A completely fictional story about Jim Thorpe that thankfully disappeared

In researching 20th-century newspaper reportage for the stories of the great all-time athletes (thus far Jim Thorpe, Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Angelo Mosca), it is becoming pointedly obvious that much sports journalism was not subject to, likesay, very rigorous editorial scrutiny.

As an example, check out the below story published in the Evening Star newspaper of Washington, D.C.,  following Thorpe’s incredible success at the 1912 Olympic Games.

This story was printed exclusively in this ’paper, with good reason: Though certainly speaking volumes to that time’s expected stereotype of the simple “Indian” lacking social graces, the story is 99.9% likely to be 100% untrue, as detailed in Truly the GOATs episode 1…

Thorpe refuses to visit king -- what???Thorpe refuses to visit king — what???  Mon, Jul 22, 1912 – 15 · Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia) · Newspapers.com

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