Card of the Day - 2023-12-26

Topps Athletic Endeavour
Topps Allen & Ginter [trade/commercial : O/S : USA] "Athletic Endeavors" - mini cards (2014) AE-01/10

So here we have the sport of shovel racing, which I would imagine often ends in a lot of pain and chafing. However the back of the card intrigued me, for it states that it is deemed too risky for the Winter X Games though it was once a part of them. 

After looking it up I found that it all started as a bit of fun in a place called Angel Fire in New Mexico, and indeed it was featured in the 1997 Winter X Games, but most places say it was removed due to it not being athletic enough not through anything dangerous.

However it kept on growing in favour back home in New Mexico.

Then in 2005 it was suddenly decided that it would not take place because of the fear of the organisers being involved in costly legal action if anything went wrong. This seems to have been caused by certain riders turning up with the equivalent of "souped up, hot-rod, shovels", that could reach 70 mph.

The event was not held for five years, but then it restarted, under new rules that banned all kinds of modifications. I would love to know how you modified a shovel, you could hardly fit an engine to the stick, could you?

Anyway I am sure I will have fun finding out ....

And if you want to look at the other "athletic endeavours, you can see the rest of the set at the Trading Card Database/ToppsAE.

Now this is a set of just ten cards, but it has a curious connection to Panini, who issued a set called "Artistic Endeavors" in 2022 as part of their "Court KIngs" set of basketball cards. These were brightly coloured and often contained relics, pieces of officially game-worn kit.