I was doing a crossword and a clue read, “Crazy Guggenheim, e.g.” The answer was three letters ending in T.
Crazy Guggenheim sounded familiar, but I couldn’t connect it to anything. For some reason, the word “fumblerooski” came to mind. Did the crossword clue refer to some trick play in football, something similar to the fumblerooski?
The fumblerooski (fumble-rooski) is no longer allowed in college football. But there was a time when teams would occasionally fool their opponents with this unusual, rule-bending play. There are players on the offense who are allowed to carry the football and players who are not. Linemen, like tackles and guards, are not allowed to carry the football.
Unless it is fumbled. Then they can pick it up and run with it. The fumblerooski went like this: The center would hike the ball to the quarterback who was standing directly behind him. The quarterback would quickly set the ball on the ground and leave it there. He would then turn and pretend to hand the ball to a legal runner, who, pretending to have the ball, would run. The defense would chase the wrong player.
Meanwhile, the ball was on the ground, making it, technically, a fumble. That would allow a lineman – someone the defense would not expect to have the ball – to scoop it up.
One of the most famous fumblerooskis happened in the 1984 Orange Bowl. The number one-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers trailed the Miami Hurricanes 17-0 in the first quarter. Not only did Nebraska’s fumblerooski fool the Hurricanes, but it also fooled the TV announcers and camera operators, who were focusing on a player they thought had the ball. In the meantime, an offensive guard picked up the ball and ran for a touchdown. You can see the play on YouTube.
To my dismay, the three-letter answer in the crossword turned out to be SOT and had nothing to do with football. Crazy Guggenheim was a character on the old Jackie Gleason Show on television. (Not the sitcom, but Gleason’s variety show, The American Scene Magazine, which ran from 1962 to 1965.) Crazy, played by Frank Fontaine, was a drunk (a sot) who hung out in a bar run by Gleason’s character, Joe the Bartender. Crazy would tell Joe a funny story, then, at Joe’s invitation, sing a song.
Fontaine (and hence, Crazy) had the ability to make wide-eyed, crooked-mouthed faces that were hilarious. He could get a laugh just by looking at the audience. He also had a golden baritone voice. So when the comically inebriated Crazy Guggenheim told a funny story and got big laughs, the contrast was always stunning when he sang.
Many of those old episodes are now lost. But not all. At archive.org there is a compilation of nine Joe the Bartender sketches, including six with Crazy singing. Also, there are a couple of Crazy sketches on YouTube.
The Crazy Guggenheim character is no longer politically correct, but what is these days?
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