What are some smaller tournaments/competitions to watch in 2023?
February 9, 2023 5:30 AM Subscribe
I want to learn about how other people live by watching folks compete in games I've never heard of before. What smaller-scale tournaments or competitions are worth tuning into this year?
This is a pretty vague question so I'll try to clarify -
I just saw a clip of people playing the meso-american ballgame. Its fantastic! And the other day, I saw a clip of a Highlands Games where someone was lifting massive boulders. People do so much more than basketball and Fortnite.
But, a clip of the game doesn't really add cultural context the way a tournament or competition does.
So I'm looking for those tournaments, the tournaments where watching them shows a bit about the teams/players/skills/choices, but also about the culture of competition, the community, the history of the game.
Size doesn't matter - if it's a random town that has a really great intramural t-ball league, or an international supercomputer competition, that's fine.
Language does matter - I only speak English - but feel free to share either way!
Commentary is a huge plus - of the competition has an announcer who can teach about the game as you watch, that's fantastic!
This is a pretty vague question so I'll try to clarify -
I just saw a clip of people playing the meso-american ballgame. Its fantastic! And the other day, I saw a clip of a Highlands Games where someone was lifting massive boulders. People do so much more than basketball and Fortnite.
But, a clip of the game doesn't really add cultural context the way a tournament or competition does.
So I'm looking for those tournaments, the tournaments where watching them shows a bit about the teams/players/skills/choices, but also about the culture of competition, the community, the history of the game.
Size doesn't matter - if it's a random town that has a really great intramural t-ball league, or an international supercomputer competition, that's fine.
Language does matter - I only speak English - but feel free to share either way!
Commentary is a huge plus - of the competition has an announcer who can teach about the game as you watch, that's fantastic!
Best answer: When I lived briefly in London, I got into professional darts. It started as a bit, but there's a ton of personality and drama. And the setting is typically a giant room with a big crowd getting progressively more drunk and rowdy. A nine-dart finish makes the room shake. It all looks like a great gag but the players are really impressively skilled. The "premier league" is happening now.
posted by AgentRocket at 6:27 AM on February 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by AgentRocket at 6:27 AM on February 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
(Here is a little taste, from the World Championship in December.)
posted by AgentRocket at 6:30 AM on February 9, 2023
posted by AgentRocket at 6:30 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: You might enjoy the Netflix series Home Game, about interesting regional sports. I’ve only seen the first episode, but loved it—that was about Florentine calcio storico, which is like soccer crossed with MMA, and which is one tournament you could potentially check out.
posted by music for skeletons at 7:10 AM on February 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by music for skeletons at 7:10 AM on February 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Competitive pinball includes commentary!
Here's a good example of top-level competition.
Enough content here to keep you busy for the next few months https://pinballvideos.com/
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 7:11 AM on February 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
Here's a good example of top-level competition.
Enough content here to keep you busy for the next few months https://pinballvideos.com/
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 7:11 AM on February 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Fencing. You won't understand what is going on, but there is a lot of yelling and people pleading with the referees, at least in sabre.
posted by Peach at 7:11 AM on February 9, 2023
posted by Peach at 7:11 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: The women's World Curling Championships are coming right up!
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:30 AM on February 9, 2023
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:30 AM on February 9, 2023
The Northern Games! Here's an older (1980) documentary.
posted by kate4914 at 7:36 AM on February 9, 2023
posted by kate4914 at 7:36 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: How about Sumo?
Five tournaments each year. Tournaments are 15 days (each participant has one match per day). Calendar here: https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/year_schedule/. Next one starts March 12th.
You can find 30 minute recaps on NHK's "on demand" video section during each tourament (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/). But, they take them down shortly after the tournament. Commentary is in English.
Also, there is a YouTube channel that comes and goes, under Natto Sumo, that prepares a 30 minute cut of just the matches from the day (original commentary in Japanese), but provides a useful stat sheet before each match that provides details about each participant, which is informative.
posted by bruinfan at 8:12 AM on February 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Five tournaments each year. Tournaments are 15 days (each participant has one match per day). Calendar here: https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/year_schedule/. Next one starts March 12th.
You can find 30 minute recaps on NHK's "on demand" video section during each tourament (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/). But, they take them down shortly after the tournament. Commentary is in English.
Also, there is a YouTube channel that comes and goes, under Natto Sumo, that prepares a 30 minute cut of just the matches from the day (original commentary in Japanese), but provides a useful stat sheet before each match that provides details about each participant, which is informative.
posted by bruinfan at 8:12 AM on February 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: There are a whole lot of ancient soccer/MMA games like calcio fiorentino. Wikipedia has a whole category for "traditional football" pages. Most are exceedingly local.
Staying in Tuscany, another famous one is the Palio di Siena, a horse race between neighborhoods.
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, or the exact opposite, but sometimes I find it interesting to watch sports outside of their "home" contexts. I'm American, so for me this means stuff like Australian Rules Football in the US. For a European, it might mean American football. European soccer has become pretty mainstream in the US at this point, but for a long time it was a good way to meet immigrants and expatriates. Go to a bar showing an Aston Villa-Southampton game, start a conversation with the person next to you, and ask them "why Aston Villa?" You'd learn a lot about English society that way. It's still somewhat true with clubs like Athletic Bilbao, but it's much easier to find groups of Aston Villa fans than Athletic Bilbao.
Watching a former colony play its colonizer in any sport (but especially one imported by the colonizer) is usually an interesting way to learn about the former colony's society and culture. Especially if the colony wins! There's a real complex dynamic at work, even among fans of the same team. I get the sense that cricket is one of the better sports for this. See e.g., West Indies' 1950 win over England, which inspired a fun celebration song.
If you don't mind watching events from the past, demonstration sports at the Olympics are usually a good way to learn about local sports. They don't really do demonstration sports anymore, so you have to go back. Again, Wikipedia's got you.
For most past stuff, the Wide World of Sports on ABC (pre-absorption into ESPN) was great for this. I remember one episode about ice boat racing in Wisconsin in particular as being super-local.
There are occasional cross-code football matches. All varieties of football, from soccer to rugby to American football, have a common ancestor, and occasionally competitors from various codes will try to play one another using a mix of rules. See, e.g., International Rules Football, a cross between Australian footy and Gaelic football. You get a 2-for-1 on rules and history here, because they have to explain the history and culture of both sports to explain the hybrid.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2023
Staying in Tuscany, another famous one is the Palio di Siena, a horse race between neighborhoods.
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, or the exact opposite, but sometimes I find it interesting to watch sports outside of their "home" contexts. I'm American, so for me this means stuff like Australian Rules Football in the US. For a European, it might mean American football. European soccer has become pretty mainstream in the US at this point, but for a long time it was a good way to meet immigrants and expatriates. Go to a bar showing an Aston Villa-Southampton game, start a conversation with the person next to you, and ask them "why Aston Villa?" You'd learn a lot about English society that way. It's still somewhat true with clubs like Athletic Bilbao, but it's much easier to find groups of Aston Villa fans than Athletic Bilbao.
Watching a former colony play its colonizer in any sport (but especially one imported by the colonizer) is usually an interesting way to learn about the former colony's society and culture. Especially if the colony wins! There's a real complex dynamic at work, even among fans of the same team. I get the sense that cricket is one of the better sports for this. See e.g., West Indies' 1950 win over England, which inspired a fun celebration song.
If you don't mind watching events from the past, demonstration sports at the Olympics are usually a good way to learn about local sports. They don't really do demonstration sports anymore, so you have to go back. Again, Wikipedia's got you.
For most past stuff, the Wide World of Sports on ABC (pre-absorption into ESPN) was great for this. I remember one episode about ice boat racing in Wisconsin in particular as being super-local.
There are occasional cross-code football matches. All varieties of football, from soccer to rugby to American football, have a common ancestor, and occasionally competitors from various codes will try to play one another using a mix of rules. See, e.g., International Rules Football, a cross between Australian footy and Gaelic football. You get a 2-for-1 on rules and history here, because they have to explain the history and culture of both sports to explain the hybrid.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: How about castelling (festive and competitive human tower building)? Previously on Metafilter (all the links are dead but there is lots of personal experience in the comments).
posted by Mitheral at 10:46 AM on February 9, 2023
posted by Mitheral at 10:46 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: One year, I ended up watching the world billiards trick shot championships. I can't find a current tournament, but there are lots of videos showing billiards trick shot competitions.
And while searching, I ran into this table tennis trick shot competition. (Edited to add: sorry, that is really old.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:51 AM on February 9, 2023
And while searching, I ran into this table tennis trick shot competition. (Edited to add: sorry, that is really old.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:51 AM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: Kabaddi! Popular in the Indian subcontinent, it's a team sport played on a small court. Teams take turns to send a raider into the opposing half of the court, trying to 'tag' opposing team members and get back to their side of the court without being stopped. Raiders have to chant 'kabaddi'' while in the opposing half (to ensure they can't take a breath), defenders have to work in pairs, holding hands. Always a fun watch, at international level it can be quite something. The World Cup starts in a couple of weeks.
posted by Hogshead at 3:50 PM on February 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Hogshead at 3:50 PM on February 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Lancaster Archery Classic, barebow division. The announcers explain barebow to the viewers, which is a niche division within a niche sport. Lancaster has its own unique quirks as far as archery competitions go.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:00 PM on February 9, 2023
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:00 PM on February 9, 2023
Best answer: Perhaps Roller Derby? WFTDA is the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, with over 400 roller derby leagues worldwide, and they have both a Twitch stream and YouTube channel, with a solid back catalogue of bouts, commentary, interviews with individual skaters, etc.
posted by Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld at 7:17 PM on February 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld at 7:17 PM on February 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
My first notion was to follow the sports teams of your local high school or college. Track and field might be the best if you can find meets that welcome spectators. A meet is a three ring circus with multiple events running simultaneously. On any given day, there are athletes competing head to head to be the best in the league or conference for the year.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:03 AM on February 10, 2023
posted by SemiSalt at 5:03 AM on February 10, 2023
Offbeat professional sports that occasionally show-up on cable (i.e. ESPN, TBS, etc) which I’m pretty sure also have YouTube channels:
Pro Cornhole
Pro Axe Throwing
Pro Team Tag
Pro Face Slapping
posted by Thorzdad at 6:18 AM on February 10, 2023
Pro Cornhole
Pro Axe Throwing
Pro Team Tag
Pro Face Slapping
posted by Thorzdad at 6:18 AM on February 10, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
Cheese Rolling
Chili Eating
Fantasy Hairstyling
Yo-Yo
Dog Dancing
Frog Jumping
posted by staggernation at 6:05 AM on February 9, 2023 [9 favorites]