Wife Carrying (Courtesy of Sunday River)

The Running of the Porta-Potties  (Staci Wolfson)

Highland Games

Beer Pong

1.  Beer Pong
While this list isn't in order, is there any other "sport" that should be at the top? Just a simple frat-boy drinking game, you say? Not to the nearly 600 participants from 39 states who competed in last year's World Series of Beer Pong in -- where else? -- Las Vegas.

2. Texting Championships
If you want to be a great athlete, you need to practice. Just ask the winner of last year's LG National Texting Championship, who allegedly sends more than 5,000 text messages a month. The $50,000 prize should help with the doctor's bills for carpal tunnel therapy.

3. Wiffle Ball
Kids will be kids, unless of course they are 40-year-old men still perfecting their screwball with the little white plastic wonder. No longer just a backyard activity to pass the time 'til dinner or bedtime, there are now teams, leagues and tournaments for those among us who never grow old (or up).

4. Wife Carrying
Looking for a sport to play as a couple? Head up to Maine in October for the annual North American Wife Carrying Championships. The sport started in Finland centuries ago with a prize rivaling any trophy -- the victorious couple wins the wife's weight in beer.

5. Running of the Porta-Potties
Drunks running across over-used crap boxes while other drunks throw beer cans (empty and full) at the runner's head -- awesome. The folks at Pimlico hope the ban on bring-your-own-beer will put an end to this relatively new athletic endeavor. If so, it will still live in infamy on YouTube.

6. Cornhole
Ever wonder what to call the game you see people playing at tailgates as they toss beanbags into holes in raised boards? Well, now you know. And the American Cornhole Organization (ACO) is working on a Pro Tour and TV deals -- seriously.

7. Rock Paper Scissors
There is an annual International World Championship sanctioned by the World RPS Society, the USA Rock Paper Scissors League sponsored by Bud Light, and there are more regional tournaments than there are mathematical combinations among the three "handy" weapons. RPS is apparently much more than a way to decide who's on diaper duty.

8. Man vs. Beast
Just because a TV special or two of this name aired on Fox, doesn't mean there's not serious merit here. Take the Man Versus Horse Marathon in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells, which strikes us as an extended version of Chad Johnson's Ocho Cinco vs. Horse race, which in turn makes us think of the Charles Barkley -- Dick Bavetta race. This last one may not be exactly man vs. beast, but then again…

9. Sport Stacking
Also known as cup stacking or speed stacking, this sport seems to be dominated by pre-teens with too much time on their hands. You need to see it to believe it.

10. World's Strongest Man
Remember when late-night ESPN meant nothing but men throwing kegs, pulling 18-wheelers and carrying cars Fred Flintstone-style? As Simon and Garfunkel might have said, "Where have you gone, Magnus ver Magnusson?"

11. Curling
Leave it to the Scots to make a game out of a frozen lake, large granite stones and brooms. If the Olympic Games recognize this activity, surely they can bring back one-hand weightlifting, club swinging and tug-o-war.    

12. Synchronized Swimming
Continuing with the "Just because it's in the Olympics, doesn't mean it ain't weird" theme, synchronized swimming could have earned a spot on the list simply by virtue of the classic Martin Short skit from SNL. Floaties and a nose-clip, anyone?

13. Fruitcake Toss
Who says food and exercise don't mix? Clearly not the participants of the annual Fruitcake Tosses held each January.

14. Chess Boxing
It's exactly what it sounds like. Competitors battle it out in alternating three-minute rounds of boxing and four-minute rounds of speed chess. The World Chess Boxing Organization, based in Berlin, has a simple slogan: "Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board."

15. Highland Games
We couldn't resist including an event where the men are in kilts. With events like the caber toss and weight throw, these Scottish festivals are worth their weight in haggis.

By Jennifer Nelson and Kevin Heitz

PressBox is available every month on the 15th.

Issue 137: May 2009