28.06.2004, 14:56
May 9, 1937
Reno, Nevada
Nevada State Journal
Sport Parade
By Jack Cuddy
New York, May 7 - (UP) - Things I never knew about wrasslin' before reading Marcus Griffin's new book "Fall Guys.":
Some 2000 professional heavyweight grapplers appear weekly in more than 1000 auditoriums throughout the United States and Canada...The "big eight" men behind the scenes, who provide the brawling, garner a total yearly income of nearly $10,000,000.
Abraham Lincoln engaged in about (unreadable) wrestling matches without a defeat...He had a slightly cauliflowered ear...George Washington, Daniel Boone, David Crockett, and Sam Houston were all good wrestlers...General U.S. Grant was fond of the sport....When General Robert E. Lee entered Grant's tent at Appomattox to arrange terms for the cofederate surrender, Grant apologized for the untidy condition of his tent...He said, "Pay no attention to things, Bob, me and some of the boys were having a wrestling match in here last night."
Homer was the first wrestling reporter. He covered the bout between Ajax and Odyseus...Yussif Mahmout, the original "Terrible Turk," brought to this country trachoma, the eye disease which has afflicted so many mat men...Jim Londos, the "Golden Greek," was vastly over-publicized, like most modern champions...But Joe Stecher, Strangler Lewis, Toots Mondt, and Dean Detton didn't have to "do business" - if they didn't want to.
"Dynamite" Gus Sonnenberg, ex-Dartmouth grid star, introduced the flying tackle. But Pete Lajimmi, second-rate welterweight wrestler, engaged Gus in a street brawl one day and beat the champ into insensibility...Which just gives you an idea.
Danno O'Mahoney of Balleyduo, a whistle stop in South Ireland, hardly knew a mat from a matress...But he was brought to the United States...And in one short year appeared in more towns and cities, drew more money and appeared before more people than did Boxer Joe Louis. During that period, O'Mahoney cleared himself $150,000...While the Brown Bomber's net earnings for the same length of time were only $100,000.
A "program" is a series of "working" or fixed bouts designed to built up a challenger for a title tilt...One of the rarest events in the sport is a "shooting match," or honest contest...A "hook" is the good old double-cross, which is legit more in this game than in any other occupation, profession or racket...For example, when the news was telephoned to Toots Mondt that ancient Stanislaus Zbyszko had thrown Wayne Munn, the syndicate champion, at Philadelphia, on April 25, 1925, Mondt yelled "hooked" and fainted.
Reno, Nevada
Nevada State Journal
Sport Parade
By Jack Cuddy
New York, May 7 - (UP) - Things I never knew about wrasslin' before reading Marcus Griffin's new book "Fall Guys.":
Some 2000 professional heavyweight grapplers appear weekly in more than 1000 auditoriums throughout the United States and Canada...The "big eight" men behind the scenes, who provide the brawling, garner a total yearly income of nearly $10,000,000.
Abraham Lincoln engaged in about (unreadable) wrestling matches without a defeat...He had a slightly cauliflowered ear...George Washington, Daniel Boone, David Crockett, and Sam Houston were all good wrestlers...General U.S. Grant was fond of the sport....When General Robert E. Lee entered Grant's tent at Appomattox to arrange terms for the cofederate surrender, Grant apologized for the untidy condition of his tent...He said, "Pay no attention to things, Bob, me and some of the boys were having a wrestling match in here last night."
Homer was the first wrestling reporter. He covered the bout between Ajax and Odyseus...Yussif Mahmout, the original "Terrible Turk," brought to this country trachoma, the eye disease which has afflicted so many mat men...Jim Londos, the "Golden Greek," was vastly over-publicized, like most modern champions...But Joe Stecher, Strangler Lewis, Toots Mondt, and Dean Detton didn't have to "do business" - if they didn't want to.
"Dynamite" Gus Sonnenberg, ex-Dartmouth grid star, introduced the flying tackle. But Pete Lajimmi, second-rate welterweight wrestler, engaged Gus in a street brawl one day and beat the champ into insensibility...Which just gives you an idea.
Danno O'Mahoney of Balleyduo, a whistle stop in South Ireland, hardly knew a mat from a matress...But he was brought to the United States...And in one short year appeared in more towns and cities, drew more money and appeared before more people than did Boxer Joe Louis. During that period, O'Mahoney cleared himself $150,000...While the Brown Bomber's net earnings for the same length of time were only $100,000.
A "program" is a series of "working" or fixed bouts designed to built up a challenger for a title tilt...One of the rarest events in the sport is a "shooting match," or honest contest...A "hook" is the good old double-cross, which is legit more in this game than in any other occupation, profession or racket...For example, when the news was telephoned to Toots Mondt that ancient Stanislaus Zbyszko had thrown Wayne Munn, the syndicate champion, at Philadelphia, on April 25, 1925, Mondt yelled "hooked" and fainted.