THE WEIRDEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD
By Raffi Arakelyan
Sure, most of us love sports. The adrenaline running through your veins while on the field, running to reach your goal. But what sports are the weirdest; craziest; and some that even I would like to participate in, frankly. Here’s Raffi Arakelyan with eight of the weirdest sports on the planet earth.
8: Underwater Hockey
This sport is exactly what it says on the can. This sport is played underneath the surface of the water, with a puck and men trying to hit it into the opposite goal. Sure, it’s hard to play it, but even harder to watch what’s going on live. This game is not easy. First, you need to get on the water flippers, goggles, etc, and you only come up for air every so often, so it’s basically a test of endurance.
7: Ostrich Racing
This is also a “It’s how it says on the can” sport. Ostrich Racing was originally formed in Africa, until it came to the United States, and now it’s getting popular. Contestants ride on trained ostriches in a large race. They can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour, so that’s going to be very exciting for any onlookers watching the competition. These birds are amazing at what they do, and it’s no surprise that they’ve become so popular.
6: Chess Boxing
Chess boxing is pretty simple, just like most of these. This competition tests the mind and the body. You rest while you play, and your mind rests while boxing. You start with the chess, then once you threaten a piece, you have to box, and the winner takes the piece. Not very exciting when they’re in the chess phase, at least for me.
5: Bed Racing
Another competition where the entire process is written on the cap. Bed Racing is made of five teammates in each team, and one of them is in a wheeled cot, which the other four have to push to the finish line.
4: Cheese Rolling
Right on the can. Cheese rolling is a competition where somebody rolls a large wheel of Limburger Cheese down a large hill and a hundred people have to chase it before it reaches the bottom. This is very challenging, considering that a wheel of cheese is about as fast as a wheel going down a large ramp at maximum speed.
3: Extreme Ironing
This competition is pretty easy to think of. You iron a piece of clothes in a crazy space, like in the air, or in some random hotel, or anywhere, really. They go around the world trying to iron a piece of clothing in a bunch of crazy places, such as… oh, I don’t know, maybe the SKY.
2: Jugger
This one takes games to the next level. Jugger is a combat sport that takes cinematic inspiration from the 80’s movie Salute of the Jugger. In the movie, teams are armed with swords, chains, and maces, and are trying to knock each other out while the one unarmed player tries to score a goal using a dog’s skull as a ball. To even dream of making this game a reality would be insanity, the casualties being the least of worries. Hence, the team has been toned down considerably, without losing any of its charms. All the weaponry and the dog skull are replaced with foam-covered props.
1: Wife Carrying
Some of you reading this are going to be “WHAT THE ?” and I completely understand. This sport is exactly how it sounds. The Husband carries his wife through a long race. The prize for the winner is the wife’s weight in beer. Some would be like “What else?” and others would be like “say what now?” I personally agree with the second category. The thing is, you can't be single and compete. It has to be your legally married spouse. Sad.