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Hopscotching Togas
Hopscotch is believed to have started back in Roman times. Soldiers used to play it to keep fit, on courses which were as long as 100 feet.
The Last Spitball
Even though it was outlawed in 1920, the last legal spitball was thrown by New York Yankee Hall of Famer, Burleigh Grimes in 1934. At the time of the outlaw, anyone already using a spitball was allowed to continue. Burleigh Grimes continued for another fourteen ...
Bossaball Anyone?
Bossaball, aka Trampoline Volleyball, is played mainly in clubs in Belgium but also in Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Kuwait among other places. It is played on a souped up bouncy castle using elements of soccer, gymnastics, and capoeira (Brazilian martial art). ...
The British Are Coming...Head On!
American racehorses run in the opposite direction to their British counterparts. Due largely to the fact Col. William Whitley had such an aversion to all things British during the American Revolution.
Hard Headed
The NHL started requiring players wear headgear during the 1979-80 season. The rule allowed anyone who began playing before without a helmet to continue if they so desired. Craig MacTavish used his own hard head until he retired from the St. Louis Blues ...
NFL Factories
USC and Miami are tied for the most active NFL players today. Currently tied with 41 players each.
Tim Duncan and Jaws
It’s common knowledge that San Antonio Spurs forward, Tim Duncan was once an excellent swimmer. It’s also fairly well known that he made the transition to basketball after Hurricane Hugo destroyed his local pool. What few know, however, is that Tim quit after ...
MLB Player Traded for Himself
Harry Chiti, a catcher who played in the major leagues from 1950-62. In 1962 he was traded from the Indians to the New York Mets, who were an expansion club that year. Chiti was acquired for a "player to be named later." After putting up abysmal numbers in ...
Men's and Women's Bicycle Crossbars
It would seem that having a slanted crossbar like on women's bikes would make much more sense for men's bikes, decreasing the chance of racking the guy if he slips off the pedals or the like. However, there is actually a really good reason to have a horizontal ...
Human Cheetah
From a complete stop, a human is capable of outrunning a Formula One Racecar for about 30 feet!
Hot Is the New Cool
So that's how they cheat - a microwaved baseball will fly farther than a frozen baseball.
Lemieux Scores Them All
Pittsburgh Penguin's Mario Lemieux, is the only player in NHL history to score a goal in all five possible game situations in the same game: even-strength, power-play, shorthanded, penalty shot, and empty-net. This was accomplished in a game against the ...
Golf Partner
A fellow comes home after his regular Saturday golf game and his wife asks why he doesn't include Tom O'Brien in the games anymore. The husband asks, "Would you want to play with a guy who regularly cheats, swears up a storm over everything, lies about ...
The First British Open
The first British Open was played on Oct. 17, 1860, at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. A field of eight professionals played three rounds of Prestwick’s 12-hole course in one day. Willie Park, Sr., won the inaugural tournament and was presented with the Challenge ...
Tennis Balls
Even sports change over time. Tennis balls today are made with rubber to help them bounce, but the original tennis balls were made from leather stuffed with wool. More recently, tennis balls used to be white! Once colored TV showed up, it was determined ...
July 19th, 1920
With the first of his two homers in the nightcap of a twin bill against Chicago at the Polo Grounds, Babe Ruth becomes the first player to hit 30 home runs in a season. The historic home run breaks his own season mark of 29 and the Babe will ultimately finish ...
Bullfighting Style
The modern style of Spanish bullfighting is credited to Juan Belmonte, generally considered the greatest matador of all time. Belmonte introduced a daring and revolutionary style, in which he stayed within a few inches of the bull throughout the fight. Although ...
Cliff Diving 101
Cliff diving originated in the 1700’s when a Hawaiian king got his men to jump into the sea to show that they had courage. Over the years more people started doing it and the sport became more popular. One noteworthy fact: Divers' Speedos aren't just for ...
July 16th, 1950
It was on this day in 1950 that the deciding game for the World Cup was played in Rio before a staggering 199,854 people - the largest ever crowd to watch a live sporting event in history. The 1950 World Cup was won by Uruguay, who beat Brazil 2-1 in the ...
Soccer Facts
Players run an average of 6 miles in a game. Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide and over 1 billion people watch the World Cup.
Jet Ski Speed Record
Joseph Mastrapa, 29, set a record of 101.7 mph during the 2012 RIVA Racing HydroDrag event. "When you hit the throttle, there's not many things to think about other than trying to keep the bike as straight as possible and hope everything works out," Mastrapa ...
Start of the Jet Ski
Jet skis - ne personal watercraft - were pioneered by Bombardier for one year in the late 60's, it may have been 1968. At that time the snowmobile craze was strong and Bombardier looking for something to counterbalance the seasonality. However, their dealer ...
That Toddling Town!
On July 12, 1979, the "Disco Demolition Night" promotion at Comiskey Park at which a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field caused fans to go wild and forced the hometown White Sox to forfeit the 2nd game of a doubleheader to Detroit Tigers. ...
Olympic Discus
One of the world's oldest sports, dating to at least the eighth century B.C., discus was a part of the first modern Games in 1896. It was also the first Olympic women's throwing event, beginning in 1928, when Poland's Halina Konopacka became the only discus ...
Swimming, Who Knew?
1) Elephants can swim as many as 20 miles a day — they use their trunks as natural snorkels! 2) The bikini swimsuit was named after a U.S. nuclear testing site in the South Pacific called Bikini Atoll. 3) 65% of people in the U.S. don’t know how to swim. ...