When Sports Were Crazy

Ebbs of History · May 7, 2026 · 41m · transcript

What if sports could get you sacrificed, dragged to death by horses, or killed by a king's splintered lance? In this episode, we count down ten of the craziest sports ever played. These weren't just games.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Mesoamerican Ballgame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_ballgame)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Mesoamerican Ballgame (https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/the-mesoamerican-ballgame)

National Geographic: Death Ball (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/death-ball)

Olympics.com: Pankration…