Wild and Crazy Recap

Reminiscing on the bizarre athletic events that redefine our concept of sports

By Sean Sweeney

After eight months, dozens of columns and one trip to see a man train surf, my time is over. No more ladder racing. No more extreme ironing. No more bog snorkeling. The Greasy Pole is officially being put to bed. In honor of the most foolish, brainless and unruly posts one blog has ever seen, let’s reminisce.

The journey started in Gloucester, Mass., just 30 minutes from my home. Drunken pot-bellied home-towners stumbling across a log, 20-feet above the ocean. Costumes from Santa to the seven dwarfs required. The maniacal event, running across a lathered log to grab a flag, served as the inspiration for the name The Greasy Pole.

We visited places in Europe so obscure, my spell check completely passed them over. We watched as people raced with their wives sprawled over their shoulders. We witnessed the world’s ultimate beard competitions. We learned of sporting events injected with a dose of insanity: polo with elephants, wrestling matches with camels and iron man marathons against horses.

Never before was pole dancing so art-worthy until The Greasy Pole dug up a video of a German princess swinging so roughly, she fell backwards, taking the pole with her. Also, don’t forget the psychotic video game players. And we can’t forget the idea of the Naked Olympics. Their original slogan was “the start of something big.” That’s awesome. Or not.

In honor of me, please go out and do crazy things. I think you should start a sledding league, upright in a garbage can. Or maybe you could start a dancing competition, in stilts on top of a moving bus. Just don’t say you got the idea from me.

Sean Sweeney is a regular contributor to The Greasy Pole.