Ye shall know them by their fruits (and fish and poultry and…)
The Phoenix Coyotes got an unexpected addition to their roster last Friday while battling the Nashville Predators: Somebody chucked a slimy, whiskered catfish onto the ice. A smiling puck-girl had to cart it off in her bare hands before play could resume… Predators players are supported by an army of catfish-flinging maniacs, who may or may not catch them by noodling. The tradition began in 2002 as a response against the [Detroit] Red Wings military use of octopus. The catfish get so thick sometimes that shovels are required to scoop them off the ice…
From Atlantic Cities, a city-by-city breakdown (replete with videos!) of “Hockey Fans Throwing Weird Crap on the Ice.”
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As we remember to pack our ponchos, we might recall that it was on this date in 1875 that Oliver Lewis rode H. P. McGrath’s thoroughbred Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby, at the Louisville Jockey Club. (McGrath, a gambling parlor owner who had used his profits to enter the world of horse racing, had entered two horses in the first Derby: Aristides, who was expected to be quick out of the gate and force the other horses to wear themselves out early, and Chesapeake, whom McGrath expected to be the real winner. But Aristides took the lead early and never relinquished it, while Chesapeake never really caught up with the pack. Not sure what to do, Aristides’s jockey, Lewis, looked to McGrath, and McGrath signaled for him to go on. Aristides won by a long length, and took the purse — a whopping $2850.)
Aristides. Etching by C. Lloyd (The depiction notwithstanding, 14 of the 15 jockeys in the first Derby– including Lewis– were African-American)
For more on race relations– then, now, and in-between– read through to the middle of this fascinating-and-instructive Salon piece.