Strange Sports Stories #3 is an issue of the series Strange Sports Stories (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1974.
Synopsis for "Gridiron Knightmare!"
A football coach at Coldstream University is charged with putting together a winning football team. The only problem is that the University is known more for academics than for athletic ability. The Students there seem more interested in books than in playing sports. The setting then changes to 1400 years in the past where King Arthur is becoming bored with the athletic games of his time. Merlin the Magician has organized jousts, hand to hand combats and other tests of skill but the king is still not interested. Arthur orders Merlin to invent a new game so the great wizard uses his magic to search the future for promising contests of skill to appease the king. Back in the future, the Coldstream knights are about to play their first football game against the football powerhouse Midwest Maulers. They are confident but badly outmatched. Merlin is then able to witness the game through his crystal ball and materializes in the present time of 1973 to view the game for himself. He notices that the Knights are badly outmatched and decides to help them with a little sorcery. To their opponents, the Knights appear to be surrounded by suits of armor. No one in the stands can see the armor including the knights themselves but they start to sense an aura of confidence. The game progresses and the Knights take the advantage running over the Maulers. Merlin disappears back to his own time while the Knights go on to defeat the Maulers 56-28. The setting changes once more 14 centuries in the past where we find Merlin introducing the game of football to the king. The armored knights kick off only to puncture the pigskin football with their armored pointy boots. Merlin groans knowing he must go back to the crystal ball in search of another game.
Appearing in "Gridiron Knightmare!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Man Who Leaped Over the Earth"
The scene opens on Bentley Stadium in the year 3100 AD where athletes are training for the forthcoming Interplanetary Olympics. The focus is on a young time vaulter by the name of Ralston York who is about to vault back into time. Instead of pole vaulting over a bar, athletes in this time jump into a time spiral to see how far back in time they can jump. York is able to jump back a record setting 1000 years to 1973. Upon landing he is supposed to automatically return back to his century but York has jumped so far back that he is now out of range for his technology to return him back to his timeframe. He materializes in the middle of a busy traffic filled street in New York City. A boy on a bicycle by the name of Benjamin Bentley almost runs into him and gets knocked down. As he picks up his bike, York introduces himself to the boy using the best dialect he can muster for this timeframe. He explains that he is from the future and asks the boys help in locating a powerful radio transmitter. The boy agrees to help York but wants a reward. He points to the top of the Empire State building and explains that it has a transmitter on the top floor that transmits across three states. York uses his vault to leap to the top much to the amazement of onlookers. He reaches the transmitter and is able to contact operators in his time that make adjustments to return York back to the future. York must return to the point where he materialized to complete his return. Young Benjamin Bentley senses that something is going on and he rushes down the road on his bicycle to meet up with the vaulter from the future. He arrives just in time to see the vaulter disappearing but before he leaves, the vaulter tosses the boy a metal card as a reward for his help. The card turns out to be an Olympic identification card that identifies Benjamin Bentley as the founding president of the Interplanetary Olympics in the year 1992.
Appearing in "Man Who Leaped Over the Earth"
- Appearances not yet listed
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