May 15, 2003

All the news that's fit to sit

The Dutch have come up with a sport that won't be held at Olympic competitions anytime soon.

REUTERS UK: Iron buttocks in pole-sitting battle

The unusual sport dates back to 1952, when villages in the Dutch province of Holland were flooded and inhabitants sat on top of poles until rescuers arrived.

The Dutch are the sport's purists.

"The Dutch competitions mimic the original scene. There, you don't get to sit on a board, and you can't come down. The winner is the last one to fall into the water," Mueller said.

It's amazing how some sports get their start. I mean, soccer came from kicking a Dane's head around, and handball comes from winner-gets-killed competitions among the Aztecs. You would think by this logic that Smash-A-Store-Window-Grab-A-TV-100-Meter-Sprint would be a sport in Los Angeles after the Rodney King riots.

What regional sport would come out of the disasters and events in your part of the world?