Three giant African frogs touted as potential rec-ord-breakers were big flops at the Jumping Frog Jubilee, beat out by a puny domestic one-pounder named Help Mr. Wizard.
"I wasn't afraid of the African frogs," said Gregg Jaschek, who took home the $500 first prize Sunday. "I saw them on TV. They weren't so hot."Some veterans of the annual Calaveras County competition in Angels Camp, Calif., had complained the giants from Cameroon had an unfair advantage, but organizers voted in March to let Seattle animal collector Andy Koffman bring on his burly outsiders. Three of Koffman's Goliaths made it to the finals, but he couldn't get a decent leap out of the three-pounders.
A dripping Help Mr. Wizard soared 19 feet, 3 inches in three jumps to best 72 other finalists.
The 62nd annual jubilee drew a capacity crowd of 8,000.