The world's strangest and most compelling “sports”
March 14, 2020 3:52 AM   Subscribe

 
I am not proud of how much I like that movie, and this is great. “If it’s almost a sport, you’ll find it here!”
posted by mhoye at 4:33 AM on March 14, 2020 [5 favorites]


This was fantastic! I clicked on one, then another and then ripped through them all thanks for sharing!!
posted by smoke at 5:03 AM on March 14, 2020 [3 favorites]


The National Excavator Operator Competition one is something else to watch.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:09 AM on March 14, 2020 [7 favorites]


Oh, man, UNO. If you've never played UNO with a bunch of motivated friends, you have no clue how freaking cutthroat that damned game can be.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:18 AM on March 14, 2020 [5 favorites]


snowshoe baseball is a thing around here
posted by cabin fever at 6:02 AM on March 14, 2020 [3 favorites]


Sad to see Dropball not on the list
posted by rebent at 6:19 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


I cackled at the portable belt sander race, and cheered for that tortoise so hard. Thanks, growabrain!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:33 AM on March 14, 2020 [3 favorites]


Wife-carrying, cheese-rolling, mobile phone-throwing, and wok-racing come to mind... also air guitar, obviously. And there seems to be a thing called bog-snorkeling.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 6:35 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


Acrobuttocks, surely.
posted by senor biggles at 6:54 AM on March 14, 2020 [12 favorites]


"if you look in the same direction your opponent points in, you lose" - that sport gets points for the amount of drama they got into it

"roman candle trampoline battle" - very impressive. the real surprise is that none of my uncles have tried this without pool access.

"t shirt relay" - I love it. I want to try.

"brick racing" - this is a very accessible sport to me and I intend to try it. Even if it is just me alone in the yard with my bricks.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:38 AM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


> Earthquake-proof toothpick structure construction contest

Worthwhile not only for the video but also the stories about kids tricking their parents into spending quality time together.
posted by ardgedee at 7:50 AM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


If you look in the same direction your opponent points, you lose

acchi muite hoi, right? added onto a round of rock paper scissors to make my brain extra scrambled
posted by gaybobbie at 8:13 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


That roman candle trampoline battle looks simultaneously so incredibly stupid and so much fun. It's the closest you could ever come to being a wizard! Maybe wearing safety goggles and doing it next to a pool like they did it wouldn't be so stupid? A part of me wants to try it...
posted by Wretch729 at 8:38 AM on March 14, 2020 [3 favorites]


Oh, man, UNO. If you've never played UNO with a bunch of motivated friends, you have no clue how freaking cutthroat that damned game can be.

Everybody whose been on a family holiday with UNO or Monopoly knows exactly what you're talking about.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:50 AM on March 14, 2020 [4 favorites]


Your “Motorcycle climbing” is better known as trials. There was an early-evening TV show of trials on UK television in the 80s: Kick Start

(and can I just say how adorable Google is with its auto-generated descriptions: it describes the show as “Young entrepreneurs are provided with the set of skills to get started in their respective fields by mentors”.)
posted by scruss at 9:30 AM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


I saw "Brick racing" and immediately envisioned a small racetrack with numbered bricks staying at the starting line as coaches and fans desperately try to cajole their brick into moving.

The real thing is good too.
posted by suetanvil at 9:46 AM on March 14, 2020 [11 favorites]


A question for the group: did anybody get all the way through the buttcrobatics video without involuntary clenching? Because I sure didn't.
posted by dbx at 10:08 AM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


Not complete without mentioning purepecha ball, aka MEXICAN FIRE HOCKEY
posted by delfin at 10:25 AM on March 14, 2020 [4 favorites]


This list is amazing, except that it is missing Jelle's marble racing! better that formula 1 or the olympics!
posted by CostcoCultist at 10:31 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


Amazing stuff. I'm really curious, though, as to what motivates a tortoise to race.
posted by pykrete jungle at 10:53 AM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


Oh, man, UNO. If you've never played UNO with a bunch of motivated friends, you have no clue how freaking cutthroat that damned game can be.

In college a bunch of us would get together and smoke a couple of blunts and then Eric would say the house rule: "There are no friends in Uno" and then we would fucking destroy one another. The poker nights were more chill.
posted by Uncle at 11:00 AM on March 14, 2020 [4 favorites]


We used to have Roman Candle fights back when I was a teenager, (bottle rockets were also involved), but never on a trampoline. That would be sweet!
posted by Windopaene at 11:02 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


That Brick Racing looks fixed.
posted by Pembquist at 11:26 AM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]




This thread needs more pumpkinboat racing...
posted by oulipian at 1:36 PM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


Another good one is the Royal Navy Field Gun Competition (previously).
posted by migurski at 2:56 PM on March 14, 2020 [2 favorites]


Have we already forgotten Calvinball?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:05 PM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


Have we already forgotten Gloucester Cheese Rolling?
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:32 PM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: just me alone in the yard with my bricks.
posted by datawrangler at 4:02 PM on March 14, 2020




There's a new sport game here, can't you see?
BulletBall the game, and BulletBall Extreme.
posted by those are my balloons at 6:22 PM on March 14, 2020


Discofoot
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:37 PM on March 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


There is apparently a World Championship for making coffee with an aeropress.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:47 PM on March 14, 2020


Now’s a good time to revive the 2004 Power Tool Drag Races (six pages of OSHA-ignorant mods), including gasoline powered chainsaw racers!
posted by cenoxo at 10:50 PM on March 14, 2020


I saw "Brick racing" and immediately envisioned a small racetrack with numbered bricks staying at the starting line as coaches and fans desperately try to cajole their brick into moving.

I think somehow that rabbit would still end up losing to the bricks.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:37 PM on March 14, 2020


Today’s Coronavirus-related top post there
posted by growabrain at 5:25 AM on March 18, 2020


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