{"id":9506,"date":"2018-12-01T15:16:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T15:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/?p=9506"},"modified":"2018-12-03T14:10:22","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T14:10:22","slug":"santas-sporting-sleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa&#8217;s Sporting Sleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Certain athletes evoke a particular charm whenever they step out onto the field or court. Some legends simply operate in a different space-time continuum, exhibiting a unique blend of skill and guile that takes the breath away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Some are hardy, tough bastards while others glide as if their bodies were not made of flesh and blood, but rather unravelling reams of silk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">There are those, however, who captivate the imagination because of their name. In this list we&#8217;ve picked out a select few who, once retired, could have donned a set of antlers and doubled up as Santa&#8217;s reindeer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Next time you here Saint Nick sliding down your chimney, peer outside. You never know which legendary athlete could be saddled up in front of his sleigh.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>John Joseph &#8220;Dasher&#8221; Troy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Born on 8<sup>th<\/sup> May 1856, the New Yorker John Joseph \u201cDasher\u201d Troy played baseball in five seasons of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1877 to 1888.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">He played for the Detroit Wolverines, Providence Grays, New York Gothams and the New York Metropolitans as a second baseman. He died on 30<sup>th<\/sup> March 1938 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens County, New York.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Faye Dancer<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Faye Katherine Dancer played baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League as a centre field from 1944 through to 1950. Her success in baseball earned her the nickname \u2018All The Way Faye\u2019 which later inspired the character \u2018All The Way Mae\u2019 in the 1992 film \u2018A League of Their Own\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Dancer\u2019s spikes and gloves are displayed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. She died on 22<sup>nd<\/sup> May in Los Angeles at the age of 77.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Wilma Rudolph<\/b><\/h2>\n<div class=\"getty alignleft\"><a id='TiimOGOyRIlEBWOCRy4uwA' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/79026080' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'TiimOGOyRIlEBWOCRy4uwA',sig:'KZ1R_s1ixvNNQXmJfYjYPVJ71MScgvHbeweJA_u_gIg=',w:'395px',h:'594px',items:'79026080',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, sprinter Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. Before that, Rudolph had to wear a brace on her left leg due to polio.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">However, she overcame her disabilities and made it to the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne Australia. On 12<sup>th<\/sup> November 1994, Rudolph died following a battle with brain cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Jan Hein Donner<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner, born in The Hague on July 6<sup>th<\/sup> 1927 was not only a writer, but a chess player for the Netherlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Donner played in the Chess Olympiads eleven times and won the Dutch Championships in 1954, 1957 and 1958. In 1959, The World Chess Federation (FIDE) awarded him with the Chess Grandmaster title. He died in Amsterdam on 27<sup>th<\/sup> November 1988.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Clarence Lemuel &#8220;Cupid&#8221; Childs<\/b><b> <\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The Maryland-born baseball player started his 13-year career in 1888 with the Philadelphia Quakers playing only two games in the National League.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The second baseman continued with the Syracuse Stars for one season in 1890, but returned to the National League and this time with the Cleveland Spiders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">He stayed with them from 1891 until 1898. Moving on, he played one season with the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899 and then two more seasons with the Chicago Orphans from 1900-01.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Carlos Samuel Blixen <\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Carlos Samuel Blixen is a retired basketball player from Uruguay. He played for the men\u2019s national team, who competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The team won a bronze medal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">He competed four years later at another Olympic Games. Blixen was born on 27<sup>th<\/sup> December 1936 and lives in Uruguay at the age of 81. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Julianna \u2018The Venezuelan Vixen\u2019 Pe\u00f1a<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a id='JvRgaknxRzxoatCt-ly0kg' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/632954826' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JvRgaknxRzxoatCt-ly0kg',sig:'GgD6yEE4DuVy3WNn5UmLjWQs8tHGzg6Meoe8vxSsX0E=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'632954826',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">This mixed martial arts fighter of Venezuelan and Mexican descent competes in The Ultimate Fighting Championship. The 29-year-old was the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter after a total knockout in the first in 2013 against Jessica Rakoczy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Paul Comet<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The struggle to find a sports person with the name \u2018Comet\u2019 proved difficult, but in the depths of the internet, Paul Comet was discovered \u2013 a fifth tier, third choice goalkeeper for the French team Stade Bordelais based in Bordeaux.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">As the search continued to find out more about him, turns out there is another Paul Comet who is, in fact, a real estate agent. Just to point out\u2026 not the same person!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Get Prancer (Grand National Horse)<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Again, finding a sports person with the name \u2018Prancer\u2019 was tough, but technically this Grand National horse Get Prancer meets the sport theme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The six-year-old chestnut gelding horse has never won a race. Get Prancer\u2019s trainer is J R Jenkins and three jockeys have been horseback: Danny Brock, Slade O\u2019 Hara and Federik Tylicki. Get Prancer\u2019s last race was in 2016, not sure if there\u2019s a comeback on the fence\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Certain athletes evoke a particular charm whenever they step out onto the field or court. Some legends simply operate in a different space-time continuum, exhibiting a unique blend of skill and guile that takes the breath away. Some are hardy, tough bastards while others glide as if their bodies were not made of flesh and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":9542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[50,53],"tags":[105,113,664,1673],"ppma_author":[4103],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.9.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Santa&#039;s Sporting Sleigh - Sports Gazette<\/title>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santa&#039;s Sporting Sleigh - Sports Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Certain athletes evoke a particular charm whenever they step out onto the field or court. Some legends simply operate in a different space-time continuum, exhibiting a unique blend of skill and guile that takes the breath away. Some are hardy, tough bastards while others glide as if their bodies were not made of flesh and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-01T15:16:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-03T14:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SANTA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1399\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsgazette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsgazette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Sports Gazette\",\"description\":\"The sports magazine brought to you by the next generation of sport writers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SANTA.jpg\",\"width\":1999,\"height\":1399},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\",\"name\":\"Santa's Sporting Sleigh - Sports Gazette\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-01T15:16:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-03T14:10:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/96e842bb1fc6b43ddcf54cd648274c85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/santas-sporting-sleigh\/\",\"name\":\"Santa&#8217;s Sporting Sleigh\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/96e842bb1fc6b43ddcf54cd648274c85\",\"name\":\"Megan Dymmock-Morgan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8b5e12892b30a5743fb8dace28f8320?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Megan Dymmock-Morgan\"},\"description\":\"Megan\\u2019s passion for writing and sport was the perfect combination to becoming a sports journalist. She is a Creative and Professional Writing graduate from St Mary\\u2019s University. Megan was a synchronised swimmer who developed an interest in other sports such as netball, tennis and rugby. Her enthusiasm for social media led her to work experience in social media managing for Swim England at the British Synchronised Swimming Championships. Her ultimate goal as a sports journalist is to report within the aquatics centre at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. You can follow Megan on Twitter: @meganjdmorgan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/author\/megan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","authors":[{"term_id":4103,"user_id":49,"is_guest":0,"slug":"megan","display_name":"Megan Dymmock-Morgan","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8b5e12892b30a5743fb8dace28f8320?s=96&d=mm&r=g","first_name":"Megan","last_name":"Dymmock-Morgan","user_url":"","description":"Megan\u2019s passion for writing and sport was the perfect combination to becoming a sports journalist. She is a Creative and Professional Writing graduate from St Mary\u2019s University. Megan was a synchronised swimmer who developed an interest in other sports such as netball, tennis and rugby. Her enthusiasm for social media led her to work experience in social media managing for Swim England at the British Synchronised Swimming Championships. Her ultimate goal as a sports journalist is to report within the aquatics centre at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. You can follow Megan on Twitter: @meganjdmorgan"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9506"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9590,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9506\/revisions\/9590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9506"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsgazette.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=9506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}