Indexes
November 2nd, 2009
November 7th, 2009
November 6th, 2009
November 5th, 2009
November 4th, 2009
November 3rd, 2009
November 2nd, 2009
October 31st, 2009
The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.
- Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
- I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (72)
- David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
- The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (60)
- Universal health care solves big problems (54)
- Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
- Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (32)
- Words from our forefathers (27)
- City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (23)
- Majority cannot deprive the minority (22)
ADVERTISEMENT
Hundreds of participants holding small yo-yos, including one wielded by the Lodi News-Sentinel's Ross Farrow, drop them simultaneously in an attempt to set the record for most miniature yo-yos dropped at one time, at Hutchins Street Square on Sunday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)
Only 400 people show up for a record yo-yo attempt, but 'record' set anyway
Steven Speegle had hoped to draw more than 2,100 people to Hutchins Street Square on Sunday to break the world record for people dropping their yo-yos at the same time.
Only slightly more than 400 people showed up, but that didn't deter Speegle. He simply went to Plan B.
It goes like this — no one had ever dropped a miniature yo-yo, so you only needed one person to establish the record, Speegle reasoned.
So some 400 people of all ages dropped their miniature yo-yos — 1.5 inches in diameter, or slightly larger than a 50-cent piece — shortly after 2 p.m. Speegle said that's a record since no one had ever dropped a yo-yo that small.
Speegle gave away scores of red miniature yo-yos for people to use and sold some blue ones with a special Lodi commemorative seal. The $6 yo-yos were to raise money for the gymnastics team at Impact Sports Center.
"I made it go up and down," said Karen Batchelor, a grown-up from Sacramento who came to Lodi to visit her family and, yes, play with her yo-yo. Well, her son enjoys it, too.
Asked how long it's been since she played with a yo-yo, Batchelor said:"If I tell you, I'll be telling you my age."
She fessed up and said it's been 30 or 35 years.
Brandan Davidson, 8, of Herald, with a Batman mask painted on his face, said he was truly impressed with the yo-yo "record."
"I think it's pretty amazing," he said.
Speegle, who prides himself as being the California state yo-yo champion of 1961, is a child at heart. He has a collection of more than 30,000 yo-yos, about 1,000 of them on display at Hutchins Street Square. The display includes a rejection letter from Guinness Book of World Records, which informed Speegle they aren't interested in the yo-yo record he aimed to achieve on Sunday.
Chris "Dr. Yo-Yo" Allen performs tricks before a world record attempt at Hutchins Street Square on Sunday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)
He also has an extensive Beatles collection, though it doesn't compare with his yo-yos.
Speegle's aim on Sunday was to promote the yo-yo. His ultimate goal is to make it an Olympic sport, he said, wearing a white T-shirt that reads, "International Yo-Yo Olympic Organization."
"I want people to think differently," he explained.
It's not a coincidence the special Lodi commemorative yo-yos sold on Sunday have a picture of a panda bear on them. That's to make a direct connection between the yo-yo and the venue for this year's summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Speegle acknowledges that Olympic status won't happen overnight. It will have to start as a demonstration sport and be sponsored by a third-world country because a nation like the United States would probably take itself too seriously, Speegle said. Or a yo-yo demonstration could be in the works during the opening ceremonies some year, he hopes.
"I hope to introduce it (in the Olympics) before I drop dead," Speegle said.
It may sound as if Speegle is a yo-yo snob, but those without the skills are welcome to just have fun with it. He was excited to see youngsters and grown-ups alike playing with his favorite toy.
"I'm here to teach the yo-yo and be the Johnny Appleseed of the yo-yo," he said.
Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.
Search for Ads 
Today’s Print Ads 
RSS Feeds
Reader Feedback
dogbark wrote on Jul 16, 2008 9:22 PM:
Come back when you can snatch the yo-yo from my hand. "
annie2001 wrote on Jul 14, 2008 9:43 PM:
Whoa Nellie! wrote on Jul 14, 2008 4:37 PM:
Robb wrote on Jul 14, 2008 1:37 PM:
Lodi does NOTHING without alcohol!! "
T&C wrote on Jul 14, 2008 12:26 PM:
annie2001 wrote on Jul 14, 2008 8:52 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.