The Animaniacs was always more than just a great cartoon. It provided some useful learning tools—Wakko singing the 50 states and their capitals certainly helped me on a few geography tests. How well do you remember the Animaniacs’ great songs?

Take the Quiz: Animaniacs’ Greatest Hits

1. Getting Michael Crabtree Signed

Michael Crabtree was a star at Texas Tech and many predicted him to be the top receiver taken in the 2009 NFL Draft. But, like so many times before, Raiders owner Al Davis threw things off by taking Darrius Heyward-Bey, leaving Crabtree to fall to the tenth spot with the San Francisco 49ers. Crabtree thought he deserved as much money as Heyward-Bey for being better in college and refused to sign with the Niners, sitting out several games before finally signing in early October (just after I dropped him from my fantasy team). What finally got the negotiations going? Hammer. While it wasn’t the only factor, or even a big factor at all, Hammer’s presence certainly makes it interesting. Hammer is a friend of Crabtree’s mentor, Deion Sanders, and agent, Eugene Parker, and inexplicably sat in on some of the contract talks. Soon after, Crabtree was signed. 49ers blogger Matt Maiocco even reports that hotel staff overheard Crabtree telling Hammer to “get it done,” so maybe he played a bigger role than we all thought.

2. Saving Dance

Hammer is most well-known for his dancing, so it’s only fitting that his latest effort would be in that realm. After seeing that there wasn’t a good online community for dancers, Hammer founded DanceJam.com, a social network where people can share videos and comment on different styles of dance. It also allows viewers to slow down videos to examine what the moves are. Hammer told Popular Mechanics that the site was intended to be a “repository of all things dance, and of course again all the way to instructional videos of hot dances of today.”

3. Kicking Off Justin Lin’s Movie Career

When Justin Lin was having financial trouble at his production company, he feared that his directorial debut, Better Luck Tomorrow, would never see the light of day. According on an interview on NPR, Lin desperately called Hammer, whom he had met once in Las Vegas. Hammer read the script, liked it and sent Lin the money he needed to keep his company and film going. Better Luck Tomorrow would go on to be a hit at Sundance and Lin would eventually helm hits like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious.

4. Marrying Corey Feldman

How fitting that this wedding would be aired on the VH1 show The Surreal Life, because what could be more surreal than a wedding that includes Hammer, a rabbi, Gary Coleman and Mouth from The Goonies? ‘80s star Feldman was wed to his girlfriend Susie Sprague on the season finale of the reality show and had Hammer, along with a rabbi, officiate the ceremony, which was put together in one week (see a video here). Hammer is an ordained minister who also officiated the wedding of Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil. Hammer has starred in his own ministry show and has been open about his faith and role as a minister, though never with as much star power as at Feldman’s wedding.

5. Starting The Trend Of Rapper Endorsements

Hammer’s rise on the Billboard charts was accompanied by millions of dollars (which he would eventually lose in an all-too-public bankruptcy filing). But that bank account was padded by Hammer’s willingness to shill for companies like Pepsi, Toshiba and KFC. The distinctly non-hip-hop move led to charges of Hammer being a sell-out, from a good deal of his contemporaries. Of course, now it’s more commonplace for rappers to play commercials (right Kanye? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndDdNkonRc8)), but we’ve got fHammer to thank for that. Hammer has even continued doing his commercials with a Super Bowl spot for Cash4Gold last year that also poked fun at his bankruptcy problems.

The college basketball season kicked off this week and now everybody’s got a shot at making the NCAA tournament. Of course, some schools have a better shot than others. Sixteen schools have made the Final Four at least five times (two are tied at the top of the list with 18 appearances). With three minutes on the game clock, can you name them all?

Take the Quiz: Final Four Appearances

Last year at this time, we were all recovering from our election overload. For more than a year, we had been inundated 24 hours a day with poll numbers, attack ads and endorsements. Every tiny story seemed like it could make or break the election (or at least the cable news networks made us think it did). But now, those little details seem so insignificant. Dig into your memory and see if you can remember these details from Indecision 2008.

Take the Quiz: Election ‘08

Major League is great. Major League II, less so. But it’s still a fun movie and a great vehicle for Bob Uecker. How well do you remember the baseball sequel?

Take the Quiz: Major League II

[Take the original Major League quiz.]

In the power rankings of rock musicians, drummers usually end up towards the bottom. Even though their role is invaluable, they don’t usually get the glory or the name recognition. With just the drummer’s name, can you identify the twelve bands in this quiz?

Take the Quiz: Rock & Roll Drummers

In honor of the World Series, the next five 5pm Quizzes will feature some of our favorite baseball films. First up, ‘Major League.’

In the pantheon of great baseball movies, Major League is a solid contender for the funniest. For long-suffering Cleveland fans, it was a welcome opportunity to see the Indians win a few games. For everyone else, it was just simply a laugh riot. How well do you remember the classic film?

Take the Quiz: Major League

[Stay tuned for the 'Major League II' quiz next week.]

Sure, you can sing your favorite show’s theme song, but could you pick it out of a jukebox? While some have pretty obvious titles, others are a little tougher. Can you match the show to the name of its theme song?

Take the Quiz: TV Theme Titles

Listening to football coaches can be a little scary, with their militaristic talk of marching down the field and annihilating the enemy. In fact, it can almost sound like listening to some kind of brutal dictator. Of the quotes in this quiz, can you identify which came from an NFL coach and which came from a dictator?

Take the Quiz: NFL Coach or Dictator?

Those FreeCreditReport.com commercials may be catchy (or annoying, depending on how you feel), but how realistic are they? And can they really compare to the hard knock lives of our favorite rappers? Of the lyrics in this quiz, identify which ones came from a rap song and which ones came from the commercials.

Take the Quiz: Rap Song or FreeCreditReport.com Jingle?