Courtesy of Salon:
The theories on how best to create a fantasy team of fighting cocks abound. Breed a brother with a sister, says Arch Ruport in his 1939 tome “The Art of Cockfighting: A Guide for Beginners and Old Timers.” If that fails, breed a father with his daughter. Or you could follow the lead of legendary breeder and cocker Walter Kelso, whose line of Oleander cocks practically owned the southern cockfighting circuit between the years of 1947 and 1953. Be a maverick. Cross the battle breeds. Bring in new blood, live on the edge. He started with pure stock but won with cocks that were half Yankee Clipper, a quarter Murphy, and one-eighth Typewriter and McClanahan.
Yankee Clipper. Murphy. McClanahan. Toolpusher Blues. Gleezen Whitehackle. Coal Miner Mug. These are just a few gamecock breeds currently in circulation in the U.S. and around the world. There are hundreds of breeds. After all, the sport came right after the chicken (or the egg). It was popular among the ancient Indians, Persians and Greeks and later adopted by the Romans who, in typical Roman fashion, did it bigger and badder than anyone else. There was even a permanent cockpit in the Palace of Westminster during the turkey leg-heavy Tudor times, and, legend has it, George Washington and Andrew Jackson regularly fought cocks on the White House lawn. Rarely do you find a sport so storied and so colorful.
“These are not flunkies, the people who breed gamecocks,” Bo said. “These are smart guys who love chickens. There’s a history. A tradition.”
