Definitely Not Hockey

I've decided to ignore hockey for a little while.  Other than wanting the Hawks to crash and burn, I have very little interest in the Stanley Cup finals.  And other than Yzerman moving to Florida, there really isn't much going on with the Wings right now, so it is a good time to have a bit of a hockey break.  So today, we will talk about another sport altogether:  the sauna world championships.

As I have said ad nauseum, I am a Finn, 100%.  I grew up with saunas and the only thing that keeps me from going in one every day for the rest of my life is the fact we don't have one of our own.  (Hopefully, that will change, but until then, I'm shit out of luck.)  I probably was in the sauna before my eyes completely focused after birth.  Both of my girls had their first sauna by the age of three months.  Actually, they had their first saunas while they were still in the womb.  So, anyway, I have done the sauna bit for a long, long time.  (Here you can read more about it.)  All of my experiences don't come close, in any way, to what goes on at the sauna world championships.

The sauna championships can be summed up very simply:  the winner is the person who can sit in the sauna for the longest amount of time and leave under his own power.  Easy, right?  Not quite.  First, the sauna temperature STARTS at 230*.  I'm not too sure I've ever been in a sauna that was more than 200-210*.  Then, water is sprayed on the hot rocks every 30 seconds, producing blister-inducing steam throughout the room.  I don't 'steam' too much while in the sauna--however, at my preferred temp of 150-175, the steam isn't overwhelming.  Along with having to sit in the intense heat, the contestants can only wear shorts of a certain length, canNOT wipe the sweat from their bodies, and can't cool themselves with water.  They just sit there and broil.  And many have blistered terribly from attempting this.

So, just where is this insanity taking place?  For the past 10 years, this contest has been held in Finland.  It is televised nationally.  As of last year, in the men's competition, only Finns have won.  However, there have been Russian and Estonian women who have won the women's competition.  I don't EVER have to worry about winning in this sport.

You can read more about this in the Wikipedia article here.  Another very good read is this article that excerpts part of Rick Reilly's book.  He made an attempt at competing in this event in 2007 and wrote about his experience.  Yes people, insanity runs rampant throughout the world.