In Chapter 3 Phineas creates blitzball, a game designed for his tremendous athletic ability. He names this game after the German blitzkrieg, the swift and overwhelming air attacks used by the Germans in World War II. Finny has the players run swiftly with a round ball; others can knock into the ball carrier, but they must not use their arms. Gene tells the reader, "There was nothing to do but start running...with the others trampling with stronger will around me." There are no teams: "we're all enemies. Knock him down!" declares Finny.
Like blitzball, the Super Suicide Society involves daring and risk. Finny forms this group, as well. They gather at the river, climb a tree and jump from a limb, on which they balance and move forward, into the river.
A. Hopkins Parker, 1940, is an allusion to the swimmer at Devon who swam the 100 yard free-style in 53.0 seconds in 1940. Finny, however, breaks this record by .7 second. He did this unofficially and when Gene asks him to do it again for a reporter for The Devonian, Finny refuses: "I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know. But I don't want to do it in public."
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