Who Knew? No, Really. Who?

I think people have been racing belt sanders pretty much from the time they first appeared. I'd guess the sport was "invented" in a multitude of places and times, but probably all in exactly the same way:

- Gomer unboxes his new belt sander, fits sandpaper to it and plugs it in. He squeezes the trigger and it whirrs impressively.
- His pal Dwayne looks on in admiration, hunts around for a piece of scrap plywood and sets it on the bench.
- Gomer revs his sander and lowers it onto the wood, and immediately crumples into a groaning heap on the floor as the sandpaper bites into the wood and drives it into his nether regions.
- While Gomer struggles to breathe again and Dwayne has stopped laughing), he (Dwayne) gets up and clamps the plywood to the bench, picks up the sander and revs it. "Like this, dumbass," he says, and touches it to the plywood.
- The sandpaper bites into the wood, and the sander pulls itself from Gomer's hands and leaps along the table for an impressive distance.
- Gomer and Dwayne look at each other. They grin. Dwayne reaches for the gaffer/duct tape...

It's just the nature of things.