In this great country we call the United States of America, we sometimes have less than open minds. It took two-hundred and thirty-two years to elect an African American president, German people are not inherently evil (they make great chocolate and sausages), and communism, in theory, is not all that bad. However, up and away, the most detrimental prejudices Americans hold are against international sports. This must come to an end; imagine the true royalty our country would attain if we began to embrace these seemingly strange yet truly first-rate sports.

Gaelic Football

Originating in Ireland, Gaelic football is now one of the oldest sports in the world still played today.. Somewhat of a hybrid between soccer and rugby, the sport consists of two fifteen player teams on a field a bit larger than a soccer field with one H shaped goal at each end. Players can carry the ball, about the size of a volleyball, no more than four steps before they must either bounce it on the ground or juggle it with their feet. One point is awarded for a ball going through the top posts of the goal and three are given for a shot beneath the crossbar.

Cheese Rolling

This one is simple — catch the cheese before it rolls all the way down the hill and you keep it. For 400 years, cheese rolling has been ingrained in the fabric of society in Gloucestershire, Wales. Fifteen people at a time start at the top of an immensely steep hill. When a large circle of cheese is released and begins rolling down the hill, contestants sprint down, trying to catch the cheese. Many people are hurt, yet the elusive prize of cheese is enough to bring people back each year. All I can say is that there better be some good cheese.

Wife-Carrying

A somewhat strange sport, Wife Carrying originated in Finland and has now sparked the curiosity of men from all kinds of countries. Some say that the sport started from a tradition in some small Finnish towns in which men would court their wives by picking them up and carrying them off. The winner of some competitions receives their wife’s weight in beer making heavier spouses ideal.