Cheese Rolling Heading Downhill?

The people of Brockworth, along with a handful of tourists, have been chasing cheese down a hill for more than 200 years. The annual event takes place at Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester in the Cotswolds region of England, during the Spring Bank Holiday.

The format is simple. Double Gloucester Cheese is rolled from the top of the hill and competitors chase after it. Considering the cheese is given a head start and can reach speeds up to 70 mph, it is unlikely anyone will actually catch it. Rather the first person to cross the designated finish line at the bottom of the hill will be awarded the elusive cheese wheel.

As harmless as this may sound, many injuries have occurred at the event. Broken bones and concussions are attributed to the steepness of the hill. It is necessary to have several ambulances at the event and it isn’t unusual for them to make repeat trips to and from the hospital.

Sure, this may sound like loads of fun, but the event has somewhat diminished over the past two years. The large crowds prompted safety concerns which eventually forced cancellation of formal organization, although hundreds of people still gathered and held impromptu races.

In a statement on www.cheeserolling.org.uk:

What's happened to the Cheese Rolling event?

Unfortunately, the Cheese Rolling committee who organise the event and do all the unpaid work (and the limited company that keeps the float between years) have both disbanded.

The event got too big, the processes and management got beyond us and for every offer of help there were two demands for extra stuff to be done. The event may be back in future years, but we don't see how at the moment.

Apologies to all those who loved the event and wanted it to continue - we really did our best.

Related links:

http://www.soglos.com/sport-outdoor/31373/Gloucestershire-Cheese-Rolling-2011-video

http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk

Videos:

I surely hope this doesn’t spell the end for Cheese Rolling at Cooper’s Hill. It truly looks like fun is had by all.

Bo-Taoshi: The Sport that Inspired a Blog

It was nearly one month ago when the Japanese sport of Bo-Taoshi made a splash on the web. It was also then that I decided to delve into this project of blogging about obscure sports of the world. Bo-Taoshi – I deem it inspirational, you may call it lunacy. Either way, this is an exciting contest to behold.

What I know about this sport is merely from what I can decipher from the online videos or what I have gathered from other sites, and it is probably best described by watching the videos yourself. But if you’re one of those that prefer articles over illustrations, I’ll attempt to give a somewhat accurate description for you.

According to other sites, the game seems to have been first played in 1954-55. It is predominantly played by cadets at the National Defense Academy of Japan, but a simple search using a modern internet scanning device may yield results depicting other participants as well.

The main objective is to pull down your opponent’s pole while defending your own. Two teams are each comprised of 150 men; 75 attackers and 75 defenders. The attacking and defending sides of one team don’t appear to interact, it’s as if there are two separate matches commencing at once. Your defenders solely defend against the opposing team’s attackers and your attackers solely attack the opposing team’s defenders, yet this is all occurring at the same time. The result is quite chaotic. At least (American) Football has the decorum to alternate the rival stances instead of throwing everyone out there at the same time.

Once the match begins, the attackers have two (maybe three) minutes to pull down the opponent’s vertical pole to a minimum thirty-degree angle, which is different from the previous rule of forty-five degrees imposed until 1973.

There doesn’t seem to be any other rules beyond the main objective. Kicking and punching appear to be perfectly legal. Sprinting, climbing, then jumping from scaffolds created by human bodies is also legal, and probably highly encouraged.

Videos:

Other related articles:

http://www.deuceofdavenport.com/2011/05/new-sport-bo-taoshi/

http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2011/05/18/new-sport-alert-bo-taoshi-makes-sense-to-the-japanese-and-thats-all-that-counts-video/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-20064431-10391705.html

Welcome to Substream Sports

Welcome to Substream Sports. This site aims to encourage exercise, entertainment, and competition.
     

My name is Jeremy and my goal is to bring you weekly musings about the lesser known sports of the world. I’ve always tried delving into a new sport every year or two, something outside the mainstream genre. Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Ice Hockey are considered the “Big 4” sports in America. Any other team sport doesn’t gather much recognition from the national media. Individual sports such as tennis, golf, auto racing, and boxing are highly recognized as well, but this still leaves many, many sports with little to no coverage.

One may argue that lack of interest equals lack of coverage, but lack of awareness may also play a role, too. My contention isn’t that large masses would convene to watch a Shin Kicking championship if they were aware of such a competition, but it may inspire a few people to get off the couch and try something new, no matter how ridiculous it may seem to others.