Following hot on the heels of last month’s ninth annual Chap Olympiad, the Redneck ‘Blank’ Games (presumably the blank stands for ‘Olympic’) kicked off last weekend in the town of Herron, Maine.
Organiser Harold Brooks changed the name of the event under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, who – perhaps not surprisingly – seem to have less of a sense of humour about the whole thing than he does.
Talking to the Huffington Post, Mr Brooks explained that he was upset that he had been forced to bow to pressure from the IOC over the use of the word ‘Olympic’, claiming they weren’t the ones who invented the word in the first place.
“The word was around before they were around,” he said, pointing to the Olympics’ origins in ancient Greece. “If they want to complain, then they should have the Greeks call and tell me to stop using it.”
Looks like the ball is in your court now, Sparta!
Anyway, Mr Brooks and his band of rednecked, hillbilly athletes didn’t let a little naming rights kerfuffle dampen their spirit. The event kicked off in traditional fashion with a demoltion derby on the Friday. There was also – if reports are to be believed – a wedding.
Let’s hope there were a few shotguns present.
A number of other popular events over the weekend included bobbing for pig’s feet (trotters and all), toiletseat horseshoes and a greased watermelon relay race.
Mr Brooks says that the event is really just an excuse to get hard-working people together to blow off a little steam.
“A redneck is someone who works hard. They say their neck is red because they work outside. A redneck can make fun of himself and have a good time,” said Brooks, who (when he’s not organising Olympic-style events or taking on the IOC) works as a general contractor.
While there was plenty of food provided, the moonshine was apparently BYO.
Image: Thinkstock
