Robservations: Sports world has its own urban legends
You all have heard the story of the young woman who, so desperate to get a fast tan for her prom, accidentally cooked her insides in a tanning bed.
Or how about the young bride who kept getting tailgated by a trucker on the interstate, only to find out he was warning her about a deranged murderer hiding in her back seat?
When you hear these tales, which vary depending on your region of the country, they’re almost always claimed to be absolutely true. Some of them even have reportedly happened to a friend of a friend’s cousin, or some such distant relation.
Whether either one is true or not, no one is sure. They’re the tall tales of modern times, known all over as “urban legends.” And as it turns out, the sports world is far from immune to these tales of fact and fiction.
A few examples, from the well-known urban legend reference Web site snopes.com:
• Fact or Fiction: The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after President Grover Cleveland’s daughter, not Babe Ruth.
Answer: False. While it might seem like a nice tribute to a former commander-in-chief to name a confection after his daughter, Ruth Cleveland had been dead of diptheria for over 17 years before the Curtiss Candy Company came up with its famous bar.
A more likely explanation for the name, researchers have determined, was to cash in on the rising popularity of “The Bambino.” Of course, naming the bar the “Babe Ruth” would’ve meant shelling out cash to the slugger, so a subtle change was made.
In fact, Curtiss had to go to war against a rival candy company, when the rival attempted to market the “Babe Ruth Home Run Bar.” It was then they concocted the Ruth Cleveland explanation, forcing their rivals to stop production and continuing their own success — without ever paying Babe Ruth a dime.
• Fact or Fiction: A golfer is poisoned by chewing on his own tee.
Answer: True.
In the habit of carrying his tee in his mouth while playing, Navy Lieutenant George M. Prior played 36 holes of golf at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va.
Even before the last hole Prior was complaining of a headache, and by nightfall he was feverish and nauseated and had developed a rash. Four days later Prior was in Bethesda Naval Hospital with a 104.5 degree fever, his body covered with blisters. He died 10 days later after a toxic substance had burned the skin from 80 percent of his body and caused his major organs to fail.
It seems he had a highly allergic reaction to Daconil, a pesticide that had been sprayed on the course twice a week. Ingesting the poison over the course of his round caused his untimely — and grotesque — demise.
• And finally, Fact or Fiction: Champion skier Picabo Street forbidden to answer the phone in the Intensive Care Unit where she works.
Answer: False. Street’s not a nurse, never has been. But the story is a pretty funny joke, even if untrue. According to the legend, while not only just an athlete, Street (whose first name is pronounced Peek’-a-boo), is a fine nurse. However, she’s not allowed to answer the telephone because too much confusion ensues when she answers the phone and says…
“Picabo, I.C.U.”