The Oddest Games To Play
There are plenty of crazy sports out there these days. It just seems to be getting stranger and weirder. Once you think you’ve witnessed the weirdest sport possible, you’ll tune into a sports channel one day and see something that takes the cake (probably a cake-eating sport). While not so long ago it seemed strange to watch billiards on television, the extent things have led to in today’s world makes hitting a few spheres around with pool cues look pretty conservative. Why have sports come to this? What is it about the style in which we live that makes us think such crazy sports would be interesting?
One such sport that actually has its own program is that of hot-dog eating. This is one hunder percent true. The show consists of one man (or girl) standing at a podium with a plate full of hot-dogs, and attempting to eat as many as he can until the time runs out. There’s a crowd cheering the competitor on, and commentators discussing strategies used by the “sportsmen” to achieve their wanted goal without getting sick. Half of the contest tends to land with the viewer, who’ll likely also be battling a case of sickness after watching this show for too long.
Another sport that has gained an ever-increasing level of popularity is that of poker. While there’s no doubting that it’s more interesting to see and requires more skill and mental prowess than hot-dog consuming, it’s still strange to watch an hour-long program purely based on people playing cards. In years to come, will we be viewing the solitaire championships? How will we know who’s won?
These new games are funny to watch, but they’re also a bit disconcerting to see. In ancient times, sport was usually something that was actually a life and death scenario for those playing, and the reason sport was created by the elites of a country was to keep people distracted from the problems of their nation, such as the corruption of their government. Have sports really gotten any better since that time? Okay, so nobody’s getting killed, but people are seriously damaging their health if they’re able to eat as much as fifteen hotdogs within the space of a few minutes. And mixed-martial arts fighting hasn’t even been talked about.
It may be likely that just like the ancient Romans, governments of today like their people to take a keen interest in games at the cost of taking an interest in the method in which their country is run. Certainly this is the fact in Brazil, where massive levels of poverty and corruption are rife throughout the political system. The response by those in power isn’t to fix these problems, but to focus cash and attention on getting the soccer team to the World Cup every four years.
Perhaps it’s worth it if we took a step back and looked at the way we treat sport in this society. While a little entertainment can be a good thing, there’s no need to gain an interest in a sport that’s ridiculous, or to lose attention from our lives and start to think sport is the most vital thing of all.
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