History Main / GretzkyHasTheBall

* In a 2009 game between the Bengals and the Browns, broadcaster Rich Gannon debated whether the Bengals should run down the clock before kicking an overtime field goal, so as not to allow the Browns time to return a kick. His broadcast partner helpfully reminded him that NFL overtime (under then-existing rules) is {{sudden death}}. Edges into RightForTheWrongReason, since while there would be no kickoff, the Bengals ''were'' running down the clock to prevent the Browns from being able to run a scoring drive of their own in the event the field goal was missed.

** As John [=McCain=]'s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, Palin appeared at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, and inexplicably stated that she was "thrilled to be here in the home state of the world champion Philadelphia Phillies!" What Palin apparently didn't understand was that baseball fans in Erie, being in the western half of Pennsylvania, prefer the Pittsburgh Pirates (or, in certain areas, the Cleveland Indians) and ''hate'' the Philadelphia Phillies.
* More than one retired baseball umpire has admitted he had no idea how to correctly identify and call a balk on a pitcher. For reference, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balk Here's]] [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]'s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balk page on balks]]

* Rebecca serves as an announcer to a hockey game that Joey participates in in an episode of ''Series/FullHouse.'' Feeling the need to upstage her, her husband Jesse attempts to join in. Keep in mind that Jesse is not athletic in any shape or form and knows nothing about sports, so naturally he looks like a complete idiot not knowing about the penalty box or even the ''game clock.''
** This happens in another episode when he tries to play basketball to impress his children. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shows up at the court, it takes the NBA legend a few minutes to realize Jesse honestly has no idea who he is.

* People who are critical of and/or dismissive toward sports and sports fandom often invoke this trope deliberately as a form of snarking. The term "sportsball" is a popular example.

--> '''Bethany:''' I don't see the fascination with throwing a ball in a hoop. Yay, touchdown, five points!
--> '''Gym teacher''' Okay, there's...a lot wrong with that...

* Creator/{{NBC}} Sports Network had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8 this ad]] for their coverage of the English Premier League, in which an American coach (who evidently has a background coaching basketball or American football) cluelessly mentions plans to get into the playoffs by playing hard for all four quarters. The English press corps is nice enough to correct him, at least.

** The game where Chargin' Chuck is finally PromotedToPlayable is...''[[VideoGame/MarioGolf Mario Golf: Super Rush]]''. That's right, a golf game, not football. To be fair, Mario has never had an American Football game.

* During a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' stream, LetsPlay/DaithiDeNogla mentioned that the reason his character had a baseball bat was that he'd just come from playing a baseball game, and that he was the "swinger for the L.A. Lakers." Cue {{Corpsing}} from everyone on the stream.

* An episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' revolves around Leonard nervously preparing for a football-watching party with Penny's relatives; they're all rabid Nebraska Cornhusker fans, while he doesn't know the first thing about the game. Sheldon, of all people, gives him a crash course on the sport -- he grew up in Texas, and knows everything about the game in spite of the fact that he hates it (and sports in general).

This trope is for in-universe sports errors; for errors made by the writers, see ArtisticLicenseSports. NewRulesAsThePlotDemands is the version of this trope for games that only exist in the work of fiction. In a game of {{Calvinball}}, this sort of error is impossible to make, because nonsensical descriptions of the rules become the new rules. In video games, if this is the theme of an entire level, it's an AthleticArenaLevel. PacManFever is this trope with video games standing in for sports.

* Many NASCAR announcers have made the mistake of assuming it's legal to go below the yellow or double yellow line on the last lap to make a pass.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short ''WesternAnimation/MyBunnyLiesOverTheSea'', the Scotsman [=MacRory=] suggests that he and Bugs settle their dispute with a game of golf. Bugs obliges, saying, "Have it your way, mac. But doncha ever get tired runnin' dem eighteen bases?"

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}'' cartoon "Hockey Homicide" ends with the announcer doing an extended example of this.

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'':
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2001-07-17 Monique, schmoozin'.]]
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2007-02-04 Monique]] does this ''while'' [[BestedAtBowling besting the guys at football]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Dave's [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005837 attempt]] to talk Rose out of her suicide mission devolves into a fantastic series of bungled sports metaphors; they're both aware that neither has any idea what they're talking about.

* Many NASCAR announcers have made the mistake of assuming it's legal to below the yellow or double yellow line on the last lap to make a pass.

* In a 2009 game between the Bengals and the Browns, broadcaster Rich Gannon debated whether the Bengals should run down the clock before kicking an overtime field goal, so as not to allow the Browns time to return a kick. His broadcast partner helpfully reminded him that NFL overtime (under then-existing rules) is {{sudden death}}.
** Slightly justified since they ''were'' running down the clock, to prevent the Browns from having a chance to run a last-second play to win in the event of a missed field goal. Still not correct that they would have to kick off, though.

'''Peter:''' Wrong team. [[note]]Rice and Montana played together for the 49ers for a while, but Montana was playing for the Chiefs at the time the strip was written.[[/note]]\\

The best way to show someone's incredible lack of sports knowledge is to have them describe a sporting event by jumbling together terms and people from a bunch of different sports. Many {{Sitcom}}s use this, usually setting the man up to be [[BestedAtBowling humiliated by a woman]], use his incorrect boasting to show that he's a KnowNothingKnowItAll, or to make clear who the show's "[[RatedMForManly manly men]]" are in comparison to other men and to the women. Sometimes it is a companion of the sports fan that, when having to watch a game, attempts to understand the rules and gets it totally wrong. Regardless of the scenario, it is always PlayedForLaughs.

Many {{Sitcom}}s use the gimmick of the sports episode, usually setting the man up to be [[BestedAtBowling humiliated by a woman]]. Other shows may also reference or involve sports. Sometimes sports knowledge will be used to differentiate "[[RatedMForManly manly men]]" from less seemingly masculine men (geeks and others) or from the women. Sometimes it is the man's wife or girlfriend that, when having to watch a game, totally gets it wrong. Or sometimes it is the man himself trying to show off and only ends up being a KnowNothingKnowItAll. Regardless of the scenario, it is always played purposely for the RuleOfFunny.

This trope is for in-universe sports errors; for errors made by the writers, see ArtisticLicenseSports. NewRulesAsThePlotDemands is the version of this trope for games that only exist in the work of fiction. In video games, if this is the theme of an entire level, it's an AthleticArenaLevel. PacManFever is this trope with video games standing in for sports. Of course, it's impossible to make this mistake in a game of {{Calvinball}}.

** They also did an episode on "corked bats", and came to the conclusion that, since a corked bat doesn't hit a ball ''further'', those using them were endangering their career for no reason. Adulterated bats aren't used to simply swing faster and get more power; the lighter weight allows for a faster reaction time and better contact with late-breaking pitches, and doctoring a heavy bat vice simply using a lighter one gives better reach and a better "sweet spot".

* In one episode of ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'', [[SixthRanger Venus de Milo]] is playing bowling and gets a strike. However, since she's new to American sports (and American culture in general), she incorrectly calls it terms like "goal," "hole in one," and "touchdown."
* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Miss Brooks' knowledge of sports ranges from the excellent to the ridiculously inadequate. This is problematic, as the episode has several sports episodes, usually involving recurring character Stretch Snodgrass.
** In "Bronco Dismissed" this trope is averted, as Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton substitute coach for the football team without any difficulty. Likewise in other episodes such as "Baseball Slide" and "The Big Game". In some episodes, however, Miss Brooks is very much in the dark...

---> "As they say in hockey... 'Let's do that hockey!'"

-->'''JD:''' Unlikely, because what's waiting for me in my room is what's known in football terms as a slam-dunk. ''swings imaginary tennis racket''

** There's one scene which opens with JD and Turk discussing sports and agreeing that with a certain player, New York could really win the title. Then Turk asks, "which sport are we talking about here?" J.D. thinks it's tennis.

* From ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', in one episode John and Sarah are watching a chess game. When Sarah asks him to "explain what she's seeing", John replies that one of the players has just captured the other's queen, causing Sarah to demand "English, please!" Apparently, basic chess rules are far too technical for the average woman Sarah Connor.
** Also, while the move might have had the bonus of putting the opponent in zugzwang, taking the Queen in itself is most certainly not zugzwang. (For those not fluent in chess jargon or German, zugzwang is when every move is worse than not moving, but you must.)

* Parodied in sketch show ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', which features two completely incompetent film writers; the film, nominally about cricket, ends with an amateur team from Yorkshire ("Cricket? In ''Yorkshire''?") making the final of the Ashes against a cheating German team (for those who don't know, The Ashes is a series of five matches between England and Australia; there is no 'final', it's just a best-of-five scenario).

--->'''Daisy:''' (''as one of the patrons'') Touchdown! ... are the Milwaukee Bucks a football team?

* "Glory Days" by Music/BruceSpringsteen. "Speedball", Bruce? Try '''fast'''ball.

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', the Riverdale team shows up to a football game, and the rival team is female. One CurbStompBattle later, Archie and Reggie are moping around, depressed, when Betty and Veronica ask to be shown how to "shoot baskets with this horse hide" (a football). Reggie and Archie walk off with the girls in hand, going "When will you learn football is a man's game!" The girls wink at each other.

* In the American GagDub of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', Tai Kamiya is a soccer player who apparently doesn't play much else. He was rather prone to mixed sporting metaphors, such as "Bases loaded, two outs! And we need a slam dunk!"

** An earlier episode also shows RobotGirl Nano and the eight year old Professor who made her playing baseball while clearly having no idea how the game is played.
* In an episode of ''Manga/SquidGirl'', Ika plays soccer with some of Takeru's schoolmates. However, she has no idea how to play, and violates a lot of the rules, which the boys on both teams call her out on, such as [[LoopholeAbuse using her tentacles, which totally aren't her hands]], to get the soccer ball into the goal post, even though to the kids it looked like she held the ball in her hands. When she tries just using her feet, she's completely terrible to the point that the both teams collude to help her score at least one goal.

* Monta in ''Anime/Eyeshield21'' is being told that his nickname come from the famous receiver Joe Montana (a quarterback) instead of the protagonist just misreading his real name and finding Monta appropriate since he looks like a monkey. Monta never bothered checking after he joined American Football and still claims this is where his nickname come from.

* Pretty much every depiction of poker in film or TV features a line to the effect of, "I see your bet and raise you...". In real life, this is a 'string bet' and the player would be forced to only call. Potentially justified if they're only playing informally in their kitchen (since the characters are usually not experts and are really only interested in trying to one-up each other,) but on the rare occasion when it takes place in an actual casino, it becomes a problem.

* [[http://www.snorgtees.com/t-shirts/home-run These]] [[http://www.snorgtees.com/touchdown T-shirts]], invoking the trope for laughs.