Our irreverent roast of oddball sports around the world picks up with one of the most popular winter pastimes in several cold weather nations. Proof yet again that high television audiences, Olympic status and massive endorsement deals will not exempt your sport from the realm of stupidity.
Curling: Canada, United States of America, Scotland, Scandinavia, Japan
Terrible winters spawn one of two conditions: insanity or inventiveness. We’re not sure which one to attribute to the sport of curling. We know that Scotland is to blame for this strange amalgam of shuffleboard and billiards on ice. Canada however, deserves much of the credit for the sport’s phenomenal and occult rise over the past few decades. Major tournaments in Canada sell out in hours and draw television audiences close to 2 million, which in a country with a total population somewhere around 33 million, is just crazy. A popular film was made in Canada in 2002 about the sport, with the appropriate title “Men With Brooms”.
Essentially, that encapsulates the essence of curling. Men with brooms, who follow and “sweep” a “rock” delivered under the direction of the “skip” or team captain, the length of a 44.5 m sheet of ice in an attempt to land it between a “hog” line and “back” line. Throughout ten “ends”, teams attempt to jockey for position and earn points the closer the rocks or “stones” are to a “button”.
Attempts to decipher the arcane rules and vocabulary of curling are pretty much futile. Most familiar with the sport would conclude that the game is best appreciated while thoroughly sauced. Did we mention that curling is an actual Olympic event?
Check out some great deals on hotels all over Canada before you explore the strange world of curlers.
Competitive Eating: United States of America and all over the world (sadly)
Perhaps the most odious indicator of the sad place humanity is in, certain sick individuals have made a sport out of what amounts to a natural bodily function. This is hardly news of course. Competitions that compel individuals to outlast each other in food intake, especially at county fairs across the United States, are as American as obesity and apple pie.
When tiny Japanese competitor Takeru Kobayashi ate more hotdogs in less time than opponents several times his size at Nathan?s famous event on Coney Island in New York State in 2001, a poster child for a sport was born. With a dedication, regimen and approach that were almost, well, athletic in nature, Kobayashi went on to hold the world record for six years. The International Federation of Competitive Eating still ranks him third in the world, even after an infamous regurgitation controversy.
What? Never heard of the IFCE? Really now? Would you expect a new sport on the verge of mainstream awareness not to have a formal body to govern sponsorships and broadcast television deals? Or oversee a league for that matter? As in, Major League Eating?
Yes, believe it or not, the MLE exists. Sadly, it shows less signs of dissipation that the WNBA. The website for example, has a calendar of events. There are competitor profiles, rankings and even statistics. Want to know who holds the record for most asparagus tempura eaten in 10 minutes? Nah, us neither.
If you want to head to Coney Island to watch the carnage doled out by competitive eaters, you’re going to need a good deal on a New York City hotel.
Kabaddi: Bangladesh, throughout South Asia, Canada
In a game that combines all the thrills of suffocation with the merry horseplay of schoolyard tag, kabaddi is the actual national sport of Bangladesh. What probably began as military exercise ? rumour has it that the British Army practices kabaddi today to lure immigrant recruits ? has devolved into a spectator sport. With a formal umbrella federation, kabaddi now passes for entertainment throughout Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and indeed, South Asia.
How to explain the rules of this strange game? Suffice to say that two teams square off on a court and send one player, or ?raider?, to the other side to tag an opponent. If the raider takes a breath while in the end of the opposition squad, he is out of the game. Those he tags before he inhales are also out. Unusual? Yes. Popular? Very. In fact, Canada is a fierce hotbed of kabaddi play. The first World Championship was held in Hamilton, Ontario and crazy as it may seem, the Vancouver suburb of Surrey has a stadium solely for kabaddi, which is a first. We wish it were a last but regrettably, kabaddi is on the rise.
Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
There is a really unique southeast asia game that is played like volleyball but with a small ball and they can only use their feet. Seeing them spike a ball over the net with only their feet is amazing! Wish i knew the name of the game.
I love the sport of curling. Reminds me on my childhood when we had a go at it before we used to see a hockey game. That was like 20 odd years ago, mind you.
Not too sure about the Kabaddi game. Isn’t that dangerous?
Curling is fantastic! I wish I was able to play some more.. maybe when winter hits
One of the coolest and weirdest sports that I know is pretty big in Canada is Ultimate Frisbee. Its a really fun game that is kind of a hybrid between American football and frisbee.
I practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 15 years ago that would of been considered a pretty weird sport/martial art but now it has grown into great popularity and then continues to rise.