(CNN) -- It was at San Francisco's Olympic Club that "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, world heavyweight champion and to many the man who took boxing from a brawl to an art, trained and coached.

Twenty-two years after his death, the sports club hosted its first U.S. Open golf tournament in 1955. Ben Hogan lost in a playoff to an unknown golf pro from Iowa and the course was on its way to developing a reputation as the graveyard of champions. Now, after four U.S. Opens there, the first rule of Olympic Club favorites is ... there are no Olympic Club favorites.

That's more true than ever this time around. It remains to be seen whether we're in the post-Tiger Woods era or just an interregnum in his reign, but what's certainly the case is that these days a large number of players turn up at major championships with a genuine belief and chance of winning.

One simple fact supports them: the last 14 majors have been won by 14 different players.

It was very different back at that first Olympic U.S. Open. Then, Ben Hogan was the man. Nine major championships under his belt and already the subject of a Hollywood movie, Hogan went to San Francisco in search of his fifth U.S. Open.

He seemed to have won it too: the TV commentator congratulated him on his victory and the broadcast went off air proclaiming Hogan as U.S. Open champion. Rather inconveniently, Jack Fleck, a pro from a municipal course in Iowa, birdied 15 and 18, forced Hogan into a playoff and then -- in one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time -- beat the great man by three shots. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. When was the first US Open gold tournament held?
2. Who lost?
3. Who did he lose to?
4. Where was he from?
5. Does the course have a reputation?
6. Who is the club favorite?
7. Who was trained and coached at the club?
8. Did he golf?
9. Did he box?
10. How many championships had Hogan won at the time of the first Open?
11. Were producers interested in his story?
12. Has any one person won more than one major out of the last 14?
13. What does that support?
14. What was Hogan proclaimed as?
15. What championship was this at?
16. Was the proclamation true?
17. How much did he lose by?
18. Was it disappointing to fans?
19. Was it largest upsetting events in sports?
Answer: 1. 1955
2. Ben Hogan
3. an unknown golf pro
4. Iowa
5. the graveyard of champions
6. there are no Olympic Club favorites
7. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett
8. unknown
9. yes
10. Nine
11. yes
12. no
13. many players think they can win
14. U.S. Open champion
15. first Olympic U.S. Open
16. no
17. three shots
18. unknown
19. yes

Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating a player's and/or team's progress.

Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and statistics. Statistics have been kept for professional baseball since the creation of the National League and American League, now part of Major League Baseball.

Many statistics are also available from outside of Major League Baseball, from leagues such as the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players and the Negro Leagues, although the consistency of whether these records were kept, of the standards with respect to which they were calculated, and of their accuracy varied.

The practice of keeping records of player achievements was started in the 19th century by Henry Chadwick. Based on his experience with the sport of cricket, Chadwick devised the predecessors to modern-day statistics including batting average, runs scored, and runs allowed.

Traditionally, statistics such as batting average (the number of hits divided by the number of at bats) and earned run average (the average number of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings) have dominated attention in the statistical world of baseball. However, the recent advent of sabermetrics has created statistics drawing from a greater breadth of player performance measures and playing field variables. Sabermetrics and comparative statistics attempt to provide an improved measure of a player's performance and contributions to his team from year to year, frequently against a statistical performance average. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. When did the record keeping for players first start?
2. By who?
3. What sport was he familiar with?
4. Did he keep track of batting averages and runs scored?
5. What else?
6. What is the number of hits divided by the number of at bats?
7. And the average number of earned runs allowed by who per nine innings is the earned run average?
8. Are those stats the most popular?
9. Of which sport?
10. What's the new way to get statistics from more player measures?
11. Is that a more accurate way to judge a player's abilities?
12. Does baseball have built in breaks to it?
13. Are the players individually acting or in groups?
14. Does that make it harder or easier for record keeping?
15. Can you get records of the Negro Leagues?
16. Are they completely accurate?
17. Was the way they were calculated a problem?
18. Name one league that is now part of the Major League.
19. And another?
Answer: 1. in the 19th century
2. Henry Chadwick
3. cricket
4. yes
5. runs allowed
6. batting average
7. yes
8. yes
9. baseball
10. sabermetrics
11. yes
12. yes
13. individually
14. easier
15. yes
16. no
17. yes
18. American League
19. the National League

There would be a school party on Friday evening. The girls were talking about what they were going to wear. "I'm going to wear a black dress, so everybody will notice me," said Emily. "How about you, Linda?" "I'm not sure. Maybe jeans, an old shirt, and a hat. People will notice me more than you!" Linda said. "What are we going to do about the boys?" asked Jane. "Do you remember the last school party, last year? They just stood there, and we girls had to dance by ourselves!" "I hear that some of the boys learned how to dance this summer. Maybe it'll be better this time," said Mary. The party was held on Friday evening. Groups of students arrived. The music began. The girls stood in a line on one side, and the boys on another side. Mr. Green, their teacher, tried to get them together, but failed. After a while, Tim said, "I don't want to stand here the whole time. The party is only for two hours. It'll be over soon." He started to dance. All the others watched him. Then David asked Emily if she wanted to dance. Then Jack and Linda. Then, all began to dance. Soon there were more dancers than watchers. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What will Emily wear?
2. Why?
3. Who considered wearing jeans?
4. accompanied by what?
5. Did the girls dance with several boys last year?
6. Who suspected this year might be different?
7. Why?
8. When was the party?
9. Where?
10. Which teacher was chaperoning?
11. How long was it?
12. Who was the first boy to dance?
13. Who was the second?
14. Who did he dance with?
15. Who was Linda paired with?
16. Were there more watchers or participants?
17. Which girl got asked to dance first?
18. Did she dress for the occasion?
19. Who tried to get the genders to dance together?
Answer:
1. a black dress
2. everybody will notice her
3. Linda
4. an old shirt and a hat
5. no
6. Mary
7. Some of the boys might have learned to dance
8. Friday evening
9. school
10. Mr. Green
11. two hours
12. Tim
13. David
14. Emily
15. Jack
16. dancers
17. Emily
18. yes
19. Mr. Green