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The 1900 Big Game Disaster

Added 2022-11-15 11:15:00 +0000 UTC

It was quite difficult to find information on this relatively forgotten disaster, but nonetheless I came across some interesting errata while reading up on it.

The Story of TJ Parker

This old Google site has a number of clippings from newspapers published at the time, including one that tells the story of fireman TJ Parker. Mr Parker attended the scene of the disaster to help the injured... only to find his own son amongst them.

The story appears in only one brief clipping, so we may never know how this particular story turned out... though the outlook doesn't seem good; the paper states that: "He suffers from internal injuries, and will probably die."

That short, bleak tale is just one of many from a disaster which affected hundreds of young people.

The History of the Big Game

In the video, I don't go into too much depth on the history of the Big Game, as it so often overshadows the disaster. If you do want to read about it, though, it's certainly well-documented.

There are a number of lesser incidents in the history of the annual game, as well as periods when the tradition seemed to be somewhat in danger.

For example, in 1906, concern over the number of injuries involved in American Football caused the sport to be dropped by both universities. Rather than call off the game altogether, organisers decided to play under the rules of rugby instead... which they did for several years, despite it being poorly understood by spectators, and every bit as dangerous as American Football.