It’s safe to say not a lot of people have heard of the English sport of ferret legging.
Rick Reilly has and he has even played it. It was one of the many things discussed by the acclaimed sports journalist of Sports Illustrated and ESPN fame when he visited Columbus on Wednesday night.
Fresh off the release of his new book, “Sports From Hell: My Search for the World’s Dumbest Competition,” Reilly was on hand to speak to a large crowd at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.
The Thurber House of Columbus put on the night’s event.
The event was called, “A Night for the Sports Nut!” and featured everything a sports fan could want. Leading off the festivities was Bruce Hooley, co-host of “The Big Show” on 97.1: The Fan. Hooley was there to introduce the man who would be introducing Reilly, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel.
“I got word that Rick Reilly was coming today and looked at the calendar and in the month of May, in my world, you’re allowed to call recruits,” Tressel told the crowd. “So I thought, well, at least I can come and take part and welcome him on behalf of all the Buckeyes.”
Tressel also discussed Reilly’s much talked about move from Sports Illustrated to ESPN.
“I had read his back page of Sports Illustrated for years and years,” Tressel said. “I’ve now discontinued my subscription because he is no longer on that back page.”
After giving the introduction, Tressel left the building and did not stay around for any of Reilly’s speech. This was something Reilly was quick to poke fun at.
“And how about Coach Tressel hanging around to hear the speech,” Reilly joked. “Oh, no.”
Once Reilly hit the stage it was all laughs. For about 45 minutes he discussed many of the subjects of his new book that explored the strange, stupid and unlikely of the world of sports.
“I decided to spend two years looking for the world’s dumbest sports,” Reilly said.
Some of the sports discussed by Reilly were ferret legging, bull poker, naked bicycling and the Homeless World Cup of Soccer. One of the sports with some local buzz discussed was jarts, also known as lawn darts. A sport that has now been outlawed for how dangerous it was, a yearly tournament is held in Piqua, Ohio, which Reilly attended and wrote about in his book. Many of the tournament’s organizers and participants were in the crowd and had a back-and-forth conversation with Reilly during his speech.
Shane Davis, one of the key members of the group, spoke fondly of Reilly and his experience with him.
“It was pretty neat,” said Davis, 37. “He came and he hung out with everybody, he took his shoes off and just hung out like anybody else would.”
Many crazy sports such as wife carrying and the famous cheese-rolling championships were left out of the book because Reilly dismissed them as, “tourist attractions.”
“You had to know your sport wasn’t stupid,” Reilly joked to the crowd.
Reilly also spoke about some of his woes with the state of Ohio, which included a controversial piece he wrote on the now deceased former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott and caddying for golfing legend and Ohio native Jack Nicklaus.
“Ohio doesn’t really like me that much,” he said.
After his speech, Reilly took about 15 minutes to address questions from the audience members.
When the event was over, Reilly stayed to sign autographs and copies of his books.
“I’ve always enjoyed his writings,” said Greg Bomberger, a resident of Pickerington. “I find him either extremely funny or he can make you cry at the drop of a hat also.”
