Origins with Ben Smith

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells 3 different short origin stories in another "Potpourri Edition" of Origins.

This week, we start with the game of pool, or billiards, and how the rise of the game saw Detroit as a major player in that story.

Remember in middle school when you got a chance to chuck objects at your fellow classmates and you were cheered and given a grade for it? Well, you should if you ever played the game of Dodgeball! The origin of this game gets it start in a bit of a battle royal to the death, and eventually turned into the game we know today.

Finally, we go over the extreme “sport” in Extreme Ironing... We think it’s best we don’t tease this at all and you just come along for the ride to see why this is actually a thing.

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells 3 different short origin stories in a special "Potpourri Edition" of Origins.

This week, we run the gamut, from a well known sport being created on a battlefield in the 1630's; to the Dallas Cowboys, who, at the teams inception, were known by a different name, and let's just say they made the right call.

And finally; you know how sometimes, at living sporting events, you cheer your ass off for a cup of coffee to help it run faster than a jelly doughnut?

Food races are weird, but somehow an essential part of the experience now. Where did the idea come from? We have the answers...

The NFL stands above the rest when it comes to successful professional sports leagues, especially here in the states. Use any metric of success in the business world and the NFL reigns supreme… but why? What were the events that led to the NFL becoming what it has become?

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith tells the story of Bert Bell, a name every NFL fan should know. The many changes to the way we interact with, view and involve ourselves with the NFL is likely from the mind of Bert Bell. The Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL Draft, the Injury Report, those are just a small sample of the ideas he contributed to the NFL… with a lot more to talk about this week.

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith takes you through the origins of the Home Run.

Around the 1870's, with the Civil War in the not so distant past, the game of Baseball began to take shape as a sport that could be played professionally.

One man would go on to hit the first over the fence home run in 1876, but it was who this man was and what he did in his career that would make him both an unlikely person to the 1st man to knock it over the fence, but, had the skills on the diamond that few could match.

Just who was the first to hit the home run? Why is this man not known in baseball circles to this very day? All that will be answered, and more.

With the 2021 NFL Draft right around the corner, Origins Host Ben Smith is joined by his Group Chat mates in Mike Gorney, Rich Osborne, Chris Moon and Tom Schomisch to take a look back at the very first NFL Draft Pick and the surprising story of one of the greatest football players to ever play the college game and what he did after he became the first person ever drafted to the NFL.

It's ladies night this week on Origins! This week on another Group Chat Episode, Origin’s Host Ben Smith is joined by an all female crew to help tell the story of the All American Girls Baseball League. The AAGPBL is one of the most interesting moments in the history of Baseball and may best be known as the league from the 1992 film "A League Of Their Own."

When the United States got involved in WW2, women were left to take over jobs across the country for the men who are now serving in the armed forces, and one of those jobs was as a professional baseball player. Learn about the league that ran for 11 years and helped keep up moral here in the states at a tough time in our nations history.

This week is another Group Chat Edition of Origins. Host Ben Smith tells the surprising and strange story behind the first venture outdoors for an NHL team, and it all takes place here in the state of Michigan. In this episode, Ben reunites with his former radio show partners from their time at Central Michigan University, Rich Osborne, Andrew Keck and Jeff Sell.

The sport of Sumo Wrestling may be one of the oldest sports known to man. Dating back thousands of years, it is the top sport in Japan. This week, you’ll learn all about the origin of the sport, and it’s long held traditions and it’s direct correlation to the Shinto religion, the main founding religion of Japan. This week, Origin’s Host Ben Smith is joined by the former President of the International Sumo Federation, and well-known Sumo commentator, Katrina Watts, to discuss the history and the many traditions involved in the sport of Sumo.

The Colored Hockey League, (CHL) was the premiere all black hockey “league” in Canada during the late 1800’s into the 20th century. This week, Origins host Ben Smith welcomes in the show's first returning guest in the “Hockey Holmes” himself, David Carter of the Nova Scotia Museum, to walk us through the origins of the CHL.

With the strangest NFL season now at the finish line and with all of the head coaching jobs filled for the upcoming 2021 season, we take a look at the origin story of The Rooney Rule. This week we’ll explore the backstory and meet those who played a key role in bringing the rule to the NFL, which gives minority candidates a mandated interview for any NFL head coaching job.

This week, Origins Host Ben Smith welcomes in Professional Poker Player and a graduate of the Michigan State School of Economics, Chris Moon, to the show to discuss his research project on the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule. Ben and Chris discuss the methods used in the study and discuss the answer to the question; does the Rooney Rule work?