四級晨讀主題美文100篇 47

Not long ago those turned off by the greed and grim solemnity of prosports could turn to extreme sports like snowboarding and speed climbing. But now, many of the extremists, propped up by huge sponsorship contracts, are just as dollar-driven and take themselves just as seriously. That’s why we’re heartened to hear of the extremely extreme sports, in which competitors compete for the sheer fun of it, and the game itself is insignificant, irrelevant and still a glorious lark.

Last month 80 competitors from 10 nations went to Germany for the first world championship of Extreme Ironing, a hot new board sport that combines the adrenaline buzz of surfing with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt. Challenged to let off steam in perilous settings-from mountain peaks to rapids—contestants were judged on the quality of the creases in their clothing. The victorious British squad pressed ahead by steering an inner tube through white water while warbling God Save the Queen. When was the last time you heard an NFL quarterback whistle while he worked?

Competitors at England’s Cooper Hill Cheese Rolling Championship, in which the aim is to catch up with an eight-pound cheese wheel plummeting down a 45-degree slope, are especially upbeat. That two cheese chasers were hospitalized and 13 others treated by paramedics at this years’ event has done nothing to dim enthusiasm for next year’s. As one well-ripened vet has said ,“if you can’t get completely blotto and hurl yourself down a hill in pursuit of a Double Gloucester, what’s the point of living?”

It’s not too late to get off your couch and into the fun, sports spuds. You can head to next month’s Punkin Chunkin World Championships in Lewes, Del., where pumpkins will be heaved over a soybean field by contraptions made out of everything from tree trunks to giant rubber bands.