Possible Origins
The first play of the game may have been at Penn State University in 1914. Correspondence from a Mr. Millman at the then Beta Sigma Rho fraternity to Millman (unrelated) documented the game.
Others say Zoom was brought to Ventura College in California in 1971 by Kelly Weaverling, a former Navy submarine sailor who claimed the game originated by the Navy submarine crew he worked with. Kelly taught the game to the technical students at Ventura College. One of them was Jerry Crow, who brought it with him to San Diego State University and taught it to co-workers in the Program Department of the Student Union on that campus.
The game was played by friends who attended Sentinel Secondary School in the early 1970's as a drinking game so it is doubtful that the game originated by a navy submarine crew. I was present at the games and wasn't very good while my friends were very good.
Zoom Schwartz Profigliano was actively played at the University of California at Davis starting in 1976 and included the commands "Beefeater," which passed the "it" to the active player's left, and "Beutermann," which passed the "it" to the active player's right. This was normally done with bluffing to further enhance the game. Another variation utilized in the late 1980’s at SUNY Morrisville coined the term “Coleman”. Alternately known as the CH29 rule, the studious player will sparingly employ this peppy bluffing tactic to pass the “it” to the player to their immediate left regardless of what direction they are looking.
A complex version of the game was present at Dartmouth College in the late 70s (when it was introduced is unknown), particularly at Tabbard and Alpha Theta fraternities. In addition to 'zoom' and 'schwartz', calls included 'boint' (zoom with a headfake), 'mafigliano' (schwartz with a headfake), mergatroid (1 left), 'shripe' (2 left), 'dort' (2 right), 'beaver' (3 left), 'zunt' (3 right), and mephistopheles (directly across).
Read more about this topic: Zoom Schwartz Profigliano
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