It’s that time of year when your favorite hockey team has let you down yet again and you’re on the lookout for a new sport to follow. Allow me to present for your enjoyment and consideration a sport unlike any you’ve followed before. The participants can be a little rough around the edges, but apart from the occasional mouthful of spittle coming your way the spectator is generally safe. In this sport there is no boring hockey bits between fights, no here the spectator enjoys the experience of pure brute force, one true beast against another. Of course I refer to the great sport of “Camel Wrestling”.
Camel wrestling is no Johnny-come-lately in the sports world having been enjoyed for more the 2,400 years. I know it
can be hard to envision such a great length of time, but to make it clearer, that it is roughly five times as long as the shelf life of an average Twinkie.
Like any professional sport there has to be qualified referees to make sure things run smoothly. In camel wrestling there are 14 such referees monitoring each bout, so you can imagine the speed of each battle. In addition to the refs, of course there is a board of judges on hand just in case the camels stray too far away from the accepted rules and to rate each camel’s technique. Of course there are cows in heat nearby to motivate the players to attack each other. As you can see the sport is similar to hockey in many ways.
Each wrestling bout is comprised of two male camels attempting to get the other to the ground or force him to flee. To help you visualize this, imagine if you will the scene at the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant following the Weightwatchers’ weigh-in. Uniforms? Of course there has to be uniforms, otherwise how could it really be considered a sport? Each camel is outfitted with layers of brightly coloured tapestry thingies and bells to make them stand out from one another. As to the choice of one hump or two, both varieties of camel enjoy favour in the sport.
The prize for all the expense and effort taken by the owner of the winning camel is usually in the form of a nice new rug. Of course, camel meat is on hand for the culinary enjoyment of the spectators, but no information was available by deadline on whether it is the winner or the loser.
Now that you’re all revved up and ready to go, just make sure that you’ve had your inoculations and a valid passport. What? Didn’t I mention that you’re on your way to Turkey?
Well, I thought it was funny... 
There is the ‘Cow Fight’ in Korea. I think this is more exciting sport. :-p
Anyway I haven’t heard about this ‘Camel Wrestling’. I’d like to watch this game if I have a chance to visit Turkey. 🙂
Wow, that bull fighting looks rough. Those bulls even got tattoos, ours are too wimpy for that.