The Real McCoy Norman Selby: Part 3 - Sports Bizarre

The 1900 Paris Olympics were a disaster of planning and execution, to the point many athletes never even knew they’d participated in an Olympics. So poorly organised were the games that the discus field was too narrow and throws went into the crowd, while the long jumpers turned up to discover they had to dig their own pit. As well as standard Olympic fare, there was cannon shooting, hot air ballooning, pigeon shooting, kite flying, driving a mail carriage and fishing. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look at the most shambolic Olympics ever, an event that saw kids press-ganged into competing and the marathon ended in a twelve-year legal battle. This episode refers to another episode, The Worst Event in Olympic History, which is another bonkers story. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Sep 202245min

In the 1930s, several English football clubs experimented with a new treatment sweeping the globe, ingesting, injecting or transplanting testicular tissue from monkeys into people.  So widespread was the practice that the 1939 FA Cup final between Wolverhampton and Portsmouth became known as the ‘Monkey Gland Final’. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy, look back at arguably the strangest doping scandal of all time and the coaching career of Major Frank Buckley, who trialled the treatment at Wolverhampton. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Sep 202245min

Former Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman has recently offered to go to Russia to talk to President Vladimir Putin about the imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner. While Rodman claims somewhat falsely that "I know Putin too well," there’s one dictator he does know well, North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Between 2013 and 2018, Rodman made numerous trips to North Korea, calling Jong-un a ‘friend for life’. At one point, Rodman was one of only two men in the world who had met Kim Jong-un and then President Donald Trump. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy discuss the strangest relationship in international politics and look at claims Rodman was an intelligence officer working for the Central Intelligence Agency or just a useful idiot for the North Koreans. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Sep 202258min

Sporting curses are always strange, but perhaps none is stranger than the Curse of Colonel Sanders, which has seen the Japanese baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers, suffer decades of poor performances after offending the spirit of the KFC founder. Attempts to lift the curse have included fans apologizing to KFC store managers and making offerings to the statues of the Colonel outside of restaurants. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look at the Curse of the Colonel and another curse that set back Birmingham City decades, with the Nazis bombing their stadium, only for the National Fire Service to then accidentally burn the stand down a year later. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 Aug 202239min

In 1893, John Wren, unemployed and from a poor family, set up the Collingwood Tote, an illegal betting shop that would achieve mythical status, depending on who you asked, as either a den of vice ruining the lives of many or as a symbol of the working class fighting back against discriminatory laws. In its twenty years of operating, the police attempted to raid the tote so many times and failed to the point they gave up completely. Instead, the establishment banned Wren’s horses from racing in the Spring Racing Carnival. In response, Wren set up multiple alternative racecourses and significantly hurt their finances. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look at the rise of John Wren, a man who took on the establishment and built up a sporting empire that crossed horse racing, cycling and boxing. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Aug 202258min

The 1967 Intercontinental Cup saw Scottish club Celtic and Argentinian side Racing Club face off across three brutal matches. In one match, the Celtic goalkeeper was knocked unconscious by a bottle thrown from the crowd before the game; despite this, the game still went ahead with a very nervous backup keeper. Reuters described another match as "a bar-room brawl with soccer skills abandoned for swinging fists, flying boots and blatant body checking". The series would result in the ‘Curse of El Cilindro’, when opposition fans buried the bodies of seven black cats at Racing’s home ground, Estadio Juan Domingo Perón. Decades of bad luck followed, leading to even the Catholic Church getting involved in an attempt to end it. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look back at the ‘Battle of Montevideo’, one of the most hostile sporting encounters of all time. Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Aug 202243min

Albert Griffiths, or ‘Young Griffo’ began life in the slums of Sydney as the leader of a local street gang. This proved to be the perfect training for boxing, and before he was twenty, he was the World Featherweight Champion. Moving to the United States, Young Griffo would become one of the greatest boxers of all time, despite never training and rarely fighting sober. In a career spanning 232 fights, Girffo would lose only nine, despite multiple arrests and stints in bot jail and various asylums. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look at one of the greatest boxers of all time, whose life which was stranger out of the ring than in it. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8 Aug 202249min

The 1904 Olympics in St Louis, Missouri, were a disaster in every way possible. Held over six months alongside the World’s Fair, it had a human zoo and a ‘savage Olympics’ pitting various indigenous groups against each other. But the marathon would be the biggest mess; competitors were refused water, runners were chased off course by dogs, there was cheating, several near deaths, and the first recorded case of doping in Olympic history. Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look back at the worst event ever held at an Olympics and find their favourite Olympic competitor, a Cuban named Félix de la Caridad Carvajal y Soto. Titus O'Reily and Mick Molloy are excited to announce the launch of Bizarre Plus, the new Membership program for even more Sports Bizarre. As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A fortnightly newsletter Access to the members-only chatroom Ability to vote on future episodes Early access to any live show tickets Click here to join today Follow Sports Bizarre on: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Juli 202254min