5 Secrets You Didn’t Know About the Biggest Trophies In Sports
Want to learn more about the biggest trophies in sports?
Did you know the Stanley Cup contains at least six typos? Imagine working every day for the better part of twenty years to become one of the best hockey players in the world. Then imagine you and your team sacrifice and battle year after year to finally win at least sixteen victories.
You've done it. The Stanley Cup is all yours! Only, they somehow managed to spell your name wrong.
The other most coveted trophies in the world aren't much better. Are you ready to find out some other dirty little trophy secrets? Excellent. Read on.
Stanley Cup
Some believe the Stanley Cup is the most expensive trophy in professional sports.
Wrong.
The original Stanley Cup was the most inexpensive professional trophy of its time. Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada purchased the decorative cup from a shop in London for 10 guineas.
He later gave the cup to Canada's top amateur hockey club to commemorate their success at Montreal's Winter Carnival. Since then, there have been two replacements. That's right. The Stanley Cup is actually the Stanley Cups.
It's not even one of the four most Unique Trophies in Sports History. Only an exclusive few can claim that title.
US Open Trophy
The coveted US Open Trophy is one of golf's most sought-after treasures. Since England's Horace Rawlins walked away with the first trophy in 1895, others fight each year for the same honor. Unfortunately, they'll never get it.
The trophy's a fake. Or more accurately, a replica. The original trophy melted in 1946 when Tam O'Shanter golf club suffered a catastrophic fire.
A new trophy was commissioned soon after. It sits at the USGA museum, year round. Winners receive a replica of the replica.
World Series Trophy
Baseball is as American as American gets. References to the game and its forefather, stickball, date back to the 18th century. Sure, it's related to English rounders and cricket, but only so far as American football relates to soccer.
Despite the game being "America's greatest pastime," two World Series trophies found homes outside of the United States. In 1992 and 1993, a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, took the baseball prize home.
Kentucky Derby Winner's Trophy
In 1997, things went wrong. The Derby's trophy went in for a redesign and came back modified. The result? It's no longer lucky.
You see, racing lore says that luck will run out of a horseshoe. Unbeknownst to the designers, luck only flows out if the horseshoe points downwards. Taking their artistic liberties, the designers decided to turn the horseshoe 180 degrees.
Now the horseshoe keeps all that luck to itself.
Borg-Warner Trophy
The much-lauded trophy for Indianapolis 500 winners also boasts an interesting fact. The only way to discern which of the many faces decorating the trophy belongs to whom is to read the inscription. That is, all except for one.
Tom Sneva, the winner of the 1983 Indianapolis 500, managed to become the only face recognizable. He requested the artists sculpt his face similar to every else's, but with one addition: he wanted to be wearing his glasses.
What's After the Biggest Trophies in Sports?
Well, did you get your fill of sports trivia for the day? Or have we left you craving more surprises about the biggest trophies in sports? Don't worry; we won't leave you hanging.
Take five minutes to peruse our wide selection of articles on all things trophy. You'll find more than one juicy secret.