David Feldman - Imponderables(R): Fun and Games (Collins Gem) (Imponderables Books)

Collins gem

Introduction

Why are rented bowling shoes so ugly?

Why does Mickey Mouse have four fingers?

Why do quarterbacks call the snap with the exclamation Hut?

Why are the commercials louder than the programming on television?

Why is the NBA shot clock 24 seconds?

Why do golf balls have dimples?

Why were Athos, Porthos, and Aramis called The Three Musketeers when they fought with swords rather than muskets?

Why are the Notre Dame sports teams called The Fighting Irish when the school was founded by French Catholics?

In movies and television dramas, what is the purpose of boiling water when babies are delivered at home?

Why is there a dot on billiards and pool cue balls?

Why is comic strip print in capital letters?

Why do mens bicycles have a crossbar?

Why is the scoring system in tennis so weird?

Why do place kickers and field-goal kickers get yardage credit from where the ball is kicked and yet punters only get credit from the line of scrimmage?

Why dont disc jockeys identify the titles and artists of the songs they play?

Why is the home plate in baseball such a weird shape?

How do figure skaters keep from getting dizzy while spinning? Is it possible to eye a fixed point while spinning so fast?

What is the emblem on the Pittsburgh Steelers helmets? And is there any particular reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers are the only NFL team to have their logo on only one side of their helmets?

On Jeopardy! what is the difficulty level of the daily doubles supposed to be?

Why are new CDs released on Tuesdays? Why arent new books released on a particular day?

Why do hockey goalies sometimes bang their sticks on the ice while the puck is on the other end of the rink?

Why does Monopoly have such unusual playing tokens?

Why is there a two-minute warning in American football?

Who was Casper the Friendly Ghost before he died?

Why do rinks use hot water to resurface the ice?

What is the circle adjacent to the batters box on baseball fields?

Why are copyright dates on movies and television shows written in Roman numerals?

Why are downhill ski poles bent?

Why do females tend to throw like a girl?

Why dont magazines put page numbers on every page?

Why do magazine and newspaper editors force you to skip pages to continue an article at the back of the magazine/newspaper?

Why do basketballs have fake seams? Do they have a practical purpose or are they merely decorative?

In baseball scoring, why is the letter K chosen to designate a strikeout?

How do football officials measure first down yardage with chains, especially when they go on field to confirm first downs?

Why have many movie theaters stopped popping their own popcorn?

Why do golfers yell Fore when warning of an errant golf shot?

Why are tennis balls fuzzy?

Where is Donald Ducks brother?

Do fish really bite more when it is raining?

Why are television sets measured diagonally?

Why are the uniforms of professional Japanese baseball players printed in English letters and Arabic numbers?

Which side gets the game ball when a football game ends in a tie?

Why was he called the Lone Ranger when Tonto was always hanging around?

What did Barney Rubble do for a living?

Why are there eighteen holes on a golf course?

How do the networks sell advertising time when live programs run longer than scheduled?

Why are racquetballs blue?

Why dont barefoot field goal kickers and punters get broken feet?

Where do they get that awful music for ice skating?

Where do they get that organ music in skating rinks?

Why doesnt countdown leader on films count all the way to one?

In baseball, why is the pitchers mound located 606 from home plate?

Why do they need twenty mikes at press conferences?

What is Goofy?

Is Goofy married? If not, where did televisions Goofy, Jr., come from?

Why do the Oakland Athletics uniforms have elephant patches on their sleeves?

How are the subscription insert cards placed in magazines?

What is that sniffing noise boxers make when throwing punches?

What does legitimate theater mean? Where can you find illegitimate theater?

When running into the dugout from his defensive position, why is the first baseman thrown a baseball from the dugout?

Why are baseball dugouts built so that they are half below ground?

Why do the back wheels of bicycles click when you are coasting or back pedaling?

Why do mis-hits of golf shots, especially irons, sting so badly and for so long?

Why are there two red stripes around the thinnest part of bowling pins?

Why was Charles Schulzs comic strip called Peanuts?

Where is the Donkey in Donkey Kong?

Who are all those people on the sidelines during American football games?

Why are the Muppets left-handed?

How did the football get its strange shape?

Help!!!

About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

A ll of us are afflicted by mysteries of everyday life that drive us nuts. Ive devoted the last twenty years of my life to writing books that attempt to eradicate this plague. In the ten Imponderables books, a mystery about sports (Why does a football have such a crazy shape?) is likely to be next to one about animals (Why dont we ever see baby pigeons?) or business (Why are grocery coupons worth 1/100 of a cent, and does anyone ever really redeem them?).

The good folks at Collins suggested lumping all the previously published sports and games Imponderables together for this Gem edition, and as a sports fan (OK, fanatic), I jumped at the chance. With a few exceptions, the text is unchanged from the original editions; in a few cases, we updated material that would have otherwise been confusing or outdated.

Almost all the questions in this book came from readers. Besides the release of psychic stress, the first to pose each mystery received a free, autographed copy of the book. Do you have any Imponderables hounding you, about sports or any other subject? You can be rewarded, too. Come join us on the Web at www.imponderables.com, e-mail us at feldman@imponderables.com, or if you must resort to the Imponderable institution known as the United States Postal System, write to us at:

Imponderables

P.O. Box 116

Planetarium Station

New York, NY 10024-0116

W e know that taste in art is a subjective matter.

We are aware that whole books have been written about what colors best reflect our personalities and which colors go best with particular skin tones.

But on some things a civilized society must agree. And rented bowling shoes are ugly. Does anybody actually believe that maroon-blue-and-tan shoes best complement the light wood grain of bowling lanes or the black rubber of bowling balls?

Bruce Pluckhahn, curator of the National Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum, told us that at one time the black shoelike the black ballwas all that any self-respecting bowler would be caught dead using. Now, most rented bowling shoes are tricolored. The poor kegler is more likely to be dressed like Courtney Love (on a bad day) than Walter Ray Williams.