| No
longer light-hearted, the competitors became edgy and uncomfortable, realising
their fate was about to be decided - the culmination of a year's efforts. Each
competitor had previously been required to submit one final entry from the events
they visited, and it was from these that the judges would decide. Each entry was
cross-examined, starting with Dick Bruce's (who unfortunately was unable to join
us, as he was Chairing the inaugural Dumfries and Galloway Society of Weird Sporting
Events AGM). Up Helly Aa, whilst being impressive, historical and very grand,
was not deemed to be weird enough and the judges expressed their surprise that
of the staggering and commendable number of weird sporting events Dick Bruce visited,
this was the event he chose.
| 
|  |
The Human Race at the HCPT
Annual Greyhound Race Night was submitted by John Flood, another impressive submission
largely as a result of the devious execution of evidence gathering. John had excitedly
cajoled fellow competitor Robert Bruce (Snr) (who had foolishly failed to bring
his Tonsley Colours Cap to the event) to take the photographic evidence required
for the submission. Reluctantly,
Robert obliged capturing a proud John Flood posing with race winners, rather like
a Peacock in full plume. Rather uncharacteristically, John had failed to read
the small print, and failed to submit his entry in the correct fashion, but the
judges were lenient and over-looked his error. | |
| A
disgraced Robert Bruce takes his place | "The
most enjoyable day out in Wales, I would highly recommend it - if it were not
near Fishguard" was the feedback the judges received from the ever-competitive
John Woolf, after his submission of Ras Beca's Race. Whilst other competitors
wrote derogatory comments about fellow competitors and their events in their reports,
thinking that it may swing the judges opinion, John Woolf wisely stuck to describing
the weirdness of his event, keeping the report simple and the judges were suitably
impressed. After characteristically
leaving it until the last minute, and bragging about his ability and sure-fire
victory in the competition, Robert Bruce (Snr) desperately scrambled to try to
put an entry together. On the final day possible, a report on Spile Troshing was
finally submitted to the judges at 16:00 on 11th March 2006. By 18:00 the Tonsley
Judges had smelt a rat - "IT problems" given as a reason for only one
poor quality image of the competitor in front of The Bull Inn in Hambridge, Somerset
holding what was claimed to be a trosher. Trosher it was not, pestle it was, The
Bull it was, Hambridge it was not, and by 18:30 the judges already had a photograph
of Judge Flood (Jnr) outside the same Bull Inn in Newick, West Sussex - a couple
of hundred miles from the suggested location. His downfall was spectacular, rigged
as a potential winner, Robert thought that he had got away with it, and that he
had even won, right up until the last minute when he was ceremonially de-bagged
and given a forfeit - to provide hospitality to all competitors and judges at
the 2007 Gird and Clique Championships in Scotland. And
my, we are all looking forward to it!
And
so it was… the close of the Second Chapter. History is made once more. |
