History Main / ArtisticLicenseSports

* Martial arts training in fiction involves esoteric tasks like meditating under a waterfall or washing the teacher's car. While it's not uncommon for schools to involve the students in helping maintain the dojo (sweeping before/after class, tidying up the entranceway, etc.) and performing chores helps build a good mental mindset, the actual nuts and bolts of physical technique can only be taught in class, through many (many, many) repetitions.

** Ricky Bobby's car is shown to have a 5-speed transmission with a reverse gear. At the time of the film, NASCAR only allowed a 4-speed transmission with a reverse gear. The Cup Series didn't change to a 5-speed transmission (plus reverse) until ''2022'' (all other NASCAR series still mandate a 4-speed with reverse).[[note]]Incidentally, the 5-speed transmission introduced in the Cup Series in 2022 uses a sequential pattern instead of the previous H pattern.[[/note]]

*** Mike Barnes's fouls on Daniel in the final showdown were so blatant and close together, even the most lenient referee would've disqualified him halfway through the match. Not only that, but in any sane tournament, Barnes would have earned himself and his whole dojo an instant ban for punching Daniel between rounds. Ultimately, the first season of ''Cobra Kai'' reveals [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome that the original Cobra Kai and any successor was given a lifetime ban from the All-Valley Tournament due to Barnes, Kreese and Terry Silver's antics]], and only an impassioned speech from Johnny to the tournament's oversight committee gets the new Cobra Kai reinstated over Daniel's objections, with Johnny being helped by the fact that he had cut ties with Cobra Kai after Kreese tried to kill him in the beginning of ''[[Film/TheKarateKidPartII Part II]]'' for losing to Daniel, and thus didn't know who Barnes or Silver were. [[spoiler:The fourth season of ''Cobra Kai'' reveals that Silver bribed the referee in the season's climactic tournament, hinting that the ref back in ''Part III'' might have been on his payroll as well.]]
*** Daniel being given a free pass to the final rounds due to winning the previous year's tournament would not happen in any legitimate tournament, and clearly was done so the writers could skip over a tournament montage[[note]]It's also thought to be a result of the film's TroubledProduction, which saw filming halted for several weeks due to Ralph Macchio's oak poisoning and Sean Kanan's OnSetInjury which required emergency surgery[[/note]]. The writers for ''Cobra Kai'', like everyone else, clearly noticed this was bullshit[[note]]it should be noted that unlike some of ''Part III'''s other contentious elements, this was never [[SalvagedStory recontextualized in the series]], and is instead lampooned whenever it's brought up[[/note]], and so the rules from the first film are used instead. As a result, in the season 1 finale, the previous year's champion, Xander Stone, is shown fighting his way to the finals, so Miguel Diaz eliminating him in the semifinals is [[TheWorfEffect even more impressive]]. And in season 4, as defending champion, Miguel has to once again fight his way to the top, with the added benefit of proving himself capable of fighting cleanly and with honor despite still recovering from back injuries he sustained in the school brawl at the end of season 2.

* The "Grand Canyon/Ireland" episode of ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics'' featured a golf game where the objective was to make a hole in one, which would tenchically make it a par 1 hole. Dinky Dalton of the Rottens makes it in two shots (his first shot was a failed cheat) which the narrator scored as a birdie, which is one under par. Dinky's score should have been a bogey (one over par).

* In the ''Series/MidsomerMurders'', in the episode "Sleeper on the Hill" the sabre fencing is done with the pointy end when sabre is a slashing weapon. The coach's technique is also awful.

** There are sports where a Team Great Britain plays under the Union Jack, including tennis, baseball, and ice hockey. Additional sports' teams play under the Union Jack for particularly special events (Olympic Games, Southern hemisphere rugby tours), even if they'd otherwise represent their Home Nations or Ireland.

** There are sports where a Team Great Britain plays under the Union Jack, including tennis, baseball, and ice hockey. Additional sports' teams play under the Union Jack for particularly special events (Olympic Games, Southern hemisphere rugby tours), even if they'd otherwise represent their Home Nations or Ireland.

** In the filler of the first anime series, during the flashback when the Japanese team played in a European tournament, Japan played against England, whose team used the Union Jack flag, rather than the St George's Cross, the flag used in sporting events, due to the fact all the countries of the United Kingdom normally participate with their own flags, rather than using the Union Jack flag, who is normally used in political events outside sports.

* ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' ''5'' has players in the A-Spec career path enter the [[MarathonLevel 24 Hours of Le Mans]] and 24 Hours of Nürburgring as a 1-driver team. In real life, no 1-driver team have ever been on the start grid at Le Mans, and even the sole driver to have driven the whole race solo (Edward Hall in 1950) had a reserve driver ready if needed.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' episode "V is for Victory", the writers got certain aspects of a swim meet wrong. All Will needed to do to win the gold was to get a good time in the semifinals (she didn't have to win it), then win the finals. Her coach told that she needed to ''win'' the next two races. Furthermore, Will should be in lane 3 or 4 in the finals, as she won the semis (she was in lane 2).

*** Mike Barnes's fouls on Daniel in the final showdown were so blatant and close together, even the most lenient referee would've disqualified him halfway through the match. Not only that, but in any sane tournament, Barnes would have earned himself and his whole dojo an instant ban for punching Daniel between rounds. Ultimately, the first season of ''Cobra Kai'' reveals [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome that the original Cobra Kai and any successor was given a lifetime ban from the All-Valley Tournament due to Barnes, Kreese and Terry Silver's antics]], and only an impassioned speech from Johnny to the tournament's oversight committee gets the new Cobra Kai reinstated over Daniel's objections, with Johnny being helped by the fact that he had cut ties with Cobra Kai after Kreese tried to kill him in the beginning of ''[[Film/TheKarateKidPartII Part II]]'' for losing to Daniel, and thus didn't know who Barnes or Silver were.

** EA's ''VideoGame/NCAAFootball'' series (the college-aged sister game of ''Madden'') mistakenly had a hard roster limit, like the NFL. While the NCAA does have limits on both the number of scholarships you can give out and the number of players you can dress for games, the actual limit is greater than the 70-player limit given by EA[[note]]The FBS (the top level of college football) actually has no roster limit whatsoever and the average per roster is around '''120''' guys, though not all of them are active and dressed on game day. And yes, this means some players have to share a number[[/note]]. However, the series in its modern form dates back to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, so the limit may have been a technical restriction rather than a deliberate design decision.

** The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game ''Tiny Toon Adventures: Acme All-Stars Sports Special'', pretty much thrived on RuleOfFunny regarding this trope. Between soccer and basketball, the characters rode the ball around, flew across the court with it in their mouths, and could even run over the other players with a car or mecha-suit. And harass and immobilize other players (yes, we're talking about ''Elmyra Duff'')...

* Music/BruceSpringsteen's song "Glory Days" talks about a former high school baseball pitcher. It uses the term "speedball", a term all but unheard of on any baseball broadcast. The correct term of "fastball" would have worked just as well in the lyrics as there's no difference in syllables nor was there any rhyme involved.