Imagine this: You're being chased by the police. There's fences you must jump in order to evade capture. Or you're in a booth with money being blown all around you that you must catch. Or you are ready for hand-to-hand combat... with beer bellies. I'm not tossing out random competitions. I'm talking about the "Florida Man Games."
Organizers of the “Florida Man Games” describe the competition as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth.” The games will poke fun at Florida’s reputation for producing strange news stories involving guns, drugs, booze and reptiles — or some combination of the four.
Among the contests planned for next February in St. Augustine, Florida, according to organizers, are the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course in which contestants jump over fences and through yards while being chased by real police officers; the Category 5 Cash Grab in which participants try to grab as much money in a wind-blowing booth; and the self-explanatory beer-belly wrestling.
“This isn’t just a competition; it’s a one-of-a-kind Floridian spectacle!” organizers said on the games’ website.
Associated Press
The term Florida Man came into creation because wacky crimes and happenings in Florida would be reported with the term at the beginnings of reports. It morphed from a generic term of the story's subject into a stereotype. Now in a way of embracing the crazy, Pete Melfi from St. Augustine is creating a whole competition around it.
It looks like good-hearted fun and in some ways admitting that Florida Man can be both funny and entertaining. But most of all, it's an innovative business Melfi looks to be exploring. Tickets will cost $45 and all the info is on the Florida Man Games website.