Must be slow sports week when....

You see this....Extreme Ironing!

I shit you not!






our local news even did a segment on it and had one of their reporters iron at the base of Niagara Falls

http://www.wgrz.com/video/vplayer.aspx?sid=52876&aid=35656

Now just how drunk did a bunch of guys have to be to come up with this idea? I cannot believe that this so called sport has a pretty regular following.

Wikipedia's entry on this includes the following;

Extreme Ironing (or EI) is an extreme sport and a performance art in which people take an ironing board to a remote location and iron a few items of clothing. According to the official website, extreme ironing is
“the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt."

History

Before heading into the mainstream, extreme ironing was used by the band Monster Magnet in the video for their song "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" from their album Dopes to Infinity (1995) (this useage was most likely unintentional, as the video features the band members performing perfectly ordinary activities on asteroids). However, purists of the sport will claim that it was started in 1997 in Leicester, East Midlands, England by resident Phil Shaw in his back garden. Shaw came home from what he recalls as a hard day in a Leicester knitwear factory.[3] Preferring the idea of an evening out rock climbing, he decided to combine the two activities into a new extreme sport. In June 1999, Shaw, who uses the nickname "Steam", embarked on an international tour to promote the activity. The stops included the United States of America, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. An encounter with German tourists in New Zealand led to the formation of a group called "Extreme Ironing International", and the German Extreme Ironing Section or GEIS.

As extreme ironing has branched off, the conditions can gain in extreme activity. For example a branch of ironing has been developed that includes both bungee jumping and well-pressed clothing. Bungee ironing is, what some would call, the ultimate in the thrill of extreme ironing.

A documentary, titled Extreme Ironing, was filmed for Britain's Channel 4. The programme concentrates on the rivalry between the EIB (Extreme Ironing Bureau) and a breakaway group called Urban Housework. It was later aired on the National Geographic Channel.[2]

In 2003, Phil Shaw released a book published by New Holland Publishers, also entitled Extreme Ironing[4]. The following year saw the release of a DVD titled Ironing Under the Sky, which was produced by Hot Under the Collar (HUTC) Productions. A follow-up documentary was made in 2004, this time by RDF and HUTC, which was aired on Sky's Adventure One channel the following year.

In 2003 the Rowenta Trophy was won by a group from South Africa by ironing across a gorge at the Wolfberg Cracks.

In 2004, the EIB traveled to the US on the Rowenta Tour to recruit additional ironists and ironed at Mount Rushmore, New York, Boston and Devils Tower.

Ummmmm okay I think I'll pass. I dread the day ESPN picks this up, bad enough they broadcast poker games and kids playing Speed Stackers. Hell if ESPN really is that hard up for stuff to put on the air why not make the life of mom's a sport. The diaper dash, keep the wet kid in the tub, followed by dress the kid who loves to be naked. Feeding time, if the baby keeps the strained peas inside the mouth 5 points! Then again it may be more fun watching the dad's do all that, and still managing to have dinner on the table, laundry and dished done, house dusted and vacuumed. grocery shopping done. You know all that stuff moms usually do and don't get paid for.

Kind of gives new meaning to the word Ironman.