43-Man Squamish

43-Man Squamish is a fictional sport that was invented in issue #95 of MAD Magazine (June 1965) by George Woodbridge and Tom Koch. The article was memorable enough to be mentioned by the New York Times in Woodbridge's 2004 obituary.

Published under the "There's a Soccer Born Every Minute Dept." heading, the magazine purported that its new sport would avoid the "inherent evils" present in other college sports, described as too professional and which do not allow everyone to participate. 43-Man Squamish is an incredibly complex game with intentionally convoluted and confusing rules. In the article, new terminology is introduced with no explanation; much of the humor derives from the reader's half-successful attempts at gleaning a meaning from context. Exactly what everyone on the team is supposed to do, exactly what penalties apply, and exactly when or why the "yellow danger flag" is to be flown remains far from clear, even after repeated readings.

Although writer Koch intended the game to be completely unplayable, MAD Magazine received many reprint requests from colleges. Some colleges even attempted to form teams and play the game; the letters column to MAD #97 included several "team photos" and accounts from new acolytes of the sport. A student from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute issued a public challenge to Harvard, and sent in photographs of its team in poses taken from the original article. A photo of the team from the University of Alberta accompanied a letter exulting that "we happen to be the only undefeated Squamish team in Western Canada, mainly because we are the only team in Western Canada, and we haven't played a game. We can't understand why we have no opposition." A letter from the Athletic Committee of Marquette University reported that three of its Squamish players had been suspended for "sportsmanlike conduct."

28 years later, MAD debuted the alleged board game "Three-Cornered Pitney," also written by Tom Koch, which featured similarly ridiculous rules. In Mad's spoof of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the name of Quidditch was replaced with "Squamish".