Sports Page is a weekly KAXE Morning Show program about the culture of sports.
GRAND RAPIDS — We started this week’s Sports Page by remembering hockey player Adam Johnson, who played for Hibbing High School and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Johnson, 29, died Saturday, Oct. 28, after an opponent's skate blade cut his neck during a game in Sheffield, England. After sending condolences to his family, John Bauer wondered if Johnson’s death might lead to changing regulations for protective equipment in the United States.
The English hockey league in which Johnson played already announced it would require neck guards next season.
Both Kyle Erickson and John were reluctant to speak highly of legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight, who died Wednesday at the age of 83.
Kyle said, “He was a terrific basketball coach; he was an F-minus human being. And to me, what kind of human you are matters a lot more than what kind of basketball coach you are.”
Kyle and John also remembered baseball player Frank Howard, who died Monday at the age of 87. And they discussed a new in-season tournament the NBA is planning.
Kyle said, “The last thing I want is for the Timberwolves to start building a successful season and have some goofy in-season tournament and have Anthony Edwards or somebody get injured. We’ve suffered enough as sports fans in Minnesota.”
Other topics included Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ season-ending injury.
Listen to the segment above and tune in for the Sports Page every Friday at 8:10 a.m.
Trivia from Senior Correspondent Scott Hall
The topic this week is record-setting managers, coaches, and players. For example, this week Texas Rangers' manager Bruce Bochy became the sixth major league manager to win at least 4 World Series titles.
Find the answers below.
- Question 1: Who are the five other Major League managers to lead 4 or more World Series winners
- Q2: Bochy won his other three World Series titles with the Giants. By winning with Texas, he became only the third manager to win a title in both leagues. Name the other two managers who won World Series in both leagues.
- Q3: Who is the only manager in Major League history to defeat a team in the World Series, and 13 years later win a World Series with the team he defeated?
- Q4: Rangers' shortstop, Corey Seager became the 4th player in history to be named the World Series Most Valuable Player. Who are the other three players with 2 MVP awards?
- Q5: The Texas Rangers' relief pitcher Will Smith became the only player in Major League history to be part of what unusual winning streak?
- Q6: This manager's teams made it to the World Series 9 times, but they lost 6 of those 9 times, giving him the record for managing the most World Series losers.
- Q7: Former Duke University basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski has the record for most wins by a Division One coach. Where did he go to college and who was his coach?
- Q8: UCLA has won 11 NCAA Division One men's basketball titles, more than any other school. John Wooden coached 10 of those teams. Who coached the UCLA team that won UCLA's 11th title in 1995?
- Q9: Name the top three Division One women's basketball coaches with the most career wins?
- Q10: What NBA coach has the most career wins?
- Q11: Who is the only NBA coach who has won more than 200 playoff games?
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- Answer 1: Casey Stengel (7), Joe McCarthy (7), Connie Mack (5), Walter Alston (4), Joe Torre (4).
- A2: Sparky Anderson (1975 and '76 Reds and 1984 Tigers), Tony LaRussa (1989 Oakland A's and 2011 Cardinals).
- A3: Bruce Bochy (his Giants defeated Texas in 2010; then his Texas Rangers won this year).
- A4: Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965), Bob Gibson (1964 and 1967), and Reggie Jackson (1973 and 1977). The World Series MVP award was first given in 1955 and is now called the "Willie Mays World Series MVP Award.”
- A5: He has been on the World Series winning team in each of the last three seasons: Texas this year, Houston last year, and Atlanta in 2021.
- A6: John McGraw of the New York Giants.
- A7: U.S. Military Academy (West Point, or "Army"). His coach was Bobby Knight.
- A8: Jim Harrick.
- A9: Tara VanDerveer (1,099), Pat Summit (1,098), Geno Auriemma (1,093).
- A10: Gregg Popovich (1,366 wins). (Don Nelson has the second most wins (1,335), Lenny Wilkens third most (1,332).
- A11: Phil Jackson (229 wins). Gregg Popovich is second with 171 wins.