Those Old Time Bike Race Hooligans

Boxing, wrestling, judo, sumo, hockey, even basketball - New York's Madison Square Garden has been both graced, and disgraced, by many fights during its long and hallowed history. The earliest of a long list of notable fights may be a 1920 war between Jack Dempsey and "KO" Bill Brennan. Just so you know, it took Dempsey twelve rounds to get his knock out of Brennan.

Five days before that bout, though, with the stands filled with spectators watching the third Six Day Bike race to be held at the Garden that year, a "small riot" broke the steady rhythm of racing. The not-so-famous donnybrook of 8 December 1920 is said to have started over a disagreement concerning the "possession of certain seats." A shot was fired and knives were "brandished freely." Several people, not all of them combatants, were injured during the melee, two being taken to hospital. Numerous "belligerents" and some spectators, simply attempting to get away from the fighting, were knocked over the railing and sent sprawling across the track, causing the race to be halted.

Efforts of race officials notwithstanding, attempts to regain control and restore calm, were for naught until the arrival of a reserve force of New York City's finest were rushed to the scene. Arrested on the spot were James McGuire and John Renn. The race was resumed and, in the end, won by Frenchman Maurice Brocco and American Willy Coburn.

Maurice Brocco, c.1912

You know, I never intended this piece to go beyond that little fight sequence but, as it turns out, Brocco is also notable for a couple incidents at the Tour de France. The first occurred in 1911 when Brocco was all but eliminated from the overall race due to time lost during an early stage. The next stage Brocco offered his service to help other riders in their own quests. Helping other riders was not allowed in the Tour de France at that time and, though he lacked evidence with which to punish Brocco, Henri Desgrange, heaped scorn upon the racer, proclaiming: "He is unworthy. He is no more than a domestique." This may have been the last time the term was used in such a derogatory way. Brocco's second claim-to-fame relates to the same incident. Unable to finish stage nine, Brocco took advantage of the rule (one that no longer exists) that allowed racers to rejoin the race, though they could not compete for the overall win. The next day Brocco rejoined the race, and won the stage. Since the rule was abolished afterward, he is the only racer to have ever done so. Desgrange later kicked Brocco off the race.