In the past, I have taken a look at some crazy sporting events out there in the world that many people from our area haven’t heard anything about.

Everyone out there is familiar with sports like baseball, basketball, football, tennis, and golf but there are genuinely some sports out there that will bring a chuckle when reading about.

So buckle your seat belts and hold on for another edition of whacked-out sports.

Conker Smashing

What is a conker? It is a nut of the horse chestnut tree, which is threaded onto a piece of string. Conker smashing is a game in which the objective is to break other player’s conker (a horse-chestnut).

The game originated in the UK as a pass time activity. Currently, it is practiced in many countries around the world.

The only equipment required for the sport is conkers and laces. One player called the receiver holds the end of the lace on which his conker hangs while the striker swings his conker to smash the receiver’s conker.

A game starts with a coin toss to decide the first receiver and the striker. Players switch roles after every three strikes.

The game ends as soon as one player smashes the other’s nut. If the game goes beyond five minutes, each player gets nine final strikes from which the one with most strikes or the one to crack the nut is the winner.

Clog Cobbing

The world championships of Clog Cobbing is held every Easter at the Roebuck Inn, Whitewell Bottom, Rossendale, Lancashire.

To cob is colloquial UK English for throwing, or throw, a clog the furthest down a path.

The competition began in the early 1960s after locals came up with the novel way of raising money for charity and if you are lucky, you may see it yourself.

The aim of the competition is to see who can throw a clog the greatest distance. The art of clog cobbing involves swinging the clog between the legs a few times to build up momentum and then hurling it backwards over the head.

Ferret legging

Ferret legging is an endurance contest to see who can keep a ferret in their trousers the longest. It became a popular competition from the 1970s among coal miners in Yorkshire, England.

Ferrets are the obvious choice for such a sport, as they are natural tunnel crawlers that take pleasure in cramped spaces.

Male-only participants put live ferrets inside their pants. They tie their pants at the ankles before placing the two ferrets inside and fastening their belts.

Contestants are not allowed to wear underwear and the ferrets must have a full set of teeth. The winner is the last to release the animal.

Redneck Games

The Summer Redneck Games started in 1996 as an alternative to the Olympic Games being held in Atlanta, Georgia, in response to a lot of jokes being made about a bunch of rednecks hosting the Olympics.

It is now held annually, gradually increasing in popularity and attendance.

The events include the following:

o    Mud Pit Belly Flop

o    Seed Spitting Contest

o    Hubcap Hurl

o    Armpit Serenade

o    the Bobbin’ for Pig’s Feet Fest

o    Redneck Horseshoes — in which toilet seats instead of horseshoes are the objects thrown.

Shin Kicking

Shin-kicking (also known as hacking or purring) is an ancient sport, part of the annual Cotswold Olympics.

The aim of shin-kicking is simple: kick your opponent as hard as you can in the shins. Each time your opponent falls to the ground, you earn a point.

The winner is the person with the highest score in the best of three rounds. Competitors face each other and hold onto each other’s collar.

They kick at each others shins to try and knock them down.

They can also pad their legs with as much straw as possible and thankfully are required to wear soft shoes. No more steel-capped boots like in the past!