Sports
Endurance Bowling
Back in 1930, George Kinder of Milwaukee set a record for endurance bowling. He bowled for 50 hours 20 mins, rolling 362 ½ games. He had to quit because "his thumb was badly split, blistered and torn, and he couldn't grasp the ball."
Courier News - Jan 13, 1930
41 years later, Richard Dewey of Kansas City set a new endurance record. He bowled for 98 hrs 45 mins, rolling 1220 games. But Dewey also had to quit because of injuries:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - May 26, 1971
More recently, in 2010, Stephen Shanabrook of Plano, Texas set a new record, bowling for 134 hrs 57 min. However, he completed only 643 games, which is only about half the number Dewey rolled in less time. Nevertheless, according to Guinness, Shanabrook is the current record holder.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 19, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports, World Records
Psychic Baseball Game
No supernatural abilities actually required.
Original ad here.
Further information here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 10, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Games, Sports, 1920s, 1930s
Hunting Licenses for the Blind
It sounds like it should be a joke, but apparently in the past various states have debated whether they should issue hunting licenses for the blind. And today some states appear to issue such licenses. For instance, on the website of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game a "Resident Hunting License for the Blind" is listed as costing $45.00.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Dec 2, 1953
I think the clipping below explains these licenses. They allow blind people to go out hunting with their friends. Someone else (who can see) has to do the actual shooting, but the blind person can claim one of the game animals as their own kill.
Tallahassee Democrat - Apr 15, 1959
A separate issue is whether a blind person can purchase a regular hunting license. I don't know what the current laws are, but in 1963 in Washington state there was nothing to prevent them from doing so, as demonstrated by the stunt below in which blind attorney Arnold Sadler purchased a hunting license for himself.
Staunton News Leader - Jan 31, 1963
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 04, 2017 -
Comments (6)
Category: Guns, Sports, Regulations, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Conehead Sumo Wrestlers
1994: The Japan Sumo Association finally got around to banning the practice, apparently quite common among young sumo wrestlers, of implanting lumps of silicone beneath their scalp in order to meet the minimum height requirement of 5 feet 8 inches. The Association probably wouldn't have done anything if they hadn't become embarrassed by media reports of conehead wrestlers.Before the silicone technique became popular, some wrestlers used to hit themselves on top of their head to raise large bumps before being measured.
Morristown Daily Record - July 13, 1994
Sumo wrestler Mainoumi, before and after scalp implant
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 27, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports, Wrestling, 1990s
Nose Billiards
Prof. Henry Lewis — a trick billiardist whose specialty was playing with his nose. He was also a champion at finger billiards. He spent his retirement years, when he was in his 70s and 80s, touring the country doing exhibition matches of nose billiards. As far as I can tell, he's the only person ever to have made a career out of doing this.
Oakland Tribune - June 8, 1919
The News Herald - Oct 22, 1925
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 27, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports
Thrashin’
Wikipedia entry here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 08, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Sports, 1980s
The BS Patriots
1971: After relocating the Boston Patriots from Boston to Foxborough (a half-hour south), team owner Billy Sullivan decided he needed to rename the team. So they became the Bay State Patriots.
A month later he changed the name again, to the New England Patriots. The reason this time: a radio announcer had referred to the team as the "BS Patriots." Sullivan explained, "We didn't think that abbreviation would reflect well on either the team or the league."
The Palm Beach Post - Mar 23, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 05, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, Sports, 1970s
Bowling is for Bored Teens!
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 06, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Sports, Teenagers, 1960s
The Football Nuns
Original article here.
I guess the choice of training camp for the Steelers once necessitated commissary duty by nuns. Plus other help, as seen below.
Not sure when this practice ended.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 27, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Religion, Nuns, Sports, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #299
Not sure what the slugger prowess of stews has to do with running an airline. Nowadays, they could use a baseball bat for drunk-passenger control.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 15, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Sports, Air Travel and Airlines, 1960s
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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 |