Bathroom Readers' Institute's Blog, page 45

When Your Favorite Team Almost Goes Away

Over the last two years, three NFL teams announced relocation plans: the St. Louis Rams returned to Los Angeles, the San Diego Chargers also went back to Los Angeles, and the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas. Before this, the last NFL team to move was the Houston Oilers, who left for Tennessee in 1997. Here are some other high profile team exits that almost happened, but didn’t.

Toronto Maple Leafs

In 1981, the storied Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL were in dire financial straits. Owner Harold Ballard contacted Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and offered a bizarre deal: move the Oilers, who at the time had superstar Wayne Gretzky on its roster, to Toronto and become the Toronto Oilers. The Toronto Maple Leafs would then become the Edmonton Maple Leafs…and the Oilers would additionally give Ballard the $50 million bailout he needed. Ballard called off the proposal a week later when he got the money he needed when he signed a partnership with a large brewery.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues entered the NHL in 1967, and are the oldest team in the league yet to win a championship. Maybe fortunes would’ve improved if a 1983 deal to move the team to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan had worked out. A consortium from the Canadian city finalized a deal to buy the Blues from its owner, the Ralston Purina company…but the deal and move were nixed by the NHL’s board of governors, which voted 15 to 3 against the transaction. The league didn’t want to move a team from the relatively large market of St. Louis to a city half its size.

The Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins

Most realignment in pro sports happens when the league adds new teams, or a team moves. In 2001, Major League Baseball team owners met to discuss an entirely different option: contraction, or the elimination of two teams. The Montreal Expos of the National League and the Minnesota Twins of the American League were both on the chopping block. The Expos were losing money, having never really attracted a huge fan base since they entered the league in the ’70s. For example, in 2001, minor league teams attracted more fans than Expos home games. Twins owner Carl Pohlad, meanwhile, was willing to accept a buyout from the league (about $200 million) and walk away from a team that he’d had difficulty running, especially since he couldn’t get local governments to build his team a new stadium. Then left with 13 teams in the AL and 15 in the NL, the league was to be realign, with the Texas Rangers moving from the AL West to the AL Central. Owners ultimately opted to keep 30 teams, although the Montreal Expos soon thereafter was purchased by the league and moved to Washington, D.C.

Baltimore Colts

Robert Isray bought the Baltimore Colts of the NFL in 1972. Before long, he was trying to secure funding for improvements to the stadium, but couldn’t get them. As early as 1979, Isray started looking at moving the poor-performing team that played in a rundown stadium to another city. He seriously considered Jacksonville, Florida. At a pro-Colts move rally held in Jacksonville in 1979, Isray arrived via helicopter that landed midfield to screaming fans. Ultimately, Isray moved the team to Indianapolis in 1984. But Jacksonville kept trying to get an NFL team to relocate. Hearing that the Houston Oilers wanted to move, mayor Tommy Hazouri gave Oilers owner Bud Adams a guarantee that the “Jacksonville Oilers” would sell out every game it would play in the 82,000-seat Gator Bowl for a decade. The Oilers moved to Tennessee instead, but Jacksonville would get an expansion franchise, the Jaguars, in 1995.

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TV Show Near-Replacements

When the star of a hugely popular, long-running TV show leaves, it’s a little hard to get used to their replacement, but what else can producers do? Eventually, fans warm to, say Kelly Ripa instead of Katie Lee Gifford, or Kirstie Alley instead of Shelley Long. But then here are some TV star replacements that didn’t happen…but almost did.

That ‘70s Show

About a year before its 2006 end, both main male stars of Fox’s retro teen sitcom That ‘70s Show decided to move on. Both Topher Grace (Eric Foreman) and Ashton Kutcher (Michael Nelson) decided to pursue their burgeoning movie careers. Producers decided to kill two birds with one stone and replace both at the same time: Actor Josh Meyers joined the cast as Randy; like Eric, he could be a romantic lead, and like Kelso, he was a bit of a doofus. The show didn’t last long enough for Meyers to really gel with the ensemble. However, when the show first signed Meyers, they didn’t consider having him play a new character — they were just going to have him portray Eric Foreman. (Just like how Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darrin on Bewitched…but that was a ‘60s show, not a ‘70s show.)

Two and a Half Men

In 2011, Charlie Sheen quit Two and a Half Men, the most popular sitcom on TV in a blaze of glory. After Sheen’s contract disputes and substance abuse troubles led to a production hiatus, Sheen publicly and thoroughly criticized show creator Chuck Lorre along with some of his co-stars, and he left the show for good. (Lorre killed off his character, jingle writer Charlie Harper.) In the fall of 2011, Ashton Kutcher of That ‘70s Show took Sheen’s spot in the cast as an eccentric billionaire named Walden Schmidt. But before Kutcher got the gig, CBS executives pursued movie star Hugh Grant. He met with the network and producers more than once, and agreed to a contract that would’ve paid him $1 million per episode. At the last minute, Grant changed his mind because he didn’t want to commit to arduous task of taping 24 episodes a year.

The Daily Show

Fans were surprised when Jon Stewart left the late-night institution in 2015, right before an election year. Fans were even more surprised when one of the most high-profile hosting spots on TV went to a little-known South African comic and recently hired Daily Show correspondent named Trevor Noah. He’s still hosting the show now, and has proved himself a worthy successor, but it’s still puzzling that a more famous person didn’t get the job. Extremely famous stand-up comedian Amy Schumer was offered The Daily Show but she turned it down. At the time, she was starring in her own very popular sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer and was about to release her first feature film, Trainwreck. She told Howard Stern on his radio show that she said no because the job was too secure. “I’m gonna bet on myself that I can do more,” Schumer said.”

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Finally, A ‘Pac-Man’ Game That Kids Can Enjoy!

Spinoffs have long been a part of TV and the movies. The Simpsons and Frasier launched off from The Tracey Ullman Show and Cheers, respectively, while Minions is a spinoff of the Despicable Me movies, to name some examples. The phenomenon happens in video games, too, although those spinoffs seem to be a bit on the weird or (pointless) side.

Dr. Mario

Nintendo’s Mario is arguably the most well-known character in all of gaming. The mustached plumber (and his brother, Luigi) truly became a part of the culture with the Super Mario Bros. games in the ‘80s, in which he traveled into the turtle-filled Mushroom Kingdom to rescue a princess from an evil dragon-man. While that’s pretty weird, it’s not as weird as some of many Mario spinoffs. In 1990, Nintendo released a Tetris knockoff called Dr. Mario. All of a sudden, the heroic plumber was a doctor, dressed in a lab coat and directing players to rack up points by matching up pills that had the same color.

Ms. Pac-Man

The first time most Americans heard of a video game was when “Pac-Man Fever” swept the country in the early ‘80s. Arcades raked in more than a billion worth of quarters as people of all ages wanted to control a yellow pie-shaped man as it ate white dots and avoided ghosts in a maze. It was a simple premise (as video game technology was still quite rudimentary), but publishers Namco and Midway wanted a sequel, and they also wanted to attract the one demographic that stayed out of arcades: women. The result: 1981’s Ms. Pac-Man. There wasn’t much difference between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, which starred Pac-Man’s wife. For example, the maze shapes were slightly different, and Ms. Pac-Man had a bow on her head. (A year later saw the release of Jr. Pac-Man. The mazes were larger and traversed by the Pac-Mans’ child, who wore a propeller beanie—the kind kids just love to wear.)

Donkey Kong Junior

Mario’s actual video game debut was as “Jumpman,” the protagonist of Donkey Kong (1981)—he had to save a damsel in distress by climbing ladders and jumping over barrels thrown by the titular primate who’d kidnapped her. Even though he was the villain of the game, players loved the cute, fun Donkey Kong. And so came Donkey Kong Junior (1982). It’s basically Donkey Kong, except now Donkey Kong is locked in a cage by Jumpman/Mario, and players control Donkey Kong’s son as he tries to rescue him.

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Just Plain Weird Facts About the Presidents

It’s Presidents Day, a time to celebrate our nation’s former leaders…and to acknowledge that some of them were just as strange as the rest of us…if not stranger.

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

…had a bit of a stealing problem. When he visited William Shakespeare’s birthplace in England (with fellow future president John Adams) in 1786, he broke off a piece of Shakespeare’s chair to take home. And while visited France later on, Jefferson smuggled rice out of the country by stuffing his pockets with it. That was a capital offense—had he been caught, he’d have been executed.

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

…was really into duels. He ostensibly won all 100 or so of them, although in an 1806 shootout he was shot in the chest, and in 1813 he was shot in the arm in a duel with Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton.

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

…was not primarily an English speaker. His first language was Dutch—a descendant of immigrants from the Netherlands, he was raised in a Dutch-speaking enclave in New York.

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

…was married to the former Abigail Powers. They met when she was his teacher.

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

…was desperate for money during his final years, so he agreed to write his memoirs. But Grant was dying of cancer at the time and wasn’t an accomplished writer—many historians believe the book was actually written by Grant’s friend, Mark Twain.

William McKinley (1897-1901)

…was known in his day for a bold style choice: He usually wore a red carnation on his jacket lapel—he said it was his good luck charm. While greeting a crowd of people in 1901, he gave his flower to a little girl…and then he was assassination.

Harry S Truman (1945-1953)

…doesn’t have a middle name…and he also has lots of middle names. The “S” doesn’t stand for anything specifically. His parents gave him just the initial because they had a lot of relatives whose names started with that letter.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

…has two Grammy Awards, for spoken word and audiobook projects. That’s more than Bjork, Snoop Dogg, and Guns N’ Roses put together.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

…loved jelly beans so much that he had a standing order of 720 bags be delivered once a month. (He gave most of them away as gifts to colleagues and visitors.) Jelly Belly created a blueberry-flavored jelly bean just for him—that way he could have jars full of red, white, and blue beans.

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Strange Space Firsts

Neil Armstrong was the first person to step foot on the moon, and Russian dog Laika was the first animal in space. Big deal.

First Cat in Space

Seeking to catch up with the American and Soviet Union’s ambitious space programs, France sent the first cat into space in October 1963. But the chosen astro-kitty, a cat named Félix, ran away just hours before the scheduled rocket launch, so the French space program quickly enlisted a new cat named Félicette for the mission.

Who Peed First?

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. His Apollo 11 shipmate Buzz Aldrin then became the second person to walk on the moon…but the first person to pee on the lunar surface.

Oumuamua

In December 2017, astronomers identified a small asteroid piece flying past Earth. It’s called Oumuamua, and it’s the first rock to travel into our solar system from another star. It’s an icy stone, wrapped in a layer of orange, organic material.

First Space Music Video

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield wanted to reignite interest in the space program, so he made lots of videos when he was in space. One of them was the first ever music video—and subsequently viral video—shot in space. With the guitar he brought with him to the International Space Station, Hadfield edited together a video of himself playing David Bowie’s 1967 hit “Space Oddity.” It racked up more than 38 million views on YouTube.

First Meal in Space

Via the Friendship 7 capsule, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling the planet three times in about five hours in 1962. While on board, he got hungry and ate the first food consumed in space. He dined on applesauce.

Twins in Space

As part of a study to determine the effects of long-term space travel (necessary, if humans are ever going to go to Mars or beyond), NASA sent astronaut Scott Kelly to space for a year. Afterward, they weighed the physical changes against a “control subject”—his identical twin, astronaut Mark Kelly.

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Valentine’s Day Around the World

Here in the U.S., we celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging heart-shaped pieces of paper, giving roses and chocolate, and professing our love. In other counties, they do it a little bit differently.

South Korea

In the place where the Olympics are being held right now, women romance their special someone by giving them candy and flowers. Then, a month later, March 14th is White Day, when men give ladies candy and flowers, along with a gift. Then a month after that, on April 14th, people not in a relationship celebrate Black Day, commemorated with a bowl of black bean-paste noodles called jajangmyeon.

Denmark

People often say they want a romantic partner who’s funny, so those folks would love V-Day in Denmark. In the Scandinavian country, it’s customary for guys to send out a gaekkebrev, or “joking letter.” It’s a funny poem written on cut-up paper (kind of like a paper snowflake you made in elementary school) and sent anonymously. If the recipient correctly guesses who sent it, the sender gives her an Easter egg on Easter.

The Philippines

It’s the holiday of love, so why wouldn’t you get married on this day? So many people in the Asian nation want to get married on the international day of love that mass weddings are extremely popular on February 14th.

South Africa

They’re keeping alive an ancient Roman festival called “Lupercalia.” Women make a heart out of paper, write the name of the person they’re in love with on it…and then bravely pin it to their sleeve and go about their day. Apparently, this is how a lot of couples first get together—when someone sees their name on someone else’s sleeve and makes a move.

England

Who’s the “character” most associated with Valentine’s Day? If you said “Cupid,” then you’re not from the city of Norfolk, England. They’ve got an old folk custom there in which Jack Valentine visits kids on February 14th. Sort of like Santa Claus, ol’ Jack knocks on their doors and runs away, leaving candy and maybe a small gift.

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Whatever Happened to Samuel Tilden?

Today’s political climate may be contentious, but it’s nothing new. The presidential election of 1876 just might still be the wildest in American history.

Tilden vs. Hayes

There were two major candidates: Democratic banking magnate Samuel J. Tilden, governor of New York for a little over a year, and Republican congressman and Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. After the votes were in, Tilden had a comfortable lead of 184 electoral votes to Hayes’ 165. However, there were 20 that were still contested with unclear results…leaving Tilden with just one vote short of the necessary 185 to clinch victory. As far as the popular vote was concerned, Tilden handily won, topping Hayes by more than 200,000 votes after that first count.

The Electoral College

So what happened? The vagaries of the Electoral College came into play. Voters don’t directly vote for a presidential candidate, but rather a party to send representatives to cast electoral votes. They almost always go with what the voters in each state dictated, but not always. Just over a decade removed from the Civil War, tensions remained high, with widespread fraud reported—in South Carolina, source of 7 of those 20 undecided electoral votes, voting tallies wound up at a count of 101 percent.  Pre-printed ballots for illiterate Democratic voters in some states featured photos of Abraham Lincoln…a Republican. Meanwhile in Oregon, one elector in the college was declared ineligible. By the time all the grievances were settled, all 20 of the contested votes went to Hayes, meaning he had 185 to Tilden’s 184. It’s the first time a candidate won the popular vote (by a final, approved number of just 35,000) but lost the electoral vote…as well as the closest Electoral College race in history.

What Happened to Tilden?

Hayes went on to be president, of course, while Tilden went back to his job as New York governor…for the few weeks before his term expired. The wealthy candidate resumed his various professional ventures: law and banking. He was knocked out of the 1880 Democratic primaries early and declined to run in 1884 because he didn’t feel healthy enough to do so. He was right—he died in 1886 at his massive, 110-acre estate just outside of New York City that he reportedly rarely left. His other estate: $7 million, worth about $190 million in today’s money. He left $4 million of it to establish a public library in New York City. In 1895, the New York Public Library opened because of Tilden’s gift.

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Events You Won’t See at the Winter Olympics

Four Winter Olympic events will be contested for the first time at the 2018 games in Pyeongchang, South Korea: big air in snowboarding, big air in freestyle skiing, mass start speedskating, and mixed doubles curling. Not being contested: these sports, which have been discontinued or never approved by the IOC.

Snowshoeing

It’s like hiking…in incredibly thick snow…with tennis rackets on your feet. Walking with snowshoes on is a necessity and pastime in Canada and Vermont and not many other places, which is part of the reason why snowshoe racing was demonstrated at the 2002 Olympics…and then disappeared.

Military Patrol

Contested in the 1924 Olympics, but demoted to a non-medal “demonstration sport” for the games in 1928, 1936, and 1948, this event combines several other skills: mountaineering on skis, rifle shooting, and cross-country skiing. Competitors used their military-esque skills to ski 25 km, climb up a 500 meter incline on skis, then shoot some targets. By 1960, the event had evolved into the Olympic sport of biathlon—which is just skiing, then shooting.

Bandy

What would happen if they combined soccer and hockey? Then you’d get the sport of bandy, which is extremely popular in Scandinavia and Russia, and moderately popular on the Indian subcontinent. Teams of 11 players a side spend two 45-minute halves knocking a ball (not a puck) around. It’s played on ice, but unlike in hockey, the goalie doesn’t get to use a stick. Bandy was a demonstration-only sport at the 1952 Olympics.

Synchronized Skating

Have you ever seen one of those “competitive cheerleading” competitions on a cable sports channel, or like in the movie Bring It On? Synchronized skating is like that. Squads with as many as 20 athletes make human pyramids, throw each other around, jump into the air, and engage in other acrobatics…on the ice, and with skates on. The sport only saw Olympic glory once, as a demo sport in 2002.

Acroski

Tested out at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, acroski is also called “ski ballet.” And rightfully so. It’s like it figure skating were done on a downward slope. Skiers careen down a snowy hill while they perform carefully choreographed routines, which include flips, jumps, and dance moves.

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Quiz: Winter Olympics

 

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The Winter Olympics Quiz
While athletes make Winter Olympic history as we speak, can you answer these
questions about Winter Olympians of the past?


Start Quiz

Question

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Your answer:

Correct answer:

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Can Muggles Play Quidditch?

Even if you’ve never read J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books or seen the film adaptations, you’ve still probably heard of quidditch, the broomstick-brandishing sport that forms an integral part of her wizarding world. (This article was first published in Who Knew? )

Not Just for Wizards

In Rowling’s novels, it’s a sport that’s been played for nearly 1,000 years by the magical folk who, unbeknown to us, exist alongside us “muggles,” or regular non-magic humans. It’s a seven-a-side aerial game that features four balls-a Quaffle, two Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch. Each team has three goal hoops at each end of the arena, and the aim of the game is to score the most points by throwing the Quaffle through these goal hoops. The Bludgers are thrown by the defensive players to protect their goals, and the game ends when the Golden Snitch-a smaller ball with wings-is caught by either team. You’ll ever see a muggle chasing a Golden Snitch in Rowling’s fictional world, but a real-life quidditch phenomenon has swept the world, and you don’t even have to be a Harry Potter fan to play.

The Real-Life Rules

To all intents and purposes, real-life quidditch is very similar to its magic counterpart. In this mixed-gender contact sport, two teams of seven are pitted against each other. According to the International Quidditch Association, players must wear colored headbands to identify themselves as either the keeper, who guards the hoops at each end of the field where points are scored; the seeker, who must chase the “snitch runner”; a chaser, who scores goals by throwing or kicking a volleyball through the hoops; or a beater, who must prevent the other team from scoring points by throwing dodge balls at them.

Making Magic Around The World

The real-life International Quidditch Association serves some 20 national governing bodies across six continents. With teams in 26 countries, quidditch has become a popular sport for fans of Harry Potter and those who just love the game itself. Just like in the books, quidditch has its own World Cup, which has taken place every two years since 2012. The 2016 IQA World Cup was held in Frankfurt, Germany, and over 20 teams competed, including Slovenia, Brazil, and South Korea; Australia won the tournament.

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