A sport I actually like? Wow!
Yesterday I went to a sporting event. By choice. And I loved it!
A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to do a photoshoot with a world-class athlete named Shana Martin. She's a lumberjack ("lumberjill", I'm learning, is the correct term). A mutual friend told me that Shana was going to be competing in a "log-rolling thingy" this weekend, and suggested I come watch. So... I grabbed my camera and headed out to Madison to see what it was all about.
A couple of things:
- When KJ said that Shana was competing in the event, she failed to mention that Shana was running the event!
- The event wasn't just a competition, it was a fund-raiser for the Hunting Disease Society of America
- I hate sports (except boxing in the lower weight classes).
- It was a hot day (contrary to what the weatherman predicted) and I forgot my sunscreen.
When I arrived, the student divisions were competing. 10-year old boys and girls rolling huge logs with speed and precision. I don't think I could last 10 seconds on the log all by myself, and these kids were lasting for several minutes with a competitor actively trying to make them fall off.
Later on, the pros arrived. The little kids were impressive enough... but the pros? Wow!
I walked into this whole thing knowing absolutely nothing about the sport. I basically went to see a friend compete and get some photos for her to use in promoting her classes and her charity cause. I knew nothing about the rules--but I didn't need to. It's really quite simple: Stay on the log; make the other person fall off the log. There are some rules about time that I haven't quite figured out (but they looked to be quite simple and straight forward), and it look like the longer the match goes on, the smaller (and "faster") the logs get. But that's about it.
Log-rolling is a very elegant sport. It's about strength, skill, precision, and timing. It's fast-paced and exciting. It's not bogged down with rules, procedures, statistics, loopholes, and arbitrary complexity. It sounds really strange to hear myself say this, but... I think I'll be attending some sporting events this summer--only next time I'll remember to bring my sun-screen so I can stay long enough to watch the boom run competition.
