9 Sports Myths You Need to Stop Believing

1.

Distracting Players at the Free Throw Line Prevents Them From Scoring - According to BusinessWeek, home players performed 2 percent worse than opponents. All that noise and excitement does more good than harm courtside.

2.

College Athletes Get Medical Care After an Injury - A career-ending injury can be devastating to college athletes and can cause a lifetime of pain, but the colleges are under no obligation to provide health care or rehab once an athlete is injured

3.

Baseball Games Are Longer Than Football Games - By contrast, the average NFL game sees just 12 minutes of actual time where the ball is in motion till the whistle is blown.

4.

Shoeless Joe Jackson Fixed the World Series - The myth that Shoeless Joe Jackson and his teammates fixed the World Series in 1919 isn't exactly accurate. Jackson claimed that he did accept $5,000, but tried to give the money back and get himself benched. He hit for .325 during the 8-game series. Baseball stats experts agree his numbers don't add up to a fix, but sadly, the myth prevails.

5.

Marathons Are 26 Miles Because of the Greeks - In actuality, today's race length dates back to the 1908 London Olympics. Runners were set to race about 26 miles, but an extra 385 yards was tacked on so that the royal family could good view of the race, according to the NY Times.

6.

Teams Always Pick the Highest Rated Draft Picks in the First Round - NFL teams strategize to draft the best ranked player for their highest needs. If the team already has a franchise quarterback, they won't be going for the top QB pick.

7.

The Myth of the Assistant Hockey Captain - Every hockey team has a captain, and you can tell who it is by looking for the player with the "C" on the front of his jersey. Many people mistakenly think that the player with the "A" on his jersey is the assistant. The "A" actually stands for alternate. An alternate captain can only talk to refs and perform other captain duties when the first captain is off the ice.

8.

Footballs Are Made From Pig Skin - Footballs used to be made from animal bladders - sometimes from pigs - thus the name. The balls were never actually made pigskin. The bladders had to be inflated before each game for an extra bit of ick factor. Today, balls are made from vulcanized rubber or cowhide.

9.

The Super Bowl Is Wholesome Family Fun - There is a dark and seedy side to the game as well. To law enforcement, the game is known as the single largest human trafficking event of the year.