Freak Files: 09-03-10
WHO’S THE HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETE EVER…JORDAN? TIGER? OR A SECOND CENTURY ROMAN CHARIOT RACER?
–Peter Struck is an associate professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and he says he’s figured out the richest athlete ever. And it’s not TIGER WOODS, MICHAEL JORDAN…or anyone you’ve ever heard of.
–No, the richest athlete ever is…a Roman chariot racer named Gaius Appuleius Diocles. (–That would be “GUY-us Ah-POO-lee-us DIE-ah-klees”.)
–Between 122 and 164 A.D., Gaius was the best charioteer in the world. Ancient records have shown that his career winnings…measured in ancient Roman coins…comes to 35,863,120 sesterces (–SESS-turr-seez.)
–Struck says, quote, “By today’s standards that…would cash out to about $15 BILLION.”
–It would’ve been enough money to provide grain to the entire population of Rome for a full year, or fund the gigantic Roman Army for more than two months.
THE AVERAGE MAN WASTES $3,000 IN GAS IN HIS LIFETIME BY NOT ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS:
I thought that old stereotype that men never ask for directions was obsolete…with GPS? Apparently guys, you’re not QUITE there yet.
–A survey by a British insurance company found that the average man drives around lost for 276 miles every YEAR. And, over the course of his lifetime, he wastes $3,000 in gas by refusing to ask for directions.
–The survey found that 74% of women will happily ask for directions when they’re lost, versus just 30% of men.
–40% of men say that if they do give in and ask a stranger for directions, sometimes they ignore those directions and just keep on driving anyway.
FOLLOW-UP: THE WOMAN WHOSE CAR BROKE A MAN’S 39-STORY FALL AND SAVED HIS LIFE…IS DEVASTATED THAT HER CAR IS RUINED:
Yesterday, we told you about 22-year-old Thomas McGill of Manhattan. He’s the guy who allegedly tried to commit suicide by jumping off a 39-STORY high rise…but ended up crashing through a car on the street and SURVIVING.
–Well…that car was a 2008 Dodge Charger that belonged to 42-year-old Maria McCormack from Old Bridge, New Jersey, and she let her husband drive it into New York City for his job.
–And she’s MAD. Because, sure, she saved a guy’s life…but she LOVED that car.
–Quote, “I miss it. It’s my baby. I want to meet [Thomas] and say, ‘Why? Why my car out of all the cars in the city?’”
–The car was basically destroyed by Thomas’s fall…at one point he was falling at more than 126 miles-per-hour…and Maria’s insurance company is going to rule it a total loss.
–Thomas is still in the hospital.





































