Sports
Summer Skiing in Chicago
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 20, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Sports, Urban Life, 1950s
Cat Boxing
I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as cat boxing. Cats fight all the time, of course. But to box each other at a set time in front of a crowd — I didn't think they would cooperate with such an indignity.
Detroit Free Press - June 16, 1939
Update: Paul revealed to me the existence of this old video produced by Thomas Edison, circa 1894, showing cats boxing. So I guess cat boxing is a long-established thing.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 14, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Sports, Cats, 1930s
Blow Football
Or as we call it today, "Spread the Covid."This game went through several editions since its 1910 origin. See pictures at Board Game Geek.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 13, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Games, Sports, Viruses, Germs and Other Sources of Infection
Curtis Schoon, the boxer who forgot to wear his trunks
The boxing career of featherweight Curtis Schoon would be entirely forgotten by now if he hadn't, one time, forgotten to wear his boxing trunks into the ring. He opened his robe and... he had nothing on beneath it.
Argus Leader - Jan 26, 1956
Argus Leader - Jan 19, 1957
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 11, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Sports, Nudism and Nudists
Blind Soccer
The game, referenced in the news clipping below, was evidently an early example of blind soccer.
The Evening Sun - Dec 17, 1973
The game has now developed into an established Paralympic sport. From wikipedia:
- All players, except for the goalkeeper, are blindfolded.
- The ball has been modified to make a jingling or rattling sound.
- Players are required to say "voy", "go", or something similar when going for the ball; this alerts the other players about their position.
- A guide, positioned outside the field of play, provides instructions to the players.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 07, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Sports, Eyes and Vision
How Cricket Balls Are Made: Then and Now
Some hand techniques remain unchanged.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 10, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Sports, Technology
The Warmlite Catalog
This 1974 sporting goods catalog decided to feature many nude models. I guess you had to live thru the 1970s to understand how this seemed a good idea.The company is still up and running.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 23, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Publishing, Sports, Nudism and Nudists, 1970s
Super Ball Music and the Super Bowl
Wham-O introduced the Super Ball in 1965. It was a huge success as a toy, but it also inspired music... and was the reason the Super Bowl got its name. From Wikipedia:
Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, watched his children playing with a Super Ball and then coined the term Super Bowl. He wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle dated July 25, 1966: "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." The league's franchise owners had decided on the name AFL–NFL World Championship Game, but the media immediately picked up on Hunt's Super Bowl name, which became official beginning with the third annual game in 1969.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 13, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music, Sports, Toys, 1960s
Ice-Block Skiing
It's like water-skiing, but on blocks of ice towed through city streets.Wipeouts would be a lot more painful.
Info from the LA Public Library:
I'm guessing the year was 1936, since the other images of the 'Miss California Bathing Beauty Contest' at the library are from that year.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 10, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports, 1930s
The Tennessee Head Banger
Tom Myslinski, who was an offensive lineman for the Tennessee Volunteers, had an unusual pre-game ritual. He would psych himself up by banging his head against doors, cabinets, walls, towel dispensers, etc. Without a helmet.One of his teammates explained that he did this "until his eyes get all bloodshot and, then, blood is pouring from his forehead."
Myslinski noted, "It's just my way to pick up the intensity. To tell you the truth, I have no idea why I do it. Afterwards, sometimes, I say to myself that it sure was stupid because my head hurts."
Myslinski went on to play for nine seasons in the NFL and is now a strength and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Kingsport Times - Nov 20, 1991
Arizona Republic - Dec 27, 1991
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 07, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Rituals and Superstitions, Sports, 1990s, Brain Damage
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |