Possibly the worlds greatest odd sporting event, the recent Cheeserolling championships at Coopers Hill, highlighted the fun that can be had with just an extremely steep grassy slope, fearlessness of being hurt and a nice mature cheddar. 
But if you have the first two and are lacking the cheese you could do worse than play Downhill Giant Slalom Running. This invented sport was featured on Channel 5's International King of Sports in 2004. Basically it's a running version of skiing's giant slalom and all you need to play is as steep a slope as possible and a set of poles to makes the slalom gates. Then, simply, take it in turns to run as fast as possible down the hill, passing through each gate in turn. The key to a fast time, just like in skiing, is to stay as close as possible to the inside pole. The fastest down the course wins.
After the recent entry "My Granny Went To Guantanemo" Strange Games received an email from Bryan Mayoh detailing an inane game he loves to play that has some similarities. He calls the game Fizzy Dizzy. 
Fizzy Dizzy is for as many players as feel brave enough to try it, each is given a glass full of fizzy coke which they must drink yet hold in their mouth without swallowing. Still holding the drink they must now do the usual close-eyes-head-on-broomstick and spin around ten times quickly. Once completed, and if they haven't choked or spewed, they must then try and run a short distance (say ten yards) and spit out whatever remains of the initial drink into a collecting glass. The winner is the person who can transfer as much of the original drink as possible in the shortest time. Bryan says, “When played properly there is much gagging, coke nasal spraying and general nausea amongst all players.”
If you have any Strange Games that you like to play then please send them to: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk
As the European Football Championships are being staged at the moment it only seems right that Strange Games should highlight an unusual new 
soccer-related game.
When you mention Swingball thoughts immediately turn to the well loved tennis-on-a-string garden game, but that is about to change as the new US version of Swingball takes off in popularity. Devised in 2001 by high school students in Hawthorne, New Jersey, as a soccer training aid to help learn dribbling and passing skills, Swingball requires two teams of two players, a soccer ball and a set of park swings. One team's players sit on the swings and start swinging - they can choose to face the same way or different and to swing in sync or out of sync. Opposing team players stand at either side of the swing and attempt to pass the ball back and forth between themselves, using two touches only on the ball - one to control it and one to pass. Every time they successfully get it past the swing defenders they gain a point. The team on the swings must try to intercept the ball whereupon they then control it and try to shoot it past the other team. Places are then changed to see who can achieve the greater score.
It would superb if US Swingball took off - think of the joy in watching Wayne Rooney wobbling about on a child's swing as David Beckham elegantly passes the ball through his legs.
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The sports offical governing body the United Swingball Association (USBA) can be contacted through swingball.org or through the Facebook group USBA - their motto proudly and eloquently sums up this dignified and exciting new sport, The Glory, The Passion, The Intensity.
An update on The Pub Bounce 2008 (bounce,binge,barf) first mentioned on Strange Games here. 
The perfect English event Pub Bouncing combines two of the country's most notable traits: nostalgia for the 1970s and binge drinking. The event, a pub crawl performed wholly on space hoppers around 9 pubs in Newport Pagnell, was successfully held on June 7th.
Spacehopper head honcho Mike Jones takes up the story:
" Although 148 people were in the facebook group only 30 people bounced, with others coming to watch or giving up at the 2nd or 3rd pub . We did stop traffic at one point with people bouncing in the road and 4 people popped into one of the local shops on their space hoppers, which was funny. At the first pub the landlord give a pitcher of Fosters free to the winner of a space hopper race. Only 3 people completed the route at 10:30 pm to a free bottle of Aftershock donated by the landlord. Everyone fell off their space hopper at some stage (I fell off 8 or 9 times). We all have cuts and bruises, which I kinda expected, but my upper thigh muscles still hurt now going upstairs and the next morning I couldn't walk." Amazingly, no one was sick!
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Get involved, join the Pub Bounce Facebook Group
Note: the accompanying photograph is of the actual event and shows how lack of pre-pub-bounce training affected Wayne Seamarks
Of highly questionable taste, this was sent into Strange Games by one Boris Spedding. It's the sort of game you would get if you crossed a memory test (My Granny Went to Market) with some light torture techniques so it's probably not one to play at the next kids' birthda
y party.
Boris writes: "Me and my friends devised this game at college. Everyone who's playing contributes to a list of words, say twenty in total and sets about memorising them. Then one at a time a player is blindfolded, stands in the middle of the room with his head bent down so that his forehead rests on a broom handle, and then they spin/shuffle round quickly twenty times. Whilst they are spinning round like this they must try and eat two dry crackers (Jacobs Crackers are good for this). The combination of being blindfolded and making yourself dizzy whilst forcing dry crackers into your mouth makes mincemeat out of most people.
As soon as they stop spinning they have a minute to shout out, as coherently as possible, as many of the words they can remember from the list."
if you know of any Strange Games please send them to: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk
This is a marvellous game for young children or particularly childish adults sent in by Strange Games reader Lurch Latronico. 
Human Buckaroo is a human version of the popular kids' table top game.
To play make some simple cards containing parts of the body such as 'Neck', 'Left ear', 'Right ear', 'Left shoulder', 'Head', 'Bottom' etc.. One player forms the bucking bronco by kneeling down on the floor, supporting their upper body with their arms...so they look just like a mule. The riding player then picks one of the cards at random and hands it unseen to the 'bronco' who can look at it. The riding player then sits on the broncos back keeping their feet off the floor and holding on with one hand and must use their other hand to touch one of the bronco's body parts. Obviously only one will result in the bronco bucking and the rider must do his best to hold on or else fall unceremoniously to the floor. If the rider touches a 'safe' place they can either retire unhurt with that score or else dare to play on: touch a different part of the bronco and try to score more.
For every body part touched without the bronco bucking you score a point, if the bronco bucks and you remain on then you gain an extra point. If you are thrown then you lose all points gained. Once a player either retires, or is thrown, play is reversed and the game continues.
Thanks once again to Lurch Latronico for this game...if you know of any Strange Games please send them to: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk
