• From sports that combine chess and boxing to games played atop an elephant, we count
15 of the dumbest games ever turned into competitive sports
15 - Crab Racing, • This is a sport found in the Buccoo Village
of Tobago, and even though you might laugh at it - to the village this is serious shit
with jockeys, training and selective breeding • The crabs are harnessed and prodded to
get them to run in the correct direction with crowds cheering the winner
• Once the race is concluded, the people are rewarded with a dinner of fresh boiled
crab - usually made from the contestants themselves 14 - Cheese Rolling,
• Cooper's Hill near Gloucester in England sees a wheel of cheese tossed down a steep
hill, and a bunch of people falling down trying to snag it
• It has now become a world-famous event with contestants from a whole manner of countries,
and it's also notorious for how many people get seriously injured running down the hill
• The race was actually delayed in 2005 when all the ambulances stationed there had
to return to the hospital, because you know a sport is good when so many people get injured
to the point that you literally run out of ambulances
13 - Bassmaster, • This is a sport on ESPN that features
the exciting and competitive world of fishing • Between the weigh-ins to the exhilarating
rush of sitting on a boat waiting for something to happen, it's hard to believe this sport
isn't as popular as football or rugby • People have claimed they've turned off
the television, gone out for lunch, come back and nothing has happened - almost makes you
wish someone would throw a block of cheese down a hill to spice things up
12 - Chess Boxing, • Exactly what it sounds like, a chess board
is set up in the middle of a boxing ring and two players duke it out in 4 minute rounds
• After those 4 minutes, they're required to stand up and engage in a boxing match for
2 minutes - the winner is declared based on whether you've been knocked out or suffer
a checkmate • The idea for this actually came from a
graphic sci-fi novel from 1992 - because that's where all good ideas come from
11 - Ferret Legging, • This is an endurance test in which you
open your pants, drop a crazy ferret in there and see how long you can last
• It's been described as a dying and sometimes illegal sport, but even so there have been
multiple events held in a variety of countries • The world record for this sport is just
5 hours and 30 minutes - but these days there' s a lack of contestants, mostly from complaining
wives 10 - Elephant Polo,
• This is a game mostly played in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Thailand - although you'll
also find English and Scottish teams • It's a standard game of polo played with
Elephants using long sticks and elephant steering drivers with championships played in Nepal
called Tiger Tops • However, because of cruel treatment allegations
by PETA, many matches have been cancelled and even removed as a record from the Guinness
Book of World Records 9 - Shin-kicking,
• You grab a dude and start crunching the living shit out of his shins in order to force
him to the ground - this "sport" is even described as a form of martial arts
• In the old days, rumour has it contestants wore steel-toe boots to attack their opponent,
with training consisting of beating in their shin with a hammer to build tolerance
• It continues to this day and draws crowds in the thousands - a great way to spend your
weekend if you like excruciating pain 8 - Pro Mini-Golf,
• The casual-friendly alternative to regular golf has now been given a competitive edge
• Even though the thought of this relaxed chilled out version of golf with TV broadcasting,
sponsorship deals and international championships seems silly - it's actually quite popular
• Some of the main issue is funding - such as with the British Minigolf Association,
one of the few sports not recognised by Sport England and therefore not eligible for funding
7 - Bog Snorkelling, • This is like regular swimming, only without
traditional swimming techniques, only flippers in disgusting, stinky bog water
• This sport started in 1976 when a guy was having an over-the-bar conversation with
some sports enthusiasts and someone mentioned the brilliant idea of swimming in a bog for
the amusement of a crowd • Bog Snorkelling continues to this day
and they even have a junior competition for kids
6 - Curling, • This is a legitimate sport even televised,
in which someone pushes a rock to move another rock while people sweep the ice beneath it
with brooms - a mixture of lawn bowls and housework
• If you haven't had someone explains the rules, it may be the most ridiculous thing
to watch as someone screams for people to clean the path in front of a rock while it
skids around on ice • The amount of strategy that goes into
this absurd game is high, and it's even been likened to "chess on ice"
5 - Dwarf-tossing, • Mostly found in pubs and bars, to put
dwarf into special padded clothing and fling him at a mattress or Velcro-covered wall
• Rules depend on whether there's a bullseye or if you just need to throw it farther than
everyone else • Canada banned this sport in 2003, France
allows it and it's also banned in the U.S - and in Middle-Earth they generally don't
like getting tossed 4 - Cane Toad Racing,
• A poisonous Toad introduced to Australia in 1933 and have been decimating the ecosystem
ever since - now in racing form • Some train them to hop faster than others,
but most of the time you just show up at the bar and put down money on a random frog to
win the race • Hilariously, some races actually raise
money to help fund the wiping out of their species from areas of Australia - they're
racing to their deaths 3 - Sauna Championships,
• People sit inside a sauna and attempt to hold out the longest while the temperature
slowly increases bit by bit - last man standing wins
• This sport was invented by a bunch of drunk Finnish guys when their swimming hall
kicked them out for spending too much time in the sauna
• But even after it gained popularity, the man who died in 2010 from too-high temperature
put a damper on competitions moving forward 2 - Extreme Ironing,
• A danger sport in which you take your ironing board to the top of a thin precipice
and iron your shirts while avoiding death • In 1997, one guy from England wanted to
go rock climbing but still get his ironing done, so he took the board up and did the
laundry • The sport took off after that, although
recognition as a legitimate Olympic sport has a long way to go
1 - Toe Wrestling • The objective of this sport, as you might
be familiar with, is to pin your opponents foot down for a few seconds using your toes
• This one has its roots all the way back in the mid 1970s born from a pub conversation
• One of the top players in current championships is called Paul "Toeminator" Beech - I shit
you not