Most Difficult Things To Do In Sports

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jun 13, 2008

Most Difficult Things To Do In Sports

Hitting .400 for the season

Ted Williams is the last player to end a season with a batting average over .400. The Red Sox icon finished with an average of .406 in 1941, and also led the league in home runs (37), base on balls (147), runs (135), slugging average (.735), and on base percentage (.551).

Winning consecutive Super Bowls in the salary cap era

By defeating the Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots became the first team since the Broncos (1998-99) to win consecutive Super Bowls.

Setting a world record in the pole vault

Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva holds the world record for women in the pole vault, clearing 16-5 1/4 three years ago in Lausanne.

Finishing with a quadruple double in an NBA game

Only four players have pulled off a quadruple double, including Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon, who had 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 11 blocks on March 29, 1990, against Milwaukee.

Winning the Grand Slam in golf

In 1930 Bobby Jones became the first and only golfer to win the Grand Slam, winning all of golf's four major championships. Tiger Woods achieved the career Grand Slam when he won the British Open at St. Andrews in 2000.

Throwing touchdown passes in 40-plus consecutive games

Johnny Unitas threw at least one touchdown pass in 47 straight games, an NFL record. Next on the list is a 36-game streak by Brett Favre, from 2002 to 2004.

Pitching back to back no-hitters

There have been 256 no-hitters in modern baseball, the last being Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester. On June 11, 1938, Reds starter Johnny VanderMeer no-hit the Boston Bees, 3-0. Four nights later he followed up by no-hitting the Dodgers 6-0. VanderMeer remains the only pitcher in history to toss consecutive no-hitters.

Scoring 80 or more goals in a season

Wayne Gretzky's single-season scoring record of 92 goals ('81-82) might be unassailable. Capitals left wing Alexander Ovechkin led all NHL players this season with 65 goals.

Shutting down Kobe Bryant

It's one of the toughest assignments in sports.

Starting 253 consecutive regular-season games

Retired (we think) Packer quarterback Brett Favre finished his career on a streak of 253 consecutive regular-season starts. If you include the playoffs, the number jumps to 275. Giants punter Jeff Feagles holds the all-time record, playing in an NFL-record 320 consecutive regular season.

Winning a world bull riding championship

Justin McBride is a two-time Professional Bull Riders World Champion (2005 and 2007) and the organization's all-time leading money and events winner.

Hitting the quad in women's figure skating

Japanese figure skater Miki Ando is the only female skater to have landed a quadruple jump (a salchow) in competition. She first completed the jump at the 2002 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in the Netherlands at age 15.

Winning the Triple Crown as a jockey

Steve Cauthen is the last jockey to win the Triple Crown, riding the great Affirmed to victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Sled Dog Racing

Alaska's 1,000-mile Yukon Quest and 1,150-mile Iditarod are only a little more than a month apart, so winning them back-to-back is more than demanding. It had never been done until last year, when Lance Mackey did it. Winning them back-to-back two years in a row? Mackey this year -- on feet frostbitten by the Quest's 40-below temperatures, yet. Matching his feat is going to take some doing.