Tony Galento’s Training Regimen

Wikipedia tells us:

Galento, who claimed to be 5'9 (177 cm) tall, liked to weigh in at about 235 lb (107 kg) for his matches. He achieved this level of fitness by eating whatever, whenever he wanted. A typical meal for Galento consisted of six chickens, a side of spaghetti, all washed down with a half gallon of red wine, or beer, or both at one sitting. When he did go to training camp, he foiled his trainer's attempts to modify his diet, and terrorized his sparring partners by eating their meals in addition to his.

He was reputed to train on beer, and allegedly ate 52 hot dogs on a bet before facing heavyweight Arthur DeKuh. Galento was supposedly so bloated before the fight that the waist line of his trunks had to be slit for him to fit into them. Galento claimed that he was sluggish from the effects of eating all those hot dogs, and that he could not move for three rounds. Nevertheless, Galento knocked out the 6'3" (192 cm) DeKuh with one punch, a left hook, in the fourth round.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Food, Hygiene, Sports, 1930s

World Championship Sardine Packing Contest

The World Championship Sardine Packing Contest was launched in 1970 in Rockland, Maine. But by 1990 the contest had fizzled out, due largely to an inability to find anyone willing to compete in it. This reflected the decline of the sardine packing industry in the region, as well a shift to mechanization.

The contest in 1972. Source: facebook

Circa 1971. Source: Digital Maine

Five-time champion Rita Willey became known as "the Mahammad Ali of all sardine packers." There's an exhibit honoring her in the Maine Coast Sardine History Museum. According to the museum:

image source: Maine Travel Maven

Evidently there must still be sardine packing contests held on occasion, though no longer in Rockland. The video below shows a 2005 contest sponsored by the Canadian firm Connors.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 29, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Sports, World Records, Fish

Apparatus for temporarily immobilizing earthworms

Worms wiggle. This can make it hard for fishermen to impale them on a hook. But in 1989, Loren Lukehart of Boise, Idaho offered a solution. He received a patent (No. 4,800,666) for a method of "dewiggling" earthworms.

His invention was essentially a rectangular box full of sand. From his patent:

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 28, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Sports, 1980s

Sugar Doping

1924: Despite being fed sweet hot tea and peppermint creams in an experimental attempt to increase their energy, the Yale soccer team lost to the visiting team by 5 to 1.

Bridgeport Telegram - Nov 11, 1924

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 10, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Sports, Experiments, Junk Food, Nutrition, 1920s

Buried at the golf course

In 1989, a Canadian company tried to promote the idea of burying people at golf courses. They imagined that courses could add memorial walls made out of their patented "mod-urns" — hollow, cremain-filled building blocks that could be snapped together to make instant memorial walls.

A company rep argued that this could be "a potentially lucrative business for golf courses, who could pack in up to 50,000 new 'members' per acre."

Ottawa Citizen - Sep 29, 1989

Posted By: Alex - Mon May 25, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Death, Sports, 1980s

The postman who pretended to be paraplegic

Ian Moor had qualified to compete in the 1979 National Paraplegic Championships, in events such as table tennis and wheelchair discus. But when a picture of him ran in the Yorkshire Evening Press, people recognized him as their postman, who was fully capable of walking.

His deception revealed, Moor was kicked out of the Paraplegic Championships. But he never faced any criminal charges because he hadn't benefitted financially from his deception in any way.

The Guardian - Aug 23, 1979

Los Angeles Times - Aug 23, 1979

Posted By: Alex - Fri May 22, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Sports, 1970s, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical

Vernon Deck, Baseball Bigmouth

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 12, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Human Marvels, Sports, Twentieth Century

Monkey jockeys race greyhounds

In the early 1930s, a new feature was introduced at some greyhound races: monkey jockeys. Apparently the crowds loved the idea. The problem was, the monkeys had trouble staying on the backs of the greyhounds. Animal trainer Rennie Renfro came up with a solution — a special harness that would tie the monkey onto the back of the dog. Renfro patented his invention in 1933.

It probably made him some money, because I can find descriptions of races with monkey jockeys for decades afterwards.

Rennie Renfro (left) and his wife
St. Louis Post Dispatch - July 2, 1933

image source: Greyhound Articles Online

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 01, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Sports, 1930s

Fizz Bowling

A drinking game of the 1960s, invented at European ski lodges:

The Montana Standard - Feb 10, 1963

A few more details from the Akron Beacon Journal (Feb 6, 1963):


Some googling reveals that it's now possible to buy gin bottles shaped like bowling pins. Available from Amazon for $18.99 (empty, you add your own gin). However, they're made of glass, so probably not great for fizz bowling.

I'm guessing the people back in the 60s were playing with minis, rather than full-size bottles.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 29, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Games, Sports, 1960s, Alcohol

Freestyle Canoeing

Why hasn't freestyle canoeing been made an olympic event yet?

The performance begins at around 1:20.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 24, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Sports