Talk:Sandbagging (racing)
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origins of the term[edit]
The way I always understood it is that the term came about because the contestant would literally carry extra ballast, e.g., a bag full of potatoes, in order to deliberately hinder his performance. I don't think the origin given in the article is legitimate; as far as I know, early racetracks had no walls or safety barriers of any kind, and when they were implemented, they were typically of the steel "armco" variety, and then concrete. 50.88.131.160 (talk) 21:31, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
- Googling the etymology, it seems to derive simply from the use of dirt-filled socks and the like as bludgeoning weapons by gangs and thieves. Apparently then in Poker this was carried over as a general term of abuse (like "a crook") applied for someone who, having been dealt a good hand or cards, tricks the others into thinking she has a poor hand (so that they are drawn along higher in the betting stage before ubruptly being clobbered with the revelation of her hand). This then transferred to all other sports and games as an allegation for one who conceals their advantage unsportingly.
- Seems it went from being a literal descriptor for thugs, to a metaphorical frivolous pejorative for a frustrating yet apparently legitimate tactic in specific games of bluff, to an analogy applied widely to denounce manipulation of handicap competitions. ....But apparently when it was eventually applied in car race sports, fans naively presumed the term was unique to (and somehow originated in) racing, and synthesised folk etymologies (earnestly without believing they were doing so - analogous to the origin of diverse religious beliefs?) involving old-fashioned car racers using actual flood engineering sandbags to temporarily under-present performance (either by ballast or barrier-friction), and even titled this WP article according to that premise.
- Wouldn't it really make more sense if all the different articles on sandbagging were merged into one? They're basically POV forks. First though, will remove the unreferenced section per WP:V. Cesiumfrog (talk) 04:09, 28 September 2012 (UTC)