The immortality comes from the fact that anyone who is reading the rulebook, and gets curious about the origin of the rule created to forbid your actions, will

The immortality comes from the fact that anyone who is reading the rulebook, and gets curious about the origin of the rule created to forbid your actions, will research that†, and learn your story. Sometimes, the rule itself is even named after the person — so your name is right there in the rulebook forevermore. They might not know who you were or what you did, but they know you did something stupid enough to require a change to the sport. † Which is apparently something sports nerds do a lot. Here's a YouTube channel sub-series just about the origins of weird sports rules! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJiNU9JCLpM&list=PLUXSZMIiUfFSVTX8z2Xl5vt-PV4Fi17w1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJiNU9JCLpM&list=PLUXSZMIiUf...