35. French Pig-Squealing Championships

The day proves to be very difficult for the judging of the best oink squealing in the French county of Trie Suer Baise. The annual Pig Festival has a cult-like following, attracting thousands of people from all over Europe.

 

The centre of the Pig Squealing championship is a remote town of farmers in the hills of the Pyrenees.

 

Contestants try to be as pig as possible, wearing their best pig costumes before squealing, grunting, and oinking their lungs out to please the big crowd and the judges. The judges are former pig-squealing champions themselves, so rest assured that they know how to be a pig in front of people.

 

Believe it or not, the judges take a bit of time to discuss who the winners are since it is very difficult to distinguish the cacophony of squealing and vocal explosions. The contest requires the imitation of the sound of a newly born pig, death of a pig in the farm, suckling, and during mating.

 

The judges, at the end of the day, observe whether contestants can really imitate with prowess the real sounds of real pigs.

 

The contestants promise that each year their squealing will be better and vow to practice to perfect the pig act. The winners of the pig squealing championship are rewarded deservingly with a whole butchered pig, which has been cured in the traditional French ways.

 

During the festival, other pigging-out activities like a blood sausage eating contest are also being held.

 

The annual event has been covered by international media, reaching even to the far corners of Korea. The organizers and locals though are still very humble, promising that they will keep their heads down just like their lovely pig friends.

34. Mobile Phone Throwing

Cellular phone and text messaging are taking over the world. Tons of old phones are collected to be recycled worldwide. Finns who have a great share of the mobile phone manufacturing have come up with an international sport, which they started in the year 2000.

 

In Finland, Mobile Phone Throwing gained popularity as a sport that honours players with the best technique and farthest distance covered throwing mobile phones.

 

The cell phones used vary depending on the event and personal preference. The organizers only allow phones that weigh greater than 220 grams to standardize the games.

 

The original category of mobile phone throwing is a best of three competition, which only allows over-the-shoulder throws. Another version of this is a team competition, which allows one throw for each of the three-man team.

 

The Freestyle competition gives space to the creativity of the contestants who can explore different ways to achieve a perfect throw.

 

The cell phone hurling event has a category specially designed for children who are twelve years and below.

 

The World Championship in Mobile Phone Throwing is held in Savonlinna, Finland, every year. Other countries like Norway, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States also participate in the event.

 

The events are supported by groups who promote recycling of mobile phones. The championships also raise funds to support the charitable works of the organizers.

 

The World Mobile Phone Throwing Championship doesn’t screen players for dope. They are only disqualified if the organizers think that they are not physically or mentally capable during the tournament. Some were also banned from the championships since they posed to be dangerous to the other participants and spectators.

33. Extreme Croquet

Extreme croquet is not played on a lawn. It will not be extreme if it is not played in the wild and if it doesn’t pose any difficult challenge to the players. Extreme croquet has some organized events but really has no chance of having a governing body to stop its craziness.

 

Extreme croquet is sometimes called croquet of steroids due to the adrenalin rush it can bring. It is the expansion of the garden or backyard game to more unfamiliar territories with very extreme conditions.

 

Organizing a game boots with looking for perfect locations where there will be big roots of trees, sand, mud, river, or any natural obstacle. These make the game a test of spirit and stretched sophistication to conquer the hurdles.

 

The rules are basically the same as typical croquet but with certain twists to adapt to the location of the game. The wickets are commonly set up like that of the British figure of eight but may also be flexible depending on the location.

 

Some of the rule modifications include striking the ball with any of the part of the mallet; passing through a wicket out of order is sanctioned by bringing the ball back to the previous post; and dogs and small children are considered part of the playing field.

 

Due to the conditions of the game, the equipment and the ball have been modified to make them last on the playing field. The handles of the mallet are made tougher and the heads are made of more durable materials. It is uncommon to see balls being shattered during a game of extreme croquet.

 

Game enthusiasts say that the variation of the game dates back to the 1920s but some claim that extreme croquet has been a pastime of farmers and shepherds in 15th-century France.

32. Haka Pei

The celebration of the Tapati Festival involves sports, theatre, a street party, Rapa Nui or a tribute to the Eastern Island.

 

The festivities span several weeks of the summer every year. Between January and February, thousands of visitors and tourists flock the Eastern Island to witness and join the merriment. The hotels are fully booked so some islanders share parts of their home for a fee.

 

The Tapati Festival includes ancient sports like the Haka Pei competition. The Haka Pei is considered a test of courage for men who hurl down a volcano mountainside while riding a sled made from banana trunks. The speed gets to around 50 miles per hour and is clearly not just a test of courage but a life-risking act.

 

The Haka Pei is one of the oldest sliding challenge traditions dating back to around Moai epoch. The Moai are the statues famous in the island and known around the world. In the ancient times, Haka Pei was done to prove that a young man had passed his adolescence and was ready to be a great warrior. The young men slid down either on the slopes of Maunga Tangaroa or Manga Otuhu, two volcanoes of the island.

 

The slope of the mountainside is 600 meters and judges of the Haka Pei are at every 100 metre point to accurately time the slide. The Haka Pei is not a speed record event. The winner is the one who reaches the bottom of the slope with the fastest time.

 

There have been attempts to make the Haka Pei safer but shoulder dislocations, sprains, fractures, and lots of scrapes have been part of the tradition. The locals also offer two chickens to the gods prior to starting the event.

31. Tomato Fight

Tomato Fight, or Tomatina, is part of a Spanish Festival held annually every last Wednesday of August in the town of Bunol in Valencia. People from all over the world in tens of thousands have made it part of their itinerary to join the tomato throwing in the streets.

 

One hundred metric tons of tomato is hurled in chaos by around 40,000 tourists joined by around 9,000 locals. During D-Day, truckloads of tomato are discharged at the centre of the town in Plaza del Pueblo, waiting for the start of the tomato war.

 

The Tomatina will not start theoretically until a brave soul conquers the greasy bamboo pole to get the much-coveted prize on top: a hamonado or ham. Since the pole is very hard to climb, the tomato fight starts anyway when water canons start splurging the crowd.

 

The overripe tomatoes turn everything red, from the walls, to the streets, and to the people. Store owners cover their displays with plastic so their goods will not be considered collateral damage after the war.

 

Soft as they may be, the tomatoes cause a lot of black eyes and bruising. Organizers recommend eye goggles and gloves to be worn by the participants to control the number of casualties. Tomatoes should also be squished or mashed first before throwing them to other people. Other materials that may be thrown and that may cause mayhem are strictly monitored and prohibited.

 

The tomato fight is in honour of the patron saint of Bunol, Luis Bertran and the Mother of God of the Defenceless. The tomatina has been banned by several local leaders who believe that it doesn’t have any significance, but the world still craves the lycopene rich-tomato juice. Studies have shown that throwing tomatoes to other people doesn’t have any significant effect in lowering cancer cells.

30. Red Neck Olympics

A low-rating radio station, Y-96, in East Dublin, Georgia, thought of launching their own Olympics in time with the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. The DJs thought of calling it the Red Neck Olympics on the basis that the Summer Olympics then would be run by rednecks who didn’t know what to do.

 

The DJ organizers came up with the schedule of events that included games like cigarette flip, bobbing for pigs’ feet, mud pit belly flop, big hair contest, seed spitting championship, dumpster diving, armpit serenade, bug zapper spitball, and hubcap hurl.

 

To the amazement of the Red Neck Olympic organizers, 5,000 people showed up to witness the birth of the new games. It became a media frenzy shown over “Good Morning America,” “MTV,” and “The Real World.”

 

The perfect mascot also showed up during the games. L-Bow is a local technician for an asphalt company who came to the event in his ragged shoes, smelly clothes, and his perfect toothless smile. Not having any doubts, he was made the official torchbearer of the Red Neck Olympics. He officially opened the games with the lighting of the Ceremonial Barbecue Grill.

 

The games have been viewed as derogatory by some groups, but the games have been fun and no one can stop the “athletes” from setting records as the farthest spat seeds, perfect mud pit form, or the biggest hair of them all.

 

The winners of the Red Neck Olympics are awarded crushed beer-can trophies perfect for their trailers. By the way, athletes and spectators pay $5 per carload to enter the game venue.

29. Chap Olympics

This gathering of gentlemen to showcase their skills doesn’t reward them with gold, silver, or bronze medals. Rather the Chap Olympics honour these individuals by giving them bowler hats and cucumber medals.

 

Every year, Chaps, a satirical magazine for the modern gentlemen, gathers sponsorships for the event joined by around one hundred “athletes” and eight hundred spectators. It is a pure display of flair, competence and style in front of a G&T-drinking audience.

 

The Chap Olympics start like any other major sporting event. It has the speeches, the national anthem, and the lighting of their — no, not torch — Olympic Pipe.

 

The following events attract people from all over the world:

 

The Three-Trousered Limbo — a large pair of trousers is shared by pairs of contestants who wriggle down the stick to the tune of the limbo rock. Any showing of the underwear will mean point deductions.

 

Shouting at Foreigners — men’s essentials like trouser press or kippers are obtained from non-English shopkeepers

 

Hop, Skip, and G&T — it is like the long jump of the summer Olympics but with a twist of men holding a glass of gin and tonic. The least of spills win.

 

Cucumber Sandwich Discus — the object of the game is to hurl a cucumber sandwich the farthest. Additional points are given if the sandwich is still edible after the event.

 

Only the best-dressed men can enter the event — trouser creases and an improper tie can knock one out of contention. The organizers are still meditating on the fact that alcohol testing may not be beneficial for the event.

28. Sheep Tackling

Anything to do with children, animals, or acts that will enrage activists is an interesting sport. Sheep Tackling is an example of a game that caught the eye of the world.

 

Five sheep are dressed in rugby getup and used as entertainment during halftime of rugby matches. Sheep will run, but who will go after them? Well, non-suspecting children, of course — five hundred of them.

 

The objective of the spectacle is to wrestle down the sheep and pin it to the ground. Halftime entertainments like this are very popular in New Zealand, which is why animal activists in the country have been clamouring for the ban of such cruelty to animals.

 

The rugby unions in New Zealand deny that any of the sheep were hurt but committed to find alternative gigs for a good halftime show. The union assured that cruelty to the animals was not anywhere close to their intention of having fun.

 

However, sheep tackling has been modified by some great rugby players in New Zealand.  Colin “Pinetree” Meads, one of the most famous rugby players, carries sheep under his arm to develop his strength and stamina when he exercises uphill. Another rugby star, Richie McCaw, has been chasing sheep at home as part of his training regimen.

 

Sheep tackling may have been banned in New Zealand but it has instilled a tradition that sheep are good training partners if you want to excel in a sport where brute strength, lightning speed, and good movement anticipation are excellent athletic assets.