1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (44 page)

312

FACT :
Baseball has
the highest fatality rate
among sports for children ages five to fourteen, with three to four deaths each year.
From what, boredom?

“Sports Injury Statistics,” Children’s Hospital Boston,
www.childrenshospital.org
.

313

FACT :
Many rugby song lyrics and the particular plays within the game (presumably jokingly)
glorify raping other men’s girlfriends and mothers
.
I’ve known a few rugby players. They weren’t joking.

Sara L. Crawley, Lara J. Foley, and Constance L. Shehan, Gendering Bodies (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 187.

314

FACT :
NFL players in prestigious and popular roles as scorers—running backs, quarterbacks, wide receivers—appear to be
overrepresented in domestic violence and sexual assaults
committed against women.
Overrepresented legally, that is, like O.J. in his first trial, when he had about seventeen lawyers.

Sara L. Crawley, Lara J. Foley, and Constance L. Shehan, Gendering Bodies (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 187.

315

FACT :
A Washington, D.C.-based study on the correlation between admissions to emergency rooms and outcomes for Washington Redskins’ football games showed that admissions of female victims of stabbings, gunshots, assaults, and other
violence actually increases when the team wins
.
Which, luckily, doesn’t happen very often.

Sara L. Crawley, Lara J. Foley, and Constance L. Shehan, Gendering Bodies (Rowman &Littlefield, 2007), 187.

316

FACT :
Boxers and participants in violent team sports
often suffer very high incidence of permanent injuries
, disabilities, alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, and heart problems.
Really? Because Muhammad Ali seems just fine to me.

Sara L. Crawley, Lara J. Foley, and Constance L. Shehan, Gendering Bodies (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 187.

317

FACT :
In Ancient Greece,
boxing was a more brutal sport
than it is today. Fighters wore leather straps to protect their fists, and the contest did not end until one of the fighters was unconscious or, in some cases, dead.
Yes, that sounds totally different from modern boxing. Wait. No, it doesn’t.

“The Most Brutal,” Ancient Sports,
www.Ancientsports.net
.
Waldo E. Sweet and Erich Segal, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook with Translations (Oxford University Press, 1987).

318

FACT :
In boxing, a “knockout” is synonymous with cerebral concussion, which can lead to short- or even long-term amnesia and confusion. Another concern is that
the neurological damage is cumulative
and makes the boxer increasingly vulnerable to future injury and permanent neurological trauma.
Amnesia might not be a bad thing, in this case. Who wants to remember getting his ass kicked?

Julian E. Bailes and Arthur L. Day, Neurological Sports Medicine: A Guide for Physicians and Athletic Trainers (Thieme, 2001).

319

FACT :
Another popular violent sport in ancient Greece was pankration,
a hybrid of wrestling and boxing with no protective gear and no rules
, save a ban on gouging of eyes and biting.
We still have this.

It’s called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But I think they allow biting and eye-gouging now. And wedgies.

“The Most Brutal,” Ancient Sports,
www.ancientsports.net
.

Waldo E. Sweet, Erich Segal, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook with Translations (Oxford University Press, 1987).