Three strange sports, Cow Chip Tossing, Shin Kicking & Ferret Legging, and the crazy people who take part in them
People usually have a desire to take part in strange activities and sports. They probably get bored of doing normal things like playing football or basketball. They yawn and then jump up and take part in wife-carrying contests, cheese rolling competitions and other bizarre activities all over the world. Now three even stranger sports, if they can be called that, have been unearthed: Cow Chip Tossing, Shin Kicking and Ferret Legging. Well, why people take part in these sports is a little bit of a mystery; maybe they get a kick out of doing the craziest things that they can find, or, as a lot of people have mentioned before, the thrill of competing against other people is a huge motivator to do very strange things.
If we take a look at three of the odder sports on the planet, we first have to go to Oklahoma in America. In the little town of Beaver there is an annual competition of throwing cow dung as far as one can. It is based on the Discus or Shot Put but is a lot smellier and nastier. Every April, people from far and wide descend upon the town to see who can fling a piece of flattened cow dung the farthest. The winner is given a small prize and the tribute of being crowned the cow chip throwing champion, which is not really a title most people would like to have. The sport has made Beaver a strange tourist destination and gives the little place a lot of (odorous?) character.
Next we move to the UK, to the beautiful rolling hills of Gloucestershire, where we find the sport of shin kicking. This bizarre sport is part of the ‘Olimpick Games’, which features things like sledgehammer throwing and tug-of-war. Shin kicking is a very old sport; it was invented in 1612 by a man named Robert Dover. Over the years, the sport became very popular and has endured over the centuries. In the late 1800s, the sport was being watched by crowds of 30,000 and participants were known to harden their shins using hammers to hit them. In those days, the sport was brutal and rowdiness and violence were commonplace and the sport was eventually banned. This strange spectacle was re-established in the 1950s and has continued ever since. The organisers claim that no one has ever broken a bone but there have been numerous bruises over the years. The objective of this odd sport is to hold onto an opponent’s shoulders, deliver a swift kick to the shin and try to drop them to the ground. The other person has to stay upright and then do the same to the first person. The process continues until a winner is crowned.
Next, we stay in the UK for another very bizarre sport. In Yorkshire, England, the sport of ferret legging is growing in popularity. This sport is as weird as it sounds; participants tie their trousers around their ankles, drop two fully grown ferrets with sharp teeth and nails in, pull their trousers up and then tie them at the top with a belt. The ferrets have no chance to escape and the crazy participants have no underwear on. The ferrets go crazy inside this confined space, clawing, biting and gnawing at a person’s most sensitive areas. The world record as it stands at the moment is 5 and a half hours set by a man named Frank Bartlett. Why would someone endure a ferret inside their trousers for over 5 hours, you ask? Well, the same reason someone will jump off a cliff with a parachute strapped to their back or wrestlers take part in a barb wire and thumb tack wrestling match. It seems the thrill of competition and outdoing other people is worth having live animals clawing and biting your nether regions.
Are these three strange activities actually sports? If you ask the people taking part in them, they will say that what they do is definitely a sport because there is the spirit of competition, some athletic ability and a desire to win. This trend of strange sports will not end anytime soon, but if they are going to invent any more strange sports, let’s hope they do not involve animals and no underwear. Ouch.
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