THE WORLD PLOWING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN IRELAND

If you’re looking for excitement, sportsfans, here’s the competition for you: The 67th World Plowing Championships are happening this September in Ratheniska, Ireland. For three days, plowers from all over the world battle it out to see who can till a field into perfect rows of neat, straight furrows. Because it would cost too much to transport your own tractor, competitors have to use the tractor provided, working different soil types that require subtle changes to the plowing technique. The event attracts an annual attendance of almost 300,000, although as one former competitor says: “It’s not a really good spectator sport, because things happen slowly … but if you like to see someone who takes pride in their work, makes the furrows look nice, it can change the landscape and make it something like a painting.”
* Yes, certainly you recall the magnificent furrowed dirt paintings of Rembrandt, da Vinci, Michelangelo …
* Sounds like a pretty good scam to me, having people come to your country and plow your fields for you, and all it costs you is a lousy little trophy.
* Hard to believe there could be a competition more exciting than curling.
* And you thought Americans were the only culture that could turn anything into a contest.
* Of course, if you want to make perfect angles in your rows, you need a pro-tractor.
* If there’s one thing the Irish know how to do, it’s get plowed.
* Which reminds me: How do you get a farm girl to like you? A tractor.