Welcome to the forever ago trophy room!
Wow there are so many trophies.
Oh look at this one.
The Thesaurus Award for Most Adjectives in a Sentence.
I savor this pulchritudinous, astonishing, and prodigious recognition.
Ooh and there's the 2nd place trophy for most gracious loser.
You know, it's an honor just to lose.
And don't miss this one, best podcast host that breaks into song at the drop of a half hour.
So impressive. Well, Otis, when you're the host of an award winning history podcast, the trophies just start piling up.
Now this wall is full of trophies given to me by others.
And over here is the wall of trophies I've given to myself.
And this wall is trophies that I'm waiting to give to other people.
Oh, have you been waiting to give any of these trophies to me?
Time will tell, Otis, time will tell.
Well it just so happens that I also love giving and receiving trophies, medals, certificates, plaques, commemorative, plates, dishwasher, safe travel, coffee mugs, lapel pins, ribbons, glass paperweights, and high fives.
Well, in that case, this trophy is for you!
The Accolade Enthusiast Award for the most trophies.
Thank you, Joy. You're listening to Forever Ago, where we explore the before.
I'm your host, Joy Dolo.
And my co -host today is Otis from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hi, Otis. Hi, Joy. So today we're talking about a sport that's near and dear to your heart, wheelchair basketball.
So how would you describe wheelchair basketball to someone who's never seen it before?
Yeah, it's very similar to standing basketball.
More contact and a lot of tipping.
For some of us that don't know how to play basketball, I'm not naming names Joi Dolo.
What are some of the rules that are similar from wheelchair basketball to standing basketball?
You cannot travel so you have to take three pushes in your chair and then you have to dribble and then there are charges which is if a person is Still in their chair and you ran into them with the front of your chair Then that is a called a charge and the ball goes to the other team How fast would you say you go on one of those bad boys?
I think top speed like maybe It's like maybe 20 miles per hour.
That's almost cheetah level.
No it's not. But it's but it's still very fast. Have you collided with people before?
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Does it hurt?
I mean, it hurts when you've, like your first collision, it'll hurt pretty bad, but you'll get used to it after a bunch of collisions.
So after practice, are you just like covered in bruises and stuff?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I get that.
How long have you been playing?
I've been playing for nine years now.
I tried out and made the varsity team this year as a seventh grader.
What position do you play?
I play guard, so there are only guards and post in wheelchair basketball, which in standing basketball there are point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center.
So what does a guard do exactly?
It's kind of like the facilitator out on the court.
It controls a lot of the court, passes the ball to other people.
Can score too. Yeah, it's a very important position to the team.
Yeah, especially if you get a score, I mean, that's the point of basketball.
Don't get the points, you know?
And I have to ask, have you received any trophies or ribbons or medals?
I have received some honors.
This season, I was named my prep's teams MVP. I also earned all tournament prep team twice.
That's an honor given at the conclusion of a tournament to the player to have performed the best during the tournament So you did the best and you got a trophy because you were the best. Yeah Oh, how does it feel to be the best Otis?
I mean, it's pretty awesome.
Yeah You just go around like brushing your shoulders off everywhere you go.
Yeah. Yeah. Well well done Here is another trophy to add to your collection.
Oh Wow best description of a trophy collection I'm honored as you should be now the story of how wheelchairs and basketball teamed up begins in the early 1930s Frankenstein and Dracula are in their first movies which are still in black and white at home people gather on Radios the size of minifridges and listen to their favorite audio dramas.
There are no TVs or cell phones or computers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are big baseball stars and pop hits sound like this It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
Joy, I'd like to give you this lapel pin in honor of whatever that just was.
Oh, thank you so much. It says, most enthusiastic dance moves by an amateur.
Oh, thanks Otis. You know, I was a backup dancer at a Prince concert once.
Well, I mean I was in the wrong line for snacks.
So I started backing up while dancing, but I think that counts.
Totally counts. Another thing about the 1930s is that back then wheelchairs stunk.
Not literally. They smelled fine, but they were heavy made of wood and couldn't even fit through most doorways.
They were pretty much big wooden chairs with wheels attached.
Not flexible, not foldable, very heavy.
Imagine you wanted to go to the store for ice cream.
You wouldn't be able to roll yourself there so you'd need someone to push you.
Then when you finally got there, your wheelchair might not be able to fit to the front door.
Or even if it could, the ice cream shop might only have stairs, no wheelchair ramp.
So back then, if you used a wheelchair, you were still pretty limited in where you could go.
This was just one of the ways that the US was not a welcoming place for people with disabilities.
In fact, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who was elected president in 1932, used a wheelchair.
But he tried really hard to hide his disability from the public was hardly ever photographed using his wheelchair.
So it felt like society was really telling people with disabilities.
Stay out of view. But something was coming that would challenge that idea, something amazing.
And it all started with an ingenious design.
Ooh, yes, such a good teaser for the next part of the story.
Hold on. I now present you this blue ribbon for duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duhhh best teaser in this particular episode of Forever Ago.
I hope it earns a place of pride in your trophy room.
Definitely, and I present to you this engraved paperweight that says best active listener who also gives awards.
Wow, the foresight that took to get this engraved.
So, I have this for you, the trophy for most prepared award giver.
Now, where were we?
An ingenious design.
Oh, yes. Bring it on, Otis.
Prepare for it to be brung, Dolo.
The story of how wheelchairs went from clunky wooden contraptions to more modern designs starts with a guy named Herbert Everest. Herbert was a mining engineer and geologist who fractured his spine in an accident.
And now here I am, using these terrible wheelchairs, stuck in this house.
I can't get a job or support my family.
Until one day, his wife finally brought home a different kind of wheelchair.
It was wood, but it was smaller, and I could roll it myself.
It could also be folded up and put in a car.
It was kind of flimsy and always breaking, but this not so great wheelchair gave me an idea for an actually really great one.
Herbert enlisted the help of an engineer named Harry Jennings.
The two set up a workshop in a garage.
They tinkered. They designed.
They dreamed. Pretty soon, they had an entirely new kind of wheelchair.
One that would change the lives of wheelchair users everywhere.
We'll hear about that in a second, but first it's time for...
Okay, I know you want me to play the first thing's first tinger right now, but I'm floored by that even more amazing teaser you just did.
If you would give me back that blue ribbon so I can bestow it upon you again Ok Now present to you this blue ribbon for best teaser in this particular episode of forever ago Reunited and it feels so good now.
It's really time for or first things first. So this is the game where we take three things and put them in order from oldest to most recent.
The Paralympics are right around the corner.
That's the huge international sport competition for athletes with a range of physical disabilities.
So I'm going to give you three different Paralympic sports and I want you to tell me in which order they were introduced as official Paralympic sports.
wheelchair tennis, blind football, and sitting volleyball.
So which do you think came first, which came second, and which came most recently in history.
I think blind football came first, wheelchair tennis came second, and then wheelchair, what was it, sitting volleyball, came last. Yeah, okay, so we have blind football first. Why do you think that one's first?
I think it's the easiest one to, like, like, introduced as a new sport in the Paralympics, where as other ones you have to invent like new rules.
Ah, yeah. Yeah. So you think blind football was easier just because like, we already kind of know how that is.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then so you think wheelchair tennis was next?
Yeah. Yeah. Why is that?
I think wheelchair tennis was next because I've known a lot of people who've been playing wheelchair tennis for a really long time.
and they've known a lot of people who've been playing wheelchair tennis for a really long time.
So yeah. So it's been around for a long time, to be conclusion.
I bet they're like cavemen in wheelchairs with their rackets, just going back and forth on the court.
And then sitting volleyball.
Is there a certain reason that you thought this one was probably the most recent?
I don't know. I feel like that one...
I feel like I knew the first two, so that one kind of just...
It fell in third because that was That's the last spot, so, yeah.
It's like leftover.
Yeah. Not that sitting volleyball is the leftovers.
We all love everybody that plays sitting volleyball.
Okay, so we'll hear the answers at the end of the episode right after the credits.
We'll be right back.
Hey, Forever Ago friends.
We love hearing your ideas and questions.
So we want to know, what topic would you like to explore on Forever Ago?
What history would you like to learn more about?
Maybe there's a certain invention, person, or time period you're curious about.
Whatever it is, we want to hear it.
Listeners, send us your episode ideas at foreverago .org slash contact.
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A science pod cast. About a hundred bolts of lightning strike the earth's surface every second.
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You're listening to Forever Ago.
I'm Joy. And I'm Otis.
And we're back! When we left off, we were hearing about how wheelchairs were not very useful before the 1930s.
They were heavy, hard to move around, and big.
That made it hard for people who needed wheelchairs to go anywhere besides home.
But then, an engineer named Herbert Everest teamed up with Harry Jennings to change all that.
And boy oh boy, did they succeed.
I'm Herbert. And I'm Harry.
And this is the Everest & Jennings Wheelchair It's made of chromium plated steel tubing Which means it's super light and hard to break We move the two big wheels to the back and put these little tiny rotating wheels up front More stable and easy to turn The back and seat are made of plastic fabric so it can be folded up easy peasy The Everest & Jennings Wheelchair The Everest & Jennings company is still a big wheelchair maker today.
Wheelchairs have gotten better and better over time, but you can still see the influence of that original design.
So Otis how long have you been using a wheelchair?
I've been using a wheelchair for nine years now.
So can you describe what yours looks like?
It's blue. It's very similar to the Herbert & Everest wheelchair.
Does that have big wheels?
Yeah it has pretty big wheels.
It has two sets of wheels.
Two casters and then two big that you use to get around and move.
And the casters are like smaller wheels?
Yeah. Oh cool. And then is there like a footrest kind of area at the bottom?
Yeah there's a footrest at the bottom.
Oh cool, cool. Did you pick the color blue?
Yeah, I did. I get to pick the color of my wheelchair every time I get a new wheelchair.
That's nice, you think you're gonna stick with blue or are you looking for other colors now and then?
I don't know, I might change it the next time I get a wheelchair.
I wonder if you can get like a zebra striped one.
That's what I'd want.
Yeah. How often do you get a new one?
I get a new wheelchair every five years.
Oh cool, wow. When is your next one due?
It's due in 2025, so I'll get one next year.
Ooh, so you can get the zippo striped one!
Uh, I don't know. Yeah, Otis, yeah!
Or you could stick with blue, whatever.
This new kind of wheelchair was lighter, foldable, easier to maneuver, and it was going to help people with physical disabilities go places they couldn't go before.
Soon hand controls for cars would be invented, meaning people who used wheelchairs would be able to get themselves in a car, fold up their wheelchair, and then drive the car all on their own.
There were still a lot of places that were tough for wheelchair users to go.
Things like ramps, accessible doors, and elevators wouldn't be required in public buildings until almost 60 years later.
But this new kind of wheelchair was an important first step and they even helped some wheelchair users become sports stars.
Around the During the time that Harry and Herbert invented their new wheelchair, war broke out across the globe.
World War II, it was a huge conflict and more than 50 different countries were involved, including the United States.
Soldiers from the U .S. were fighting overseas in Europe, North Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.
The war lasted six years and nearly 85 million people died.
Millions more were injured.
World War II was different from all wars before it.
Not just the level of destruction, but also the number of people who survived the war.
You see, technology and medicine had improved by then to the point where more soldiers were able to live with their injuries.
Thousands of them ended up back in the US with spinal cord injuries.
For many of them, this meant that they could no longer use their legs to get around.
Many of them were paralyzed.
Many of these disabled veterans recovered at special hospitals that were just for veterans with spinal cord injuries.
These veterans were young men who were relearning how to do everything from getting out of bed to having hobbies.
As these young guys figured out how to do all of their daily tasks and got stronger thanks to physical therapy, they were a little bored.
The people in charge of the veterans' hospital saw fun as a super important part of healing too.
There were movies to watch, concerts to see, bowling tournaments, and celebrity visits.
There were also lots of sports, including basketball.
At first it was just a sport for the veterans without physical disabilities.
But it turns out that a basketball court is a very satisfying place to use a wheelchair.
It's super smooth and you can go fast. Pickup games of wheelchair basketball started happening naturally in more than one of these veterans' hospitals.
Good ideas tend to happen in more than one place.
Oh, hold up, that line needs a trophy.
Here you go. The plaque reads, line most likely to end up on a bumper sticker.
Oh wow I'm gonna need a bigger trophy shelf.
So people were playing wheelchair basketball on their own and the sport was getting popular, but like any good sport, it needed a set of rules.
A team from Veterans Hospital in California made these rules.
Okay listen up! Your wheelchair is an extension of your body.
Your chairs can touch, but no intentional ramming.
After two pushes on the wheels you have to pass, dribble, or shoot.
The baskets and free throw line are staying as is.
Got it? Now give me 20 laps!
The East Coast Rules These became known as the West Coast Rules.
The East Coast Rules were developed at a hospital in Massachusetts and they were pretty different!
Okay, there will be no contact between players, neither body parts nor chairs.
And push your chair as much as you like, just balance that ball on your lap and fly baby fly!
Excuse me? Those rules are ridiculous!
They destroy the flow, the grace, and the rhythm of the game!
West Coasters just can't handle the speed.
Go fast or get out!
Oh, I'm sorry. You East Coasters aren't tough enough to have a little friendly jostle.
I'm sorry your team aren't champions.
I'm sorry your team aren't champions.
Yeah, both of these teams claimed to be champions, even though they were using different rules.
Wheelchair basketball teams started touring the country – at first playing non -wheelchair users in borrowed chairs And the wheelchair teams destroyed the non -wheelchair players More teams formed across the country with cool names like The Rolling Devils and The Flying Wheels.
And they started playing each other.
And the teams opened up to more than just veterans.
Now any man who used a wheelchair was welcome to join.
And wheelchair basketball was played at the first Paralympic Games in 1960.
women's teams formed in the 60s too and wheelchair basketball is still going strong.
The NWBA, the National Wheelchair Basketball Association has 225 teams in the US and Canada including 85 youth teams. Go Minnesota junior rolling Timberwolves!
Whoo! Okay so I need to know which set of rules won, the West Coast rules or the East Coast ones.
What do you use today Otis?
Everybody place with their worst -course rules.
I got a chance to visit one of your practices and it was so much fun.
You guys are fierce.
I've even got to talk to some of your teammates.
Hi my name is Ian. I'm Kenzie.
Hi, I'm Lucas. What is something that you think is a common misconception about the sport?
Maybe they'll think that like we don't play as hard or we're not like at the higher level, But it's probably a lot more physical than regular, like, stand up basketball.
How has wheelchair basketball changed your life?
Before when I came into it, I didn't really have people around me that were like me.
I feel like that changed me a lot.
Yeah, just, like, seeing people around me who are, like, the same, I guess.
I love the sport. I love all the coaches and everybody who brought me in, and I can't think of them enough.
It's a fun thing to do, and it changes people's lives when they see it and realize that it's just like any other sport.
It was so cool to meet you and your team at Practice Otis.
It was my first time seeing people play wheelchair basketball, and it was so cool and so fast. Oh, my gosh.
Just flying across the court.
How do you think playing wheelchair basketball has changed your life?
It's been really awesome.
I've gotten to meet a lot of new friends and traveled across the world to places that I never would have gone without wheelchair basketball.
What's the chair that you use for basketball like?
Um, it's pretty awesome.
I use a top -end pro.
It has wheels that are curved outwards for more aerodynamics and yeah, it goes pretty fast. Oh yeah.
I know you like to fly 20 miles.
Watch out. So what changes could make wheelchairs even better you think?
You can get a wheelchair kind of customized to your body.
So that's what I'm hoping to get when I'm older So what does that mean customized to your body?
It would fit your body like kind of perfectly so to the point where your arms wouldn't have to like reach like Farther and to the point where you could like go faster.
Oh Listen, I don't know if we can go faster than 20 You might start vomiting over the edges there.
Well Otis it's been so wonderful to share the studio with a champion like you who loves trophies as much as I do.
I still have one trophy left that I was hoping to give away today.
It's this one. Does that say best a cappella rendition of the forever ago theme song?
It sure does. Don't mind if I do Doo, dee, doo, doo, doo, dee, doo doo, dee doo doo, deed doo dee doo dee dee doo dee doo.
Before the 1930s, the most common wheelchairs weren't portable or easy to maneuver.
The Everest and Jennings wheelchair changed all that with a light foldable new design.
Wheelchair basketball was born in the 1940s, when disabled veterans started goofing around in hospital gyms. It became a huge hit with teams forming across the country and the world.
This episode was written by Molly Bloom.
It was produced by Nico Gonzalez -Whistler and Ruby Guthrie.
Our editors are Sandan Totten and Shayla Farzan.
Factchecking by Nico Gonzalez -Whistler.
Engineering help from Alex Simpson and Josh Savajo with sound design by Rachel Breeze.
Original themed music by Mark Sanchez.
We had additional production help from the rest of the Brains On Universe team.
Anna Goldfield. Lauren Humpbert.
Joshua Ray. Mark Sanchez.
Charlotte Traver. Anna Weigel and Arang Woldecilawse.
Beth Perlman is our executive producer and the executives in charge of 8 p .m. studios are Chandra Kavati and Jo -Ann Griffith.
Special thanks to Casey Skinner, Randy Hansen, Jay Justice, David Davis, author of the amazing book Wheels of Courage, Doug Dixon and the Minnesota Junior Rolling Timberwolves!
Whoo -whoo! And if you want access to ad -free episodes and special bonus content, subscribe to our Smarty Pass.
Okay, Otis, are you ready to hear the answers for First Things First?
Yep. Yeah, you are.
Can I get a woo woo?
Woo woo. Yeah. All right, let's see.
As a reminder, I gave you three different Paralympic sports and I want you to tell me, in which order they were introduced as official Paralympic sports.
And so you said blind football and then wheelchair tennis and sitting volleyball and here's the answers.
Okay Otis, you did a good job, but first up was actually sitting volleyball.
It was first introduced to the Paralympics in 1980.
That was before I was born.
Yeah. So sitting volleyball is a super fast -paced game where players volley the ball back and forth over a net, but they must keep at least one cheek on the ground at all times.
It was first invented in the 1950s in the Netherlands.
Isn't that interesting?
Yeah, I would have never thought that that would be first. Yeah, and like the cheeks would be so important to it.
And then second up was, you were absolutely correct.
Wheelchair tennis. Yes.
Yes, you did it. Wheelchair tennis was introduced to the Paralympics in 1992.
In addition to being played as part of the Paralympics, it also played at all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
The Australian Open, the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
Otis, have you ever played wheelchair tennis?
Yeah, I actually do wheelchair tennis during the summer.
Oh, do you really? Yeah.
Do you like it? Yeah, it's awesome.
Do you like it more than wheelchair basketball?
No. Well, they tried.
Okay. Blind football was added to the Paralympics most recently.
Also known as blind soccer or football five aside.
It was added to the Paralympics in 2004.
The ball makes noise so players can locate it and teams can use a guide who can help direct players from the sidelines.
Have you ever seen a game like that?
No, I've never seen a game like that.
I've watched I've watched soccer before but not not like that.
That'd be pretty awesome to see.
Yeah, yeah. It's cool that it makes a sound.
So you like you can kind of figure out where it's coming from.
Yeah. yeah. Which one of these was like most surprising to you?
I feel like The Sitting Ballyball because I put that last so I never thought that I would be first. Yeah it was the leftovers and it was actually needed to be the first overs.
Well you did a good job anyway.
Join us next week for a new episode all about idioms. Those short little fun phrases we use that don't make sense until you know what they're supposed to mean.
Be there or be square.
That's an idiom. Thanks for listening.
