Odd Sports, Anyone? (Probably Not...)
Roach Racing
At least two US venues offer Roach Racing, a sport that's definitely not meant for the squeamish. New Berlin, Wisconsin, joins in the fun with an annual contest held by Batszer Pest Management, and they do it with style. The contestants of this event are boisterous and ever-so-huge Madagascar hissing cockroaches. At the seventh annual event in 2007, a competitor named Rocky went the distance, thus ensuring that a local charity would become $200 richer. During the Roachingham 500, held each year at Bugfest in Raleigh, North Carolina, cockroaches race in front of huge crowds that come to see this and other bug-related events.
Segway Polo
Why play ordinary polo on the back of an outdated, analog horse when you can play on a Segway, a two-wheeled electric vehicle that is ridden while standing? This unique scooter was first put into polo-playing use during a Minnesota Vikings halftime show in 2003. Since then this funky sport has attracted many people, and organized groups have popped up. Segway polo's greatest advantage over regular polo is that there's nothing to shovel off the field when the game is over.
Underwater Hockey
Aside from the obvious difference in playing surfaces, another major distinction between ice hockey and underwater hockey is the uniforms. Ice hockey players layer up with heavy padding and clothing, but underwater hockey players must don a swimming suit, fins, snorkel, and a mask, and then submerge themselves in water.
Invented in 1954 by Alan Blake of England, underwater hockey has evolved into an international sport. Dozens of teams from around the world compete at the world championships, which are held every other year. The sport's rules are similar to those of traditional hockey, but the equipment varies greatly between the two sports, most notably the sticks and pucks. Since underwater hockey requires that its participants push the puck along the bottom of a pool, the disk is suitably hefty, weighing about 3 pounds. On the other hand, the stick is a wimpy device, approximately one foot long.
Ferret Legging
Ferret legging is a bizarre English sport with roots tracing back to the 1970s. It encourages interplay between humans and ferrets and has many critics up in arms, citing animal cruelty.
The premise is straightforward: Two ferrets are dropped into a competitor's trousers after the bottoms have been tied off. This precludes an easy escape and forces the wiley critters to feverishly climb the competitor's legs in search of an exit. Yet, the contestants also tightly cinched their belts, just for added fun. As the ferrets become panicked, they begin to bite, a behavior that the elongated critters indulge in with alarming ferocity. And did we mention that participants must compete sans underwear? The winner is the player who ends up "keepin' 'em down" the longest, to use the sport's jargon. For many years, the ferret legging record stood just under one minute, but the current record is more than 5 hours! Yikes!
[From The Book of Unusual Knowledge]
