Competition is necessary to the human being. It’s part of what makes us tick, but these outlandish events take healthy contest to the next level.
COLLEGIATE QUIDDITCH
It’s safe to say that JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series had an even bigger impact on culture than most realized. In 2005, the boy wizard’s favorite sport jumped right out of the pages of the series and onto college campuses everywhere. The game is played pretty much as described in the novels except that players are land bound and must hold their broomsticks between their legs at all times, the golden snitch is an tennis ball attached to a very fast individual’s rear, and bludgers are dodge balls thrown by beaters. Not quite as magical as JK Rowling’s version, but still plenty of fun.
THE ORLANDO CHILI COOK-OFF
There are eating competitions all over the world dedicated to different types of edible fare but few go so far as to dedicate an entire festival around their chosen delicacy as the Orlando Chili Cook-Off. The event includes live music, an estimated 500,000 samples of chili served each year, and of course, The World Chili Eating contest. Last year’s winner consumed over two gallons of chili in six minutes, going home with a world record and a $3,500 cash prize.
COOPER’S HILL CHEESE ROLLING
Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is a bizarre sporting event that draws competitors from all over the world to the tiny village of Brockworth, England. The mechanics of the cheese rolling competition seem simple enough- competitors gather at the top of a hill where a roughly 9 pound round chunk of cheese is set off down the hill. The chunk of cheese gets a one second head start before participants are allowed to begin pursing it. The goal is to be first person to catch the cheese. The winner gets bragging rights and the glory of taking home 9 pound cheese wheel!
WORLD RUBIK’S CUBE CHAMPIONSHIP
This is a battle of brains, fingers, and feet that occurs once every two years in different countries around the world. Participants must solve various cube puzzles in different rounds including a blindfolded round, a single handed round a feet only round. As outlandish as some of these sound, the competition is dedicated to keeping the competition fair. The organization takes great lengths to ensure that the Rubik’s cubes are randomized for each competing member by a computer generated scrambling program and time is keep by sensor pads that begin and end once a competitor has removed their hands from the pad to begin the puzzle and placed back on the pad to indicate that they are finished.
THE US TABLE TENNIS OPEN
This is ping pong to the extreme. The event itself is a tradition that dates back to 1931 and regularly pulls in a crowd of over 600 table tennis players each year. This is a singles only competition and individuals train year round to hone their table tennis skills for a shot at winning this event to become
THE SUMMER REDNECK GAMES
Originating in Georgia, the peach state of America, this has to be the most unusual sporting event on the list. The games include only the most quintessential redneck activities such as cigarette flipping, seed spitting, toilet seat tossing, and the crowd favorite mud pit bellyflop contest. The scoring rubric is unclear for each of these events, but that’s no surprise for a competition run by a bunch of hillbillies. We think it’s less about who wins what and more about the free flowing beer.
WIFE-CARRYING COMPETITIONS
The basis of this competition is pretty straight forward, a married man must get from point A to point B while quite literally carrying his wife in the shortest amount of time possible. This may be done by piggy back, fireman style, or with the wife hanging upside down over her husband’s shoulders. Throughout the race the couple will encounter several obstacles such as water pits, mud patches, hay bales or logs.
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