That Boulder is Much Too Large But I Can Lift A Smaller One




	That Boulder Is Much Too Large, But I Can Lift A Smaller One

		Aimlessly flipping the channels on television, as I often do, one can stumble upon some very eclectic programming. Some of my current favs include that over extended commercial (or is it an infomercial?) with the women frolicking on the beach in slow motion to bad saxophone flavored music with the phone number constantly being pasted on the screen enticing us to call now! Or perhaps the music performance spotlights on the Christian Television Station (CTS) when they show the christian rap artists bustin' a rhyme for Jesus! Or by chance you flip by the WB Network and catch the wonderfully bodacious Nikki Cox in her sitcom aptly named "Nikki" in which she plays a wanna-be dancer married to a wanna- be wrestler. The comedy practically writes itself. However, the single most bizarre programming I have stumbled upon recently are these new sporting events. You know the ones I am talking about...these shows that feature enormous mountains of men competing against one another in various medieval-like tests to determine who be the strongest amongst them. Seeing these types of so-called sporting events got me thinking. We need better new athletic pastimes because these strong men competitions are incredibly uninspired. It is unbelievable at the frequency that these types of sporting programs are popping up at. How many leagues of strong men are there exactly? Better yet, how many times do we need to prove who is the strongest? It seems to be a weekly contest at this point. You can literally catch a strong man competition on a weekly basis now on television. If you haven't seen one of these events before, they are easy to spot. All participants are over 300 pounds, 6 ft tall and 6ft wide. All tests of strength are done in a crude Viking like manner where the athletes (I guess) perform such feats as keg tosses, log lifts, and stone loads. Most programs call for the gentleman to carry a slab of concrete for a certain distance and usually conclude with the ever-popular truck pull. When one of the events scheduled is pulling a tractor with your teeth it begs the question…what are we proving here? Does it matter who is stronger at this point? We all get it! You are all very strong. There is nothing left to prove guys. Even worse, these contests have spawned many freak cousins. Lest we forget the Lumberjack games which consist of particpants testing their mettle in such events as the "Hot Saw", "The Standing Block", or other such "chopping" competitions. Contests of athleticism have and always will remain a great source of entertainment and competition. Sure we have well established games that have been played for countless years, but when was the last time a great new sport was developed? When we are reverting back to caveman-like lifting of boulders for sport it is a reminder that we need to set forth new challenges. We need some new athletic contests besides the baseballs, footballs et al. But the best we are coming up with is "Lift that or Pull this?" New sports need to be created, new games need to be played, and most of all athleticism needs to be creative again. Creativity has always played a huge part in sport. We need to inspire athletes with new creative outlets. It's the year 2001, we should be innovating new physical activities with exciting rules that will allow athletes now and for generations to come to compete in. Instead, we have meathead number 1 lifting a keg over his head. Can't we get kinesiology majors, phys ed teachers, or anyone developing new sports? Can we get someone on this job? Because it is sad to think that there are potentially children somewhere practicing tossing logs in their backyards. Even I am willing to do my part…just after I finish watching the new episode of "Nikki". …but that's just my opinion. Do you Agree with what he's saying? Tell Us HERE or mail to:michael@boldopinion.com Click here to see more articles by this Author!