We lived just a few blocks away from a local college, and we would always go watch the basketball games. And we would run to go get something to snack on, and to be sure we didnt step onto the court, my mom always told us that if we did, we would have to play in basketball game.

Alesia

One year my soccer team was doing very well. We were facing another team and went into "sudden death". I was scaird out of my mind because I thought it ment if you missed, I would be killed instantly.

Neil

When I was a child, and my father had first tried to explain (American) Football to me, he said how a team has "four downs to gain ten yards". In my first attempt to understand that, I got the idea that it meant a team, in advancing 10 yards, had to knock down four players of the opposing team or they would lose the ball. So at the first several football games I watched, I was counting how many players on the defensive team fell down, and trying to see if four fell down by the time the offense advanced ten yards, to see if the offensive team would retain possession of the ball. Naturally it was confusing, as often a team retained possession when I clearly thought they shouldn't have, and vice-versa.

Ron

I used to think that the Hunchback of Notre Dame was a football player.

Wendy

When I was little, I used to watch hockey games with my parents. When the announcer said He shoots, he scores! I thought he said Shootsky scores. I thought Shootsky was Wayne Gretzky. But for some reason I never wondered why he was on every team and scored all the goals. I also believed the Leafs could win a Stanley Cup. I still do... :(

Hockey Gal

I love hockey, and when I was a kid my dad told me that the guy that drove the Zamboni machine in between periods (to clean the ice for those not familiar with hockey, it's a huge machine that gets the skate ruts out), anyway, my Dad told me that the guys name was Sam Bologna! Now, I passed on the tradition...I told my kids that his son took over, Sam Bologna, Jr.!!

Debbie

When I was about 5, my brother was watching a football(American) game with the Chicago Bears playing someone, but i forget who. Whoever they were, my brother was rooting for them and not the Bears so when he said "Oh no! A Bear made a touchdown" I got this image in my head of an actual bear wandering the football field, making a touchdown, and that this is somehow upsetting to my brother. I still laugh when I think of this image.

Emily

When I was very little and still learning the game of baseball (I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan and always have been), whenever I heard that a team had the "bases loaded", I thought the entire bench was cleared and about 25 players stood all the way around the basepaths. When I first heard "the bases are loaded with Red Sox", I burst out laughing because I was thinking about all these players just standing there!

Pablo

I used to think that Michael Jordan and Montell Jordan were brothers. I used to think that Montell also played basketball just like his “brother.”

Jen

While watching a football game on TV, I once asked my dad why there was a net between the goal posts. He said that it was to keep the ball from being eaten by the crazed fans in the seats. So, for a good decade, I thought that people at football games would get so excited that if a ball went into the stands, they would tear it to shreds and eat the pieces. Fortunately, this was well before we started hearing about "soccer hooligans" in the states, otherwise I might never have realized that he didn't mean literally eaten.

Anon

One day when I was about 8 we drove past a cricket field. When I asked my mum what the white screens were for she told me that they contained hidden cameras for spying on the crowd - yeah, nice one mum. I'm 30 now, but I still check my behaviour near those screens.

anon

my parents are avid football fans. i used to watch the game and i believed that i the point of the game was to chase after the person with the ball and rub his face into the ground.

nathsgirl

My uncle is a big fan of basball, and when I was about 5 or 6 we watched a video of him playing baseball when he was in high-school. When he hit a "home-run" my little 6 year old brain thought everyone was yelling, "hard on". Somehow no one ever knew I thought this or just never corrected me, so boy did I surprise my first baseball coach when I told him I could hit hard ons every time I played!!

Leanna

you know the ten-foot line that they have for volleyball courts? I used to think that when you were playing basketball, if you shot from that line your team would score "ten" points. I actually tried to make a shot all the way from there in the last second of one of my basketball games. My angry teamates hastily corrected me.

bball smartz

You'll probably only get this if you're from the UK, but I used to think the Wombles lived at Wembley Stadium.

Spacey

My dad told me that playing basketball makes you taller. Basketball players are tall, so I believed him.

Anon

When I was 10 years old, I used to think the footie team Sheffield Wednesday was a bank holiday, Barry van Hire was a dutch soccer player and Muffin the Mule was a sexual offence.

Notty

When i was younger (a lot younger!) i used to wonder why, when watching tennis, the players didnt have a rest when they shouted "juice".I still cant watch tennis without giggling at myself now!

Becky