Category:
Sports

Follies of the Madmen #260

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Is the falling-down part of skiing really what the resort wants to highlight?

From the Daily Illini for December 19, 1967.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 15, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Regionalism, Screwups, Sports, Advertising, 1960s

Humane Bullfighting


A member of Club Taurino practicing humane bullfighting without bulls in a park near Woldingham, Surrey. 1963. One member played the bull while the others improved their cape work.

Image source: Newsweek - Sep 2, 1963

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 17, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Sports, 1960s

Rolling Pin Throwing Contest, 1928

Providing the proper motivation:

"The target of the rolling pin is a life-size dummy of a husband and the contestants are 30 women trained by Miss Ann Beggs of the home economics department of the university."

The Salem News (Salem, Ohio) - Aug 17, 1928



Winners of a 1932 rolling pin contest (via NCSU Libraries):

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 29, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Sports, Husbands, 1920s

Man vs. Horse, 1947

The experts predicted that the man vs. horse tug-of-war organized in Waterloo, Oregon back in 1947 would be no contest at all. The man, 225-pound Chester Fitzwater, was lying on the ground, his feet braced against a wood block. To win, he simply had to remain in place for three minutes. The horse, Big Baldy, was said not to have a chance.

Scientists Favor Man
Dr. Raymond T. Ellickson, physics professor at Reed College in Portland, estimated 1900-pound Baldy would have to exert about 16,000 pounds worth of effort to up-end Fitzwater.
Ellickson figured it would take a 3000-pound pull just to get the long rope taut, and then Baldy would have only an angle of 1 degree from the horizontal to pull against.
Other scientists advised about the same, and an even more discouraging report—for old Baldy—came from rope dealers. They said the one-inch rope would break at approximately 9000 pounds of pull—far short of the 16,000 Dr. Ellickson believes necessary.

It took about a second for Big Baldy to prove the experts wrong. As soon as the rope tightened, "Fitzwater lurched into the air, knocked over a photographer and some spectators, and crashed into the mud."

Several other brawny men subsequently challenged the horse to the same contest, believing they would last longer. They didn't.

The News-Review (Roseburg, Oregon) - Dec 12, 1947



The News-Review (Roseburg, Oregon) - Dec 15, 1947

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 28, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Sports, 1940s

Fowling

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A Detroit man has come up with a hybrid sport he hopes folks will enjoy on evenings out. A cross between football and bowling called fowling which seems to be fun looking at the video at the link. The name leaves something to be desired though, any ideas for a catchier one?

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 25, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Sports

Hitting a golf ball off an elephant’s ear


"AN ELEPHANTINE HAZARD — Driving a golf ball from the ear of Jenny, a 12-year-old circus elephant, constitutes real sport for Billy Drews, above, as he shoots a game of miniature golf in New York."

Source: Valley Morning Star - May 3, 1931

Posted By: Alex - Wed May 27, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Sports, Golf, 1930s

Burrito Challenge

Watch model and competitive eater Nela Zisser eat a 2 lb burrito in one minute and 44 seconds. As I watched, all I kept thinking was, "she's gonna bite off her fingers!"


via grubstreet

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 26, 2015 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, Sports

The Wetsuit Suit

It's a suit you can go surfing in. Invented in Japan, of course. Available here.



Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 24, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Sports

Women’s Arm Wrestling

MMMrrrrraaaaagggghhhh!

Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 12, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Sports, Video

Victoria the Bowling Kangaroo

Who knew that kangaroos could bowl!

MATCHING FIGURES — Shapely actress Monique Van Vooren is all set to match strikes and spares with Victoria, the bowling kangaroo, at the opening of a huge new bowling alley in New York. The bowling palace is the newest and largest of its kind in the East.


Source: Pampa Daily News - Oct. 1, 1958

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 06, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Sports, 1950s

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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.

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