Jersey quizzing
Michael’s quiz from Wednesday-last is now up on the site.
I myself have been away and have gone off-piste with my quizzing at The Lamplighter in St Helier in Jersey. A proper pub and a proper pub quiz – challenging and enjoyable range of questions from geometry to Morocco Mole. If you find yourself in St Helier it’s on at 8pm Wednesdays.
One question that was asked was “What is the national sport of Cuba?” The answer given was fair enough: baseball. Yet a case can equally be made for boxing and possibly athletics. Baseball is the most popular sport in terms of participants and viewers, but does that make it a “national sport” in the sense of being intrinsic to a country’s culture?
A few countries have passed legislation designating certain sports as national sports. Canada, for example, has two: lacrosse in the summer, ice hockey in the winter. Other countries have legally designated sports that are clearly identifiable as tied to that culture such as: Tejo in Colombia, a throwing game with small amounts of gunpowder; Charreria in Mexico, a horseback event listed by UNESCO as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage; and Arnis in the Philippines is the national martial art. Conversely the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India in 2021 issued a statement clarifying that it had not formally declared any sport the national sport.
Otherwise, one is in “unofficial” territory. Thus, whilst the USA’s “unofficial” national sport is said to be baseball a decent argument can surely be advanced for lacrosse and competitive eating respectively. (Those two together might be a good compromise). Scotland’s national sport is said to be golf, rather than say curling or football. Fishing/angling, despite being a mass participation sport doesn’t ever seem to get a look in.
Enough random musing. A themed round on this topic may crop up at some stage in the near future.
Cheers
Frank
Ye Old Elm Tree
