The Science of Caddyshack

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Posted by samzenpus on Friday July 30, 2010 @05:28AM from the it's-in-the-hole dept.

astroengine writes "Thirty years after the release of the cult classic comedy Caddyshack, Discovery News has geeked out and gone on the hunt for any trace amount of science they can find in the movie (video). From gopher territoriality to seismic deformation, from pool poop bacteria to the color of lightning, it turns out there's quite a lot of science to talk about..."

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Science by slaxative · 2010-07-30 05:30 · Score: 2, Interesting

Why do I think of Sonny and Cher's, I Got You Babe, every time I hear about this movie?

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This is not the penguin you're looking for.
1. Re:Science by snookerhog · 2010-07-30 05:33 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Caddyshack -> gopher -> groundhog -> groundhog day
  that and Bill Murray
Mythbusters on the forefront by Drakkenmensch · 2010-07-30 05:34 · Score: 3, Informative

Turns out they already tested the C4 explosion pushing the golf ball down the cup. The explosion neither provided the onscreen fireball or the ground shaking required to push the ball down. Myth busted!
1. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by Combatso · 2010-07-30 05:48 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  oh well if they say so, then how could anyone dispute.. afterall, they use science-sounding words during that hour of entertainment.
2. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by Drakkenmensch · 2010-07-30 05:52 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Even if you disagree with the show format, you can hardly dispute the fact that they seeded the ground with actual C4 and blew it up with a few dozen yards of a golf cup with a precariously perched golf ball. And it held firmly in place.
3. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by Plekto · 2010-07-30 06:11 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  The problem with C4 is that it's too explosive. If you watch the show frequently, you see them talk about how it feels for each type of explosive. C4 is a very sharp and quick jolt, and as a result, won't do anything much to the ground and surrounding area at long distances. Gunpowder or something much slower, though, would have had the desired effect. Yet again, Hollywood goes for high-tech and fancy when low-tech and simple actually is how it should be. To be honest, if the guy had a few barrels of gunpowder(or dynamite) and fertilizer in the movie nobody would have cared. IMO, it would have been more realistic as well, since one could see him legally obtaining the items in question as a part of his job.
4. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by ebuck · 2010-07-30 06:33 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I don't think so. They forgot to properly mold the C4 into friendly forest animals.
5. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by blair1q · 2010-07-30 06:53 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  erm, no.
  high-speed explosive is just fine for this, but i'm guessing (because i didn't see that episode) that it wasn't tamped with enough earth above it to create a reaction mass that would reflect significant energy into the ground. large bang, small bullet, no recoil. also, i highly doubt they used enough. it takes a way huge lot of thump to make ground move several meters away without some extenuating circumstance.
  which brings me to the subject of golf course soils. good golf courses have very porous soil, having been constructed for drainage, as standing and flowing water are a nuisance to golfers and greenskeepers and bad for grass (or glass, if you're channelling Chinatown today). especially under the greens. you can jump a foot in the air about two meters from the hole and make a ball wiggle. so their choice of venues would be critical. local $12 muni? expect it to be hard as a rock out there. snooty private country club? like blowing up gophers next to a bowl of jell-o.
6. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by blair1q · 2010-07-30 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  shape charges. why does it always have to be shape charges...
7. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by 2names · 2010-07-30 07:05 · Score: 1
  
  Not only that, but didn't Carl pump some sort of explosive chemical down through the gopher tunnels as well?
  
  --
  "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
8. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by Plekto · 2010-07-30 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  Concerning the explosives, you're correct. But, in the movie, he also didn't pack it in(neither did Mythbusters). Of course, looking at the movie, I suspect that they actually used dynamite(or detonation cord plus gasoline - a Hollywood favorite) buried a few feet down as the holes are too large and I can't imagine even Hollywood getting their hands on that much (actual) C4 easily.
9. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by tkohler · 2010-07-30 07:23 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well C4 molds in to the shape of an attractive female gopher better than gunpowder.
10. Re:Mythbusters on the forefront by drinkypoo · 2010-07-30 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  I can't imagine even Hollywood getting their hands on that much (actual) C4 easily.
  Hollywood has probably never used C4 except for the purpose bringing down a structure. When you want a fireball and a blast front you use gasoline. Indeed you'd use both if you wanted to blow up the building with big fireballs shooting out the window and then have it collapse, because when you blow out the supports with little enough C4 to avoid scattering the building across the neighborhood there's no fire to speak of, at least nothing you see outside the building.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
This is the new definition of... by dmgxmichael · 2010-07-30 05:34 · Score: 1

A Slow News Day.
1. Re:This is the new definition of... by NecroPuppy · 2010-07-30 05:50 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Of course it's a slow news day.
  Everyone is off playing Starcraft 2.
  
  --
  I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
2. Re:This is the new definition of... by dmgxmichael · 2010-07-30 05:58 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Touche
3. Re:This is the new definition of... by tom17 · 2010-07-30 06:09 · Score: 1
  
  No, everyone is lining up for their iPhone4 (Well, in Canada at least)
So this is going to be done by Mythbusters by MonsterTrimble · 2010-07-30 05:37 · Score: 2, Funny

So Grant, Tori & Kari... wait... wasn't there topless scenes in that movie?

--
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
1. Re:So this is going to be done by Mythbusters by Just_Say_Duhhh · 2010-07-30 05:43 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  And as usual, Tory gets to be the subject of the test.
  Damn you, Mythbusters!
  
  --
  I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
2. Re:So this is going to be done by Mythbusters by Anonymous Coward · 2010-07-30 06:01 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Well tanks for nothin! (please tell me someone gets this)
3. Re:So this is going to be done by Mythbusters by drc003 · 2010-07-30 06:14 · Score: 1
  
  Oh I get it! Caddyshack was the first R movie I remember sneaking up late at night to catch on HBO. That accent was damn sexy if you ask me!
  
  I'm also wondering if they look into the science of booger eating and...........DOOOOOOODY!
4. Re:So this is going to be done by Mythbusters by greg1104 · 2010-07-30 08:49 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  No, thank you very little.
What about by SnarfQuest · 2010-07-30 05:42 · Score: 4, Funny

What about gopher dances? How accurate are the gopher dances? That is obviously the most important part of the movie!

--
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
1. Re:What about by Just_Say_Duhhh · 2010-07-30 05:52 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Normally, a gopher will run away at the first sound of Kenny Loggins, but if you can catch one of their legs in a snare, then crank up "I'm allright," the gopher will start dancing.
  
  --
  I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
2. Re:What about by snspdaarf · 2010-07-30 06:37 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  And, if you catch their balls in the snare, they make that funny "Flipper" noise...
  
  --
  Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
3. Re:What about by blair1q · 2010-07-30 06:55 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Only until he gets his foot loose...
4. Re:What about by Locutus · 2010-07-30 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  or explode, I think explode, yes explode at the sound of Kenny Loggins.
  
  LoB
  
  --
  "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Slow news day indeed by Adambomb · 2010-07-30 05:52 · Score: 2, Funny

When asked for further comment, Discovery was quoted as responding 'Nnnnnnanananananaaa'.

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Ice Cream has no bones.
So, you know by elrous0 · 2010-07-30 06:07 · Score: 3, Funny

So, Discovery News has that going for them...which is nice.

--
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Jumping the shark by DerekLyons · 2010-07-30 06:30 · Score: 2, Insightful

The "Science Of ___________" meme has finally jumped the shark.
1. Re:Jumping the shark by blair1q · 2010-07-30 06:57 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Not until the do The Science of Happy Days, including the water-skiing scenes.
2. Re:Jumping the shark by Wireless+Joe · 2010-07-30 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  The "Science Of ___________" meme has finally jumped the shark.
  Next week on Discovery News: The Science of Jumping a Shark.
Simple Mathematics by jkiller · 2010-07-30 06:30 · Score: 2, Funny

X(T(Y+N)) = "In your DVD Collection" where... N = The number of times you've seen this movie. Y = Number of ridiculous golf References T = THe number of titties in the movie. X = Is Chevy Chase still funny? (Boolean response)
Well... by boristdog · 2010-07-30 06:42 · Score: 1

The world needs scientists, too.
Screw the gopher... by bashibazouk · 2010-07-30 06:53 · Score: 2, Funny

I want to know about the science of:
"This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff."
1. Re:Screw the gopher... by Just_Say_Duhhh · 2010-07-30 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  Screw the gopher??? It sounds like you already know way too much about hybrid grass, man!
  
  --
  I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
2. Re:Screw the gopher... by cayenne8 · 2010-07-30 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  Hey YOU....pick up that blood!!
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Hungry now by greg1104 · 2010-07-30 08:42 · Score: 1

Heading to the store to pick up a Baby Ruth.
funniest line by far by xandroid · 2010-07-30 09:35 · Score: 1

But seriously, no BS. If you ever want to rap or just get weird with somebody. You know, buddies. I'll drop by.

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$ echo "ceci n'est pas une pipe" | sed -Ee 's/(eci n|pas )//g'
Science? How bout humor by uvajed_ekil · 2010-07-30 17:58 · Score: 1

Found some science in Caddy Shack, have you? That's great. A popular urban legend holds that the movie contains some humor, but I haven't been able to locate anything very funny.

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This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
That facial groweth... by Vastad · 2010-07-30 18:48 · Score: 1

That dude's soul patch is unscientific....
Can a Gopher by Amy2AE · 2010-07-30 22:00 · Score: 1

Can a Gopher make someone that psychotic? As for the swimming pool thats why you don't swallow the water! the amount of times I've seen people swallow the swimming pool water is beyond me. Yes swallow the water where theres chlorate ions.