Washertoss has become an honored tradition at the Lot 24 Wings and Washers tailgates over the past couple of years. If you are unfamiliar with the game itself, see the history below. For details of the rules, see the Rules page. For action shots of people playing washertoss, check out the Photos galleries.
The washertoss section of the site allows you to view game data in several ways:
The history of washertoss is as hotly debated as a Marty-Brian overtime game after a tough PSU loss. There are three common stories about how washertoss came to be...
In 1910, sixteen years after the first modern Olympics, archaeologist Johan Van Flurgenburgen happened upon an as-of-then-unknown site in the hills outside of Athens, Greece. Among the many finds there was what seemed to be the first sports "Hall of Fame" museum. The museum itself dates back to the original Olympics, possible built as early as 875 B.C.E. One of the exhibits in this museum--which focused primarily on the ancient Olympic games--was on a game called throiousroundae, roughly translated as "washertoss". Dr. Van Flurgenburgen tried in vain for years to get a modern version of throiousroundae into the Olympics, considering its historical presence. Although Dr. Van Flurgenburgen died without realizing ever his dream, the spirit of the game has lived on at Penn State tailgates.
The second version of washertoss' history lacks the flair of the first one but has slightly more credibility. The story goes that Brian and Marty saw someone at a tailgate playing the game and they learned the basic rules. Then Brian went home and made his own washertoss game set. Over time the two developed the rules, finessed the board, and become the tossing gods that they are today. Then Brian developed a complicated series of equations to create a Ranking Index. He tweaks this formula often, to ensure that he'll always be ranked higher than Marty.
It should be noted up front that there is little empirical evidence supporting this third history of washertoss. Those that believe this story do so mostly on faith. According to legend, a young Irish lass was visited in a dream by the angel Gabriel. The angel told the girl about a hidden cave where she would find several golden plates outlining the rules of an unknown sport. Beside the golden plates were a silver, jewel-encrusted washertoss board and six leaden washers. The angel Gabriel told the girl to go and find the cave and to take this game to the people of Ireland. This game, the angel said, would be a viable alternative to the British game of darts, played in the pubs. By taking up this new sport, Ireland could be free from British culture and their oppressive rule. Unfortunately the girl died during the famine of 1849 and was unable to ever find the cave and spread the word of washertoss.