Extreme Ironing

History
     Ironing is a common household chore that is defined as the act or process of smoothing or pressing clothes, linens, etc., with a heated iron. Extreme ironing was created by British knitwear factory working and rock climbing enthusiast, Phil Shaw. He decided to combine his work and his passion to create extreme ironing.

Rules

• The object of extreme ironing is to take ironing to the edge by demonstrating a spectacular or creative ironing style
• Competitors take their irons and their ironing boards to extreme places such as mountains, lakes, deserts, and they iron clothing.

Pics

World Adult Kickball Association

History
     Kickball has been a common sight in elementary school playgrounds for generations. Originally called "Kick Baseball", it was created in 1917 by Nicholas Seuss. In the 1920's it made its first appearance in physical education classes. In 1998 the World Adult Kickball Association was from in the D.C area. It is the largest sanctioning body of adult kickball in the world.

Rules
     Kickball follows the same basic rule set as baseball with some slight variances

• Bases are 60ft apart
• WAKA requires their participants wear sneakers. No cleats allowed.
• All players must be at least 21 years old.
• A team consists of 8-11 players.
• Each team must have at least 4 players of each sex.
• A game is 5 innings in length.
• In the event of a tie, the game is marked as a tie. No extra innings

Pictures

USA Rock Paper Scissors League

History

     Rock Paper Scissors is a fairly simple game which dates back hundreds of years. It is widely believed that the game was invented in Japan during the 19th century, although some say it's roots can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty. Rock Paper Scissors has not been played in formal competition until very recently. The USARPS  (United States of America Rock Paper Scissors) League was formed in 2006. The first national championship was televised on the A&E network. The winner was awarded $50,000 grand prize.

Rules

• A Rock Paper Scissors bout consists of two shooters throwing one of three hand gestures - Rock, Paper, or Scissors.
• Rock beats scissors, but loses to paper. Scissors beat Paper, but loses to rock. Paper beats Rock, but loses to scissors..

 

• Best of three wins the competition.
• In the event that both shooters throw the same gesture, it is a tie and they must shoot again.

Pictures

Unicycle Hockey

History

          Unicycle hockey began in the early 1960's with the Albuquerque Unicycle Club. Hockey was just one of the activities they did on unicycles. The first club that formed solely for the purpose of playing hockey on unicycles was the Wheel People in mind 1970s California. The sport increased popularity shortly after in Europe. The first world championship was held in 1994 in Minneapolis. There were eight participating teams.

Rules

•  As its name would suggest, unicycle hockey is very similar to hockey.
• Each team consists of 5 players. Substitutions are allowed.
• A player may only participate if he is atop his unicycle. If the player falls off, he must reestablish himself back on the unicycle before he can resume participation.
• The object of the game is to put the street hockey puck into a 1.8m wide net.
• Hitting the puck in with your hand is not permitted. You must use the hockey stick
• The game lasts for two 15 minute periods. The clock stops when play stops.

Pictures

Finnish Wife Carrying

                                                            History
Wife carrying originated as a joke in Finland. It dates back to an old Finnish courting ritual which involved a man running to a woman's village, picking her up, and carrying her off. The sport has since greatly grown in popularity and is practiced all around the world. For example, the North American Wife Carrying Championship is held in Newry, Maine every year.

                                                            Rules
*Rules vary slightly depending on location

• A Wife Carrying team consists of a man and a woman. For the purposes of the game, the man is referred to as the husband and the woman is referred to as the wife. They needn't actually be man and wife.
• Depending on the country, both contestants must be either 18 or 21 years old.
• The wife must be a minimum of 100lbs. Should she be under 100lbs, she must wear additional weights that bring her to that minimum weight.
• The object is for the husband to carry the wife through an obstacle course. This obstacle course is usually about 250 ft. and consists of sand, mud, hurdles, and waist deep water. Dropping the wife results in a 10 second penalty
• There are no rules on how the husband carries the wife as long as it is by his own power. Harnesses, wagons, and other aids are not allowed. There are several different methods of carrying, but the most popular consists of the wife hanging upside down with her arms wrapped around the husband's waist and her legs draped over his shoulders. This is known as the Estonian Style.
• The team with the fastest time through the obstacle course wins.
• In the North American championship the winners receive the wife's weight in beer and 5 times the wife's weight in cash.

Should anybody be interested, the 11th Annual North American Wife Carrying Championship will take place Saturday, October 9, 2010. It will be held at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. The winners will earn a spot to compete in the World Championships in Finland. The next post will be on Unicycle Hockey.

                                                          Pictures

Tired of the same old sports?

Is football not quite your thing? Do you find baseball to be a little boring? All hope is not lost. There is a whole world of fascinating and bizarre sports out there - something to pique anybody's interest. I will post the history, rules, and pictures of one unique sport each week. The first post will be on Finnish Wife Carrying.