Here’s a Memory Like an Elephant
Cal State Fullerton’s 2000 calendar recalls one of the highlights of the school’s history: the first (and, as far as I know, last) Intercollegiate Elephant Race, held May 11, 1962 (see photo).
The event began as a joke, an outgrowth of the formation of a mythical elephant racing club at the school, then known as Orange County State College.
But when tongue-in-cheek invitations were sent out for a race, they were answered. Fourteen elephants from such institutions as Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge showed up, as did thousands of spectators and nearly 100 reporters. Controversy immediately flared over the entry of the Northrop Institute of Technology, which looked suspiciously like a giant turtle. Jack Smith, The Times’ correspondent, wrote that the turtle rumor was later “confirmed by Orange County State’s professor of zoology.”
Another credentials clash concerned Santa Ana College’s entry, Rudy, which was actually two students in an elephant costume. “The subterfuge was discovered,” Smith wrote, “when the zoologist tried to take its temperature.”
AND THEY’RE OFF! The elephant race itself was marred by just one near accident: Long Beach State College’s four-ton entry, Kinney II, rumbled 50 yards past the finish line, scattering spectators. Rider James Kitt, who hung on all the way, explained: “I dug my feet in his side and held on to his ears.” Kinney was awarded first prize.
As reporters prepared dispatches that would be sent around the world linking the college’s name to the pachyderm parade, an Orange County State English professor asked, “Put in a plug for us, will you? Say we teach Chaucer here.”
ELEPHANTS? NO. TURTLES? NO. . . . In a weekly newspaper, Brian Shafritz of Goleta spotted a raccoon quiz for readers that had been infiltrated by other critters (see accompanying).
FIGHT TOWN: “L.A. Challenging Las Vegas for Boxing Crown,” says a headline in the L.A. Business Journal, referring to the signing of local welterweight stars Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley for a June 17 match at Staples Center.
The newspaper says the fight could reestablish the reputation of L.A., “which hasn’t been a boxing town for some time (both the Great Western Forum and the Olympic Auditorium have closed down their programs).”
Yes, but what a run the Forum and the Olympic had. You never knew what was going to happen inside, or outside, the ring. Both arenas had a number of colorful riots in the 1960s and 1970s.
In one melee at the Forum, where seats were ripped out and fires set, I saw a rioter grab a mustard container in the concession area. He was about to throw it when he was interrupted by a man who was daubing mustard on his hot dog.
“You want this?” the hot dog customer asked.
The rioter hesitated, then took the man’s mustard spreader, inserted it into the container, and threw it.
MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN: After a riot at the Olympic, which featured more chair and bottle tossing, a reporter found a man outside, nursing a cut over his eye. The diligent newsman asked how it happened.
“I think it was a left hook,” responded the victim. Turned out he had sustained the cut in the ring while fighting in one of the preliminary matches.
HARD BARGAIN: Glenn Lee of Malibu noticed a restaurant franchise offer that seems to cost a pretty penny just for information (see accompanying).
miscelLAny:
The gasoline price comparison list here, which showed that Evian drinking water costs more than $20 a gallon, prompted George Mood of L.A. to write: “It’s no coincidence that ‘Evian’ is ‘naive’ spelled backward.”