dwarf tossing and it is a sport.
http://www.dwarfthrowing.co.uk/
One of the most outlandish past-times is the uncommonly skilled and unprejudiced pub sport of Dwarf Throwing.
Unfortunately for the sport, many of the 'politically correct' people in society are making claims that the name 'Dwarf' is degrading for its sportsmen and that the term 'Dwarf Throwing' should instead be replaced by the more suitable title of 'propelling persons of restricted growth'. The people who actually compete in the sport do not support this political uproar; they simply want to be thrown.
The object of dwarf tossing is for a bar patron to throw a human being as far as possible. The dwarfs would wear protective knee and elbow padding, helmets and neck braces. Typically, several mattresses would be piled in a corner of the bar, and the contestants would pay a modest entry fee. The dwarf would wear a harness fitted with a handle on the back. After the participants and spectators had made sufficient purchases, the throwers would line up behind a line marked on the floor with tape. They would then take turns grabbing the dwarf by the handle, take two or three sideways steps, and sail him through the air into the mattresses. One of the bartenders would mark the landing spot, and then measure the distance from it to the tape on the floor. The winner would receive either a cash prize or a trophy–or both.
Dwarf tossing took off like a Saturn V on the launch pad. It included all of the ingredients of a successful marketing maneuver for the bars: it was outrageous, hilarious, novel, and, unfortunately, controversial. It was quickly banned by the Ministry of the Interior in France, and the city councils of Springfield, Illinois and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Florida State Legislature passed a bill outlawing dwarf tossing, but the Florida Supreme Court held the statute to be unconstitutional. Basically, the Court found that the law violated the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution ("No state shall . . . pass any . . . law impairing the Obligation of Contracts") by interfering with the contracts between the dwarfs and the bar owners. Advocacy groups, like Little People of America, Inc., protested the practice vociferously, taking the position that it "tears down the structure and the esteem that little people are trying to gain." It received massive media coverage in a very short period of time, with segments devoted to it on 60 Minutes and Nightline.
I wonder when espn is going to cover this sport?
Midget Bowling???
