Sunday, September 16, 2007

Why do they call it a rubber match?

I know "Rubber Match" means the third game in a three game series when the first two games were split.

But why do they call it that? Anyone?

Could it be if (when) the Red Sox win, Glenn has to draw me a picture of David Ortiz...and there's the rub?

5 Comments:

Blogger Glenn Byrne said...

How cool would it be to be sitting in the Monster seats tonight?
It's supposed to be from the card game bridge-the third game of a tiebreaker between two sides is called the rubber game...
But If we win tonight, it'll be called that because in addition to wearing all the Yankee paraphernalia AND holding up an "I heart Derek Jeter sign" I'm going to insist you purchase "Driven"- Derek's new cologne and RUB it all over you! That way you'll also know what victory smells like!

2:27 PM  
Blogger Ted Seymour said...

Perhaps if the Yanks win tonight you better hope that Glenn wears one.

I found this....

"A "rubber'' is a series of usually three games, where the third decides the winner if both players or teams have one win each after playing twice. "Rubber'' is also used to refer to the third and deciding contest - the "rubber game'' or "rubber match'' - in such a series. The earliest known printed use of "rubber'' in these senses is from 1599.

Exactly how these uses of "rubber'' originated isn't known. Early evidence relates the term to the game of bowls. At least one theorist has suggested that it is somehow derived from the use of "rubber'' in bowls to refer to two woods "rubbing'' together in a collision. We know of no evidence supporting this theory, however, and the connection strikes us as highly dubious."

2:49 PM  
Blogger Eric Soderstrom said...

Two geniuses (genii?) and still no definitive answer. I finally found a stumper even Wikipedia can't answer!

5:50 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Actually, Wikipedia claims to have an answer. Wikipedia's information doesn't seem to differ significantly from the information already given above.

Rubber match

Taken from Rubber bridge, the term rubber game is used to describe the deciding game of a series. Generally the term is not used to describe the deciding game of a playoff series, but is normally limited to describing the third game of a three game regular season series when the two teams have split the first two games.

[Also:]

The use of the word Rubber to describe a tiebreaker is believed to have originated in the English game bowls.


* Rubber match
* Rubber bridge
* Bowls

8:23 PM  
Blogger Eric Soderstrom said...

OK, so third genius is a charm. Thanks John.

But what is the origin of the phrase, "Third time's a charm?"

9:31 PM  

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