fought in his last professional fight, his 61st, falling to Trevor Berbick.

1992 - The National Hockey League Governors named Gary Bettman as the first NHL commissioner in League history, effective Feb. 1, 1993.

1993 - Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward wins the Heisman Trophy.

2000 - Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke wins the Heisman Trophy.

2000 - Mario Lemeiux, owner of Pittsburgh Penguins, announced that he would end his three-plus year retirement and become an active National Hockey League (NHL) player again. When Lemieux returned officially he became the first owner/player in NHL history.

2001 - It was announced that Little League Baseball Inc. would require more detailed documentation of the eligibility of its players. Four months before, the Rolando Paulino Little League team from the Bronx, NY, had its third-place finish taken away after pitcher Danny Almonte was found to be too old to play.

2004 - USC quarterback Matt Leinart wins the Heisman Trophy.

2006 - Jerry Sloan records his 1,000th career coaching victory in the NBA.

2021 - Alabama quarterback Bryce Young wins the Heisman Trophy.

Arguably the most “fish in a barrel” question we’ve had all year:

“Name the former Nebraska offensive lineman who, in 2000, became the school’s first-ever winner of the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation’s top center in college football.”

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Answer:

Dominic Raiola

December 12
1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1800 - Washington D.C. was established as the national capital.

1870 - Joseph Rainey of South Carolina took his seat as the first African American in the U.S. House of Representatives.

1913 - The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence, Italy after having been stolen two years earlier from the Louvre.

1963 - Kenya gained independence from Britain.

1966 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules 4-3 to allow the Braves baseball franchise to move to Atlanta.

1985 - An Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, killing 248 American soldiers and eight crew members.

1987 - Mookie Blaylock sets an NBA record with 13 steals in a game.

1991 - The New Jersey Nets establish an NBA record with 22 blocks in a game against the Denver Nuggets.

1992 - Miami quarterback Gino Torretta wins the Heisman Trophy.

1997 - The Boston Red Sox sign Pedro Martinez to a record 6-year, $69 million contract.

1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

2000 - George W. Bush became president-elect as a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court recount decision in Florida's highly contested presidential election.

2001 - Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

2011 - Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III wins the Heisman Trophy.

2015 - Nearly 200 nations meeting in Paris adopted the first global pact to fight climate change, calling on the world to collectively cut greenhouse gas emissions but imposing no sanctions on countries that didn't do so.

2018 - Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's one-time fixer, was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to conceal Trump's alleged sexual affairs.

2020 - Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. for rallies to back his efforts to subvert the election he lost to Joe Biden.

Birthdays
22 - Queen Amayah (rapper)
24 - Devyn Nekoda (actress)
28 - Lucas Hedges (actor)
37 - Kate Todd (actress)
49 - Mayim Bialik (actress / TV host)
54 - Regina Hall (actress)
54 - Jennifer Connelly (actress)
54 - Madchen Amick (actress)
55 - Sophie Kinsella (author)
57 - John Randle (football player)
62 - Tracy Austin (tennis player)
66 - Sheree J. Wilson (actress)
67 - Sheila E. (singer)
72 - Cathy Rigby (actress/gymnast)
75 - Bill Nighy (actor)
84 - Dionne Warwick (singer)
87 - Connie Francis (singer)
92 - Bob Pettit (basketball player)

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Today in Sports History - December 12

1937 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Chicago Bears 28-21 to win the NFL Championship Game.

1950 - Ohio State running back Vic Janowicz wins the Heisman Trophy.

1965 - Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers ties the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game with six in a 61-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

1968 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to be ranked #1 in tennis.

1976 - Joe Namath played his last game with the New York Jets.

1981 - Wayne Gretzky became the quickest to reach 50 goals in a season. It was in the 39th game.

2000 - The Texas Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to a record breaking 10-year, $252 million contract. The contract amount broke all Major League Baseball records and all professional sports records.

2001 - Denver Nuggets coach Dan Issel was suspended for four games by his team for shouting a profanity and an ethnic remark at a fan.

2010 - The inflatable roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed following a snowstorm that dumped 17 inches on the city. (The NFL was forced to shift an already rescheduled game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants to Detroit's Ford Field.)

Fast-fact Friday:

“Former Nebraska bowler Julia Bond took home a silver medal in the doubles competition at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, AL. To that point, Bond was a six-time member of Team USA and was hired as a Nebraska assistant coach in September 2021.”

December 8
1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

1886 - The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.

1941 - Congress declared war on Japan a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and entered World War II.

1949 - Communist attacks forced the Chinese Nationalist government to flee to the island of Formosa (Taiwan).

1978 - Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir died.

1980 - John Lennon, former member of the Beatles, was shot and killed in New York City by a deranged fan.

1987 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers.

1993 - President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.

2014 - The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan, 13 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks spared their invasion of the country to topple the Taliban-led government.

2016 - John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 95.

Birthdays
28 - Teala Dunn (actress)
31 - AnnaSophia Robb (actress)
39 - Dwight Howard (basketball player)
40 - Sam Hunt (singer)
42 - Nicki Minaj (singer)
45 - Ingrid Michaelson (singer)
46 - Ian Somerhalder (actor)
48 - Dominic Monaghan (actor)
56 - Michael Cole (sportscaster)
56 - Mike Mussina (baseball player)
59 - Teresa Weatherspoon (basketball player)
60 - Teri Hatcher (actress)
62 - Wendell Pierce (actor)
71 - Kim Basinger (actress)
73 - Bill Bryson (author)


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Today in Sports History - December 8
1863 - Tom King of England defeated American John Heenan and became the first world heavyweight champion.

1940 - The Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the most lopsided NFL championship game in league history.

1942 - Georgia running back Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy.

1948 - Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy.

1953 - Notre Dame running back Johnny Lattner wins the Heisman Trophy.

1955 - Ohio State running back Howard Cassady wins the Heisman Trophy.

1961 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 78 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

1973 - Penn State running back John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy.

1977 - Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.

1987 - Ron Hextall (Philadelphia Flyers) became the first goalie in NHL history to shoot and score a goal. His empty net goal made him only the second goalie to get credit for a goal in the NHL.

2000 - Mario Lemieux announced to the Pittsburgh Penguins that he planned to return to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player at age 35. He would be the first modern owner-player in U.S. pro sports.

2003 - The Orlando Magic ended their 19-game losing streak by beating the Phoenix Suns 105-98.

2007 - Florida quarterback Tim Tebow wins the Heisman Trophy.

2012 - Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

2017 - Japanese pitching and hitting star Shohei Ohtani announced he would sign with the Los Angeles Angels.

2018 - Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray wins the Heisman Trophy.

2022 - Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a high-profile prisoner swap with the U.S., which released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

December 7

1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1917 - The U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.

1941 - The Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The United States would declare war on Japan the following day and enter World War II.

1972 - America's final mission to the moon, Apollo 17, blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

1976 - Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation.

1982 - Convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.

1988 - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Armenia, killing more than 25,000.

1993 - Six people were killed and 19 wounded in a mass shooting aboard a Long Island Rail Road train in New York.

2001 - Taliban forces fled from Kandahar, their last stronghold in Afghanistan.

2002 - Iraq formally declared to the U.N. that it had no weapons of mass destruction.

2004 - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.

2018 - James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia, was convicted of first-degree murder.

Birthdays
30 - Pete Alonso (baseball player)
31 - Clara Berry (model)
31 - Jasmine Villegas (singer)
35 - Nicholas Hoult (actor)
36 - Emily Browning (actress)
39 - Jon Moxley (professional wrestler)
45 - Sarah Bareilles (singer)
45 - Jennifer Carpenter (actress)
46 - Shiri Appleby (actress)
47 - Andrea Lopez (actress)
51 - Terrell Owens (football player)
58 - C. Thomas Howell (actor)
59 - Jeffrey Wright (actor)
68 - Larry Bird (basketball player)
75 - Tom Waits (singer)
77 - Johnny Bench (baseball player)
92 - Ellen Burstyn (actress)

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Today in Sports History - December 7
1939 - Lou Gehrig was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. He was the first player to have the rule waived that required a player to be retired one year before he could be elected.

1949 - Split end Leon Hart of Notre Dame wins the Heisman Trophy.

1963 - CBS introduced the first-ever "Instant Replay" during the Army-Navy football game.

1985 - Auburn running back Bo Jackson wins the Heisman Trophy.

1996 - Texas upsets Nebraska 37-27 in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game.

2017 - Former US gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years on child pornography charges.

2020 - Breaking, the competitive form of breakdancing, confirmed as an Olympic sport for the Paris 2024 games.

December 13

1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.

1862 - Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside launched futile attacks against entrenched Confederate soldiers during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg; the soundly defeated Northern troops withdrew two days later.

1918 - President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.

1937 - During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese soldiers massacred an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 citizens, war prisoners and soldiers in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

1978 - The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony silver dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.

1981 - The Polish government imposed martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.

1989 - South African President F.W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela for the first time.

1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana is selected secretary-general of the United Nations.

2000 - Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency a day after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down further recounts of disputed ballots in Florida; Democrat Al Gore conceded, delivering a call for national unity.

2001 - The Pentagon publicly released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his ''most optimistic'' expectations.

2003 - American forces capture Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

2014 - Thousands of protesters marched in New York, Washington and other U.S. cities to call attention to the killing of unarmed Black men by white police officers.

2019 - The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment accusing President Donald Trump of abuse of power in his dealings with Ukraine and obstruction of Congress in the investigation that followed.

2022 - President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act providing federal recognition and protection for same-sex and interracial marriages, saying "the law, and the love it defends, strike a blow against hate in all its forms."

Birthdays
21 - Maisy Stella (actress)
28 - Jana Craig (reality star)
29 - Emma Corrin (actress)
35 - Taylor Swift (singer)
35 - Katherine Schwarzenegger (author)
43 - Amy Lee (singer)
49 - Tom Delonge (singer)
50 - Ashley Hosbach (reality star)
55 - Sergei Federov (hockey player)
57 - NeNe Leakes (actress/reality star)
57 - Jamie Foxx (actor/comedian)
64 - Richard Dent (football player)
67 - Morris Day (singer)
67 - Steve Buscemi (actor)
70 - John Anderson (musician)
74 - Wendie Malick (actress)
75 - Randy Owen (singer)
76 - Ted Nugent (musician)
76 - Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (musician)
82 - Ferguson Jenkins (baseball player)
83 - John Davidson (singer/TV host)
99 - Dick Van Dyke (actor/comedian)

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Today in Sports History - December 13

1931 - The Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship Game, defeating the New York Giants 27-0.

1936 - The Green Bay Packers defeat the Boston Redskins 21-6 to win the NFL Championship Game; the game marked the final for the Redskins in Boston, with the franchise moving to Washington, D.C. the following year.

1942 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Chicago Bears 14-6 to win the NFL Championship Game.

1949 - The American League rejected a revival of the spitball, which had been outlawed since 1920.

1956 - Jackie Robinson (Los Angeles Dodgers) was traded to the Giants for pitcher Dick Littlefield and $35,000. Robinson retired instead of accepting the trade.

1966 - The rights to the first four Super Bowls were sold to CBS and NBC for a total of $9.5 million.

1973 - Detroit became the first city to receive a franchise for the World Football League.

1977 - Fourteen members of the University of Evansville men's basketball team are killed in a plane crash.

1983 - An NBA record was set when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets played a triple overtime that resulted in Pistons winning 186-184.

1995 - Paul Coffey (Detroit Red Wings) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career points.

1997 - Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson wins the Heisman Trophy.

1998 - Gary Anderson (Minnesota Vikings) kicked six field goals against Baltimore. In the game Anderson set an NFL record for 34 straight field goals without a miss.

1998 - Marshall Faulk set a new Colts record for total yards from scrimmage in a season with 2,090. The record had been held by Eric Dickerson with 2,036.

1999 - Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne wins the Heisman Trophy.

2001 - Michael Frank Goodwin was arrested and booked on two counts of murder, one count of conspiracy and three special circumstances (lying in wait, murder for financial gain and multiple murder) in connection to the death of Mickey Thompson. Thompson and his wife Trudy were shot to death in their driveway on March 16, 1988. Thompson, known as the "Speed King," set nearly 500 auto speed endurance records including being the first person to travel more than 400 mph on land.

2003 - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wins the Heisman Trophy.

2007 - Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report was released, identifying 85 names to differing degrees in connection with the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

2010 - Auburn quarterback Cam Newton wins the Heisman Trophy.

2014 - Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy.

2015 - Alabama running back Derrick Henry wins the Heisman Trophy.

2018 - Dirk Nowitzki takes the floor for a record 21st season with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

December 5

Trivia:

“When Mike Rozier rushed for 29 TDs to lead all of college football in 1983, he broke the NCAA record for most TDs in a single season. That mark was previously set in 1971. Name the player who held the previous mark of 28 TDs and the school where he played.”

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Answers:

Terry Metcalf

Long Beach State

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December 6

Fast-fact Friday:

“Shannon Pluhowsky, a star Nebraska bowler in the early 2000s who was named an assistant coach in 2019, was a World Bowling Writers Hall of Fame inductee in 2012.”

Fast-fact Friday and, as always, I’m writing these verbatim straight from the daily calendar:

“Fan support of the Nebraska women’s soccer team has been nothing short of amazing since the program burst onto the scene in 1994. Most recently, since moving into Hibner Stadium, the team consistently draws attendance among the Top 30 programs nationally and Top 3 in the Big Ten.”