YouKnowBall

Daily sports trivia for people who really know ball. Each league (NFL, NBA, MLB) has a Deep Cut prompt and a Golf course every day, the same for everyone. Correct answers nobody else thought of score the most.

Read the prompt, then lock in up to three players who fit it. Every correct answer scores; the fewer other players who name the same answer, the more it's worth. A wrong pick scores zero and tells you why it didn't count.

Points come from how many of today's players named the same answer, from 5 for the obvious pick to 100 for the rarest. Early in the day, when few people have played, each answer's fame (Wikipedia pageviews) stands in for the crowd, so the first player of the day can't score 100 with Tom Brady. Points move as people play and lock at midnight Eastern, when the Board reveals every answer.

Points depend on what other players said today. Rarity (0-100) depends only on fame: 85 means the answer is less famous than 85% of the prompt's valid answers. Rarity means something even on a quiet day.

Chalk (under 25 points) is the answer everyone blurts out. Role Player is 25-49, Starter 50-69 and Deep Cut 70 or more. The Sleeper is the day's gem answer. Too Clever is an answer that looks obscure but that lots of players reached for. An Airball isn't a valid answer.

One answer per prompt is the day's gem: obscure, but gettable. Find it and it lights up gold. Some are hand-picked; the rest are chosen from how famous each answer is.

Answers come straight from the stats, and each league's data has limits: NFL game stats start in 1999 (rosters go back to 1920 and drafts to 1980), NBA box scores are complete from 1955-56, and MLB stats come from Retrosheet, which publishes after each season ends. Prompts say when they start ("since 2010"). A wrong pick shows the stat that ruled it out. If you still think it should count, send it in with the Feedback button under "Answer check".

Every day at midnight Eastern, for every league at once. The countdown on your result card and the home page shows how long is left.

Each day's course has three holes. A hole is a career leaderboard, like career rebounds, and a target rank, the pin. Name a player: every place their rank misses the pin by is a stroke. Ties share a rank, and a player with none of the stat ranks one past the last player. Lowest total wins.

Your streak counts the days in a row you've played a league's Deep Cut. It carries through today until midnight, so it doesn't drop to zero in the morning before you play. Replaying past days from the archive doesn't extend it.

Badges for playing a league's Deep Cut on consecutive days, kept for good once earned: Rookie on your first day, Regular at 5 days in a row, All-Star at 14, MVP at 30 and Hall of Famer at 45. Your stats show how far you are from the next, and your best badge shows next to your name in friends leagues and on shared results.

Yes. The archive lists every past prompt. Play one blind, then see the Board. Archive plays are scored against how everyone did that day, but they don't count toward the Board, your streak or your stats.

Start a league, pick a nickname and send your friends the invite link. Everyone in it sees each other's daily scores once they've finished that day's prompt, so nobody gets spoiled. No sign-up needed.

No. Your browser keeps an anonymous ID so your picks, streaks and leagues stick around. Clearing your browser data or switching devices starts you fresh.

Use the Feedback button in the corner of any page, or the prompt-idea box under your result. Messages come straight to the person who runs YouKnowBall.

No. It's an independent project built on public data. See the footer for sources and licenses.