Page 6 - Sports Facts

In the first 10 year of the Tour de France, many of the cyclists cheated by taking buses and trains instead of cycling!

On the July 1, 1903, 60 cyclists set off from Paris. After more than 2400 kilometers of cycling, at an average speed of 25.7 kmh, they returned to Paris on the July 19th, in a competition won by Maurice Garin of France. The Tour de France had been born. The race was threatened in 1904-1914 by an extraordinary amount of cheating, with spectators eagerly trying to ensure that certain contestants failed to finish, and several contestants taking buses and trains instead of cycling, but the race struggled on through these difficult years and mountains were introduced to the circuit in 1905.

Apart from the war years of 1915-1918 and 1940-1946 the Tour de France has taken place every year since. By 2000, the number of participants had increased to 200, the distance covered to 3,660 kilometers, and the average speed to 39.6 kmh. There are now 20 stages instead of the six longer stages that made up the very first race. But that is in no way to detract from those early racers, when both roads and equipment were much inferior to those found today. The Tour de France is now watched all around the world, with an audience that includes many non-cyclists, and is perhaps the greatest mainstream endurance event there is.

(Source)

During the ancient Olympic Games a truce was made that no army would enter Olympia during the games!

A truce, which in Greek is ekecheiria and literally means "holding of hands,” was announced before and during each of the Olympic festivals. It allowed visitors to travel safely to Olympia. An inscription describing the truce was written on a bronze discus which was displayed at Olympia. During the truce, wars were suspended, armies were prohibited from entering Elis or threatening the Games, and legal disputes and the carrying out of death penalties were forbidden.

The Olympic Games were a time of peace and unity bringing everyone together. It was a beautiful and harmonious time. The Olympic truce was faithfully observed, for the most part, although the historian Thucydides recounts that the Lacedaemonians were banned from participating in the Games, after they attacked a fortress in Lepreum, a town in Elis, during the truce.

The Lacedaemonians complained that the truce had not yet been announced at the time of their attack. But the Eleans fined them two thousand minae, two for each soldier, as the law required.

(Source)

A high school football coach had half of his fans cheer for the other team! Why?

In Grapevine, Texas, the Grapevine Faith football team played one of the most interesting matches of their lives. They played Gainesville State School, which is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. So why would the fans cheer for felons playing their children? It’s all because of the head coach. Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, said he wanted to do something special for high school students who have little happiness in their lives.

Although Gainesville was certainly not a good team, he still had his boys play and directed half of the fans to make a banner, a tunnel, and even cheer for the other teams players by name! Although Gainesville lost 33-14, they still said they had the time of their lives and were in such good spirits, they even doused the coach in Gatorade!

(Source)

An MLB player hated his hometown ball team because they prevented him from watching Saved by the Bell!

Curtis Granderson is a Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees. He began in 2010 with the Yankees and played for the Detroit Tigers for five years before that. He’s a left-handed batter and throws right-handed. The center fielder won the Silver Slugger Award in 2011. Off the field, Granderson is known for his community work through charity organizations and outreach programs.

As a child, Granderson grew up a fan of the Atlanta Braves, choosing not to root for his hometown’s Chicago Cubs, because he often rushed home from school to watch Saved by the Bell and was disappointed when a Cubs game was on instead. Granderson is also an avid fan of WWE, and attended WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. He considers The Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker, Junkyard Dog, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and Hulk Hogan among his favorite wrestlers. He is also an avid fan of college basketball and the Kansas Jayhawks.

(Source)

A professional baseball pitcher threw a no-hitter high on LSD!

On Thursday June 11 1970, The Pittsburgh Pirates flew into San Diego the day before they were scheduled to play the San Diego Padres. After a long night of partying the pitcher for The Pirates, Dock Ellis, had lost track of time due to his use of LSD. He believed it was still Thursday, and he took another hit of LSD. In reality, he was actually taking this hit of LSD on Friday.

For those of you that don’t know, LSD is an extremely powerful drug that causes the user to hallucinate for up to 8 hours! At around 2:00 Dock Ellis was reminded by his girlfriend that he had to pitch a baseball game that started at 6:05. Regardless of his state of mind, Dock Ellis continued to pitch for The Pirates as scheduled. Not only that, but he did something not many professional pitchers can say they have done: he threw a no-hitter.

This means the San Diego Padres were unable to get a single hit. Dock Ellis was able to strikeout professional base ball players while hallucinating! Dock Ellis says he was unable to feel the ball clearly, or even see the batter! What else did he say about the game? Check out the source for more.

(Source)