How an Aussie sportsman gave rise to a timeless saying

I have read a slightly different version to this story and it was towards the end of Larry Foleys career and was paid the biggest fight purse in Australia.s history at the time and it was after that fight that Larry said how happy he was with the 600 pounds in his hands and hence the term...'Happy as Larry' Interesting to read that you put Darcy in front of Young Griffo too. Les was very strong and a very tough boy,such a shame the way it ended but to compare is record to Young Griffos? From all I've read about the 2 of them I would absolutely love to have seen either of them live buf Griff would be my pick...every day!

No, I wouldn't rate many fighters in history from anywhere above Les Darcy, it could be fair to state that Griffo was the fastest, most elusive boxer we have had, a bit like a Willie Pep, tough as nails, not a big puncher but with the technical expertise that very few could match, I rate Griffo as near the ability and type as Benny Leonard, Sugar Ray Leonard and Willie Pep, good company indeed. With Les Darcy though you have the co,mplete item, iron chin, durable as a Zale, speed, technical proficiency, big punching power, great infighter, great on the outside, massive reach, well I could go on but Darcy had EVERYTHING and was considered by Foley himself as the best he had seen. Darcy was well nigh invincible.

World Wide Words is a great source for origins of sayings like "Happy as Larry", and David Lord's version is discussed at http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-lar1.htm -- not necessarily agreeing with it, but seeing a possible connection. I must admit that when I saw the headline on David's article, "How an Aussie sportsman gave rise to a timeless saying" I thought it might be about Adrian Quist or Edgar Britt .... :-)

It's a wonder that "smashed as Abe" didn't catch on.

Concur 100% re Laura Hillenbrand's book 'Seabiscuit - An American Legend' - not just the story itself, but the way it was researched and then told - read it about 2003 & became a big influencer/motivator upon my work.

Greco. Thanks for the link it's great to see big Frank control those demons onwards and upwards i say .

GrecoRoman, if you like sporting tales, then grab a hold of Seabiscuit: An American Legend. He was the US equivalent of Phar Lap. A movie was released a few years ago telling the story but the printed version is so much richer in detail. Its a great tale.

GB, thanks for the tip about the book. I've put it on my wishlist. Can I pick your brain for any other good books you could recommend?

Very good GrecoRoman, I am reminded of one of many wonderful scenes from The Life Of Brian: "And what have the Romans ever done for us? Apart from the roads, & viaducts, & sanitation, & education, & public buildings, & law & order, & ..........

I know this might be irrelevant to the overall story - sorry David, but good to see Frank Bruno on the mend: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2011/04/03/frank-bruno-interview-i-ve-finally-beaten-my-mental-health-demons-115875-23033560/

Sheek, for my mind it is how they explain the underlying 'racial tensions'. Not being familiar with the book (but familiar with the politician) you are referring to I can only say that CLR James is very good in relating the tension between white/black, colonial/post colonial, etc. in a very straight forward and unemotional way that does not detract from the underlying social analysis. The thing I find with, how should I put it, the Nationalist Left like Michael Manley is that the themes of colonial exploitation are always very one-sided and ignore the agency of the common people in constructing their own social and cultural identity. Sport is one of those means. It's an unfortunate reflex that a lot of those 'leaders' in small post-colonial countries have. They resent their former 'masters' who they crudely imitate, yet they have a disdain for the day-to-day life and culture of the people in their countries. This is why James' book is so strong I think. He doesn't fall into that trap. On a side note, talking of the colonial subjugator/subject dichotomy, there is a funny Bollywood film that was a big hit called Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India. It's a little bit odd for western audiences perhaps, but there is an important theme within the film of how the local Indians viewed cricket as an opportunity to get one over their colonial 'masters' so to speak. It also addresses other issues within Indian society to do with castism, social divisions, cultural identity, etc.

GrecoRoman, I think I know what you mean. I have a book here at home, "A History Of West Indies Cricket", with scorecards of every test match played by the Windies up to the time of publication, 1994. The book is written by a former prime minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley. While there is some very interesting historical stuff relating to the birth & development of West Indies cricket, it is, as you can imagine, being written by a politician, very politicised. There is a constant & unnecessary assertion of undercurrent throughout the book of racial white/black tensions, which tends to take away from the enjoyment of the book as a purely sporting tome.

Sheek. Probably the best book I've ever read in the 'sport as social history' vein is a book by C.L.R. James called Beyond a Boundary. It basically explains the development of post-colonial society, culture and identity in the West Indies through the relationship the people had with cricket. Fascinating read even though I'm not a fan of James' politics or cricket for that matter.

Change the names and the boxing journey you relate is one that has been trodden by so many prize fighters over the years.

Also Sean, in terms of boxing - yes the matches went on for a long number of rounds. However, bear in mind that the boxers used to dance around a fair bit and not exchange so many punches each round. Also, the tactico-technical efficiency of their stances and punching technique limited the power of each punch. The bouts were not like modern day bouts just without gloves. There was nowhere near as much 'action' so to speak. In fact, one of the reasons gloves became widespread is that by limiting the damage with each punch, this would speed up the action of the combatants. Some boxing and real wrestling matches could go on for hours. The audiences in those days seemed to have a very, very high threshold for watching a bout with very little going on between the fighters compared to audiences of the 20th century and today that demand constant 'action'. Btw, there is a boxing style in Burma that uses no gloves and is in some ways similar to Muay Thai, but with headbutts and throws. Until recently there were no knockouts - you kept fighting until your opponent couldn't be revived within an agreed to time limit or he conceded defeat. You would think it would be a bloodbath, but because of the potential to inflict damage with each strike, the actual engagements and closing the distance to strike your opponent are much lower than a Thai boxing match or a western boxing match. The matches are quite dull and not very technical (compared to the Thai form). Another analogy would be to imagine if a fencing match was a real duel - the attacks and thrusts would be far less frequent as the associated risk of entering into the 'strike zone' of your opponent would dramatically increase your chances of being severely hurt, so you would have to be careful in taking that risk and as a result the matches become longer and drawn out as well as the space between the duellists would increase.

GrecoRoman, Furphy & Sons also wrote various sayings on their water casks. One of the most famous being - "good, better, best, don't let it rest; until your good is better, & your better best". But I agree, this sort of stuff is terrific.....

Wrestling - the real variety - also had quite a presence in the colonies. It declined in popularity at the turn of the 20th century as the mass spectacles of the football codes gained momentum and the perversion of the sport by the circus clown acts of professional 'wrestling'. There's footage of Les Darcy doing wrestling drills with the then Heavyweight Champion of Australia. Not sure if it's been put on the net yet.

Great Read! Would love to see more historical articles on the site. The intertwining of the historical and sporting narrative is too often neglected here in Australia due to the elitist prejudices of this country's university academics. The rest of us don't have the time to do the necessary research to produce articles/books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furphy

Gidday David, My neighbour, who is also a good mate, is named Larry. He's sort of a Dudley Do-Right (now that's another term again, from a Rocky & Bullwinkle character), although he does have both a sense of humour & a brain. Anyway, we have a lot of fun with "happy as Larry". Even his wife uses the term often! I often tell people if I ever write an adventure novel, the principle character will be Larry Riley, as in "happy as Larry" & "life of Riley". Apparently the origins of "life of Riley" are obscure. Some say it dates back to early last century as a coin of phase by Irish-American military servicemen. However, I reckon a more plausible origin might be the English Riley Company that began producing bicycles & cars from 1890. This company was later merged into British Leyland. Anyway, considering how convenient & comfortable (for the times) these two inventions must have made to daily life, it kinda makes good sense, doesn't it. Now anyone want to have a crack at a 'furphy'.....???