Oct 30, 2022
Frederick Charles Standish left England in 1852 under a false name and fleeing moneylenders. Landing in Melbourne, he was forced to live on the goldfields and run a sly grog business.
Yet, just six years later, he would be the colony's Chief Commissioner of police, be a pallbearer at Robert O’Hara Burke's funeral,...
Oct 23, 2022
Timothy John Rossovich was a star defensive end and linebacker at the University of Southern California and the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was off the field where his genius shone.
Rossovich was famous for surreal pranks that included chewing glass, setting himself on fire and opening his mouth in a meeting to speak,...
Oct 16, 2022
Robert Standish Sievier was one of the most colourful personalities of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, a man who revolutionised bookmaking in Australia before returning to England, where his horse Sceptre won four of the five English classics.
Joining the army and fighting in South Africa at 16, Sievier would go...
Oct 9, 2022
Contracts in sports contain clauses so weird they are scarcely believable.
There are clauses banning players from going to nightclubs, but there's also been a clause insisting a player got drunk after every game.
Contracts have included clauses for free sushi at all times, a demand a player ate sheep's testicles, a ban...
Oct 2, 2022
In an All-Star career, Dock Ellis managed to win a World Series, pitch a no-hitter on LSD, hit every batter that came to the plate in a game and set a clubhouse on fire.
But for every bit of craziness, Ellis was also ahead of his time as a spokesperson on a range of issues from free agency to racism while devoting his...