Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

When I was fifteen years old or so, I was at my friend Michael Lees' Parents' house in Waterford, Michigan, it was late, we were outside, and I was getting ready to take the long walk home, (about a half mile or so down the road,) we were talking when he threw something and missed his target he said "Almost," of course being the smartass that I was I said "almost doesn't count" then he chimed in with "except in horseshoes" which is true (the closest to the post without a ringer, gets the point,) then thinking outloud I said "And Hand Grenades" meaning if you throw a live hand grenade your still gonna hurt someone if they're close to it when it explodes, hence forth the saying "Almost Doesn't Count Except in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" was born, It rhymed, It sounded cool, and it was a phrase we came to use often whenever there was a close call (as teenage boys incur often,) a saying that our friends picked up on quickly. Last summer I heard a country song on the radio called "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" by a band of the same name out of Atlanta or thereabouts, well, both of my parents were from Dalton, GA, and when we visited my relatives I took the phrase down there with me since it had become a part of my regular vocabulary, could it be that this Northern born, Southern white boy planted the seed of this saying way down there, so many years ago? I like to think so, by the way, I'll be Fifty-four years old in April (My how time flies.)