The Sunshine State has long been the butt of jokes regarding the sheer number of crazy ‘Florida Man’ headlines there are.
“Florida man tries to evade arrest by cartwheeling away from cops,” is a classic one. So is, “Florida man threw live gator in Wendy’s drive-thru window.”
But it seems that Floridians are reclaiming the moniker as part of a first-of-its-kind contest honouring the wild antics that Florida Man has come to represent.
The “Florida Man Games” will consist of a range of competitions, pitting 16 teams of five players against each other. The events include the “Evading Arrest Obstacles Course,” in which contestants jump over fences and through yards while being chased by real police officers, and beer-belly wrestling, though it’s unclear if players are being judged on their wrestling or the beer bellies.
There will also be a “Category 5 Cash Grab” event in which participants try to grab as much money in a wind-blowing booth as they can. While not explicitly inspired by the Florida Man meme, this makes sense as Florida is the most hurricane-battered state in the U.S.
A “Weaponized Pool Noodle Mud Duel” is also slated to occur, welcoming players to test their strength in the “Florida Man Colosseum,” i.e. a massive above ground pool.
In order to win these games, the organizers say participants will have to be “unconventionally talented.”
“The Florida Man Games is where the bizarre meets brawn and sanity is optional! This isn’t just a competition; it’s a one-of-a-kind Floridian spectacle!” the competition’s website reads.
The Florida Man Games have enlisted former American Gladiators Dan “Nitro” Clark and Lori “Ice” Fetrick to serve as referees for the competition.
On top of the main events, the games also offer attractions for fans, including selfies with alligators — “the insurance company doesn’t love this, but we don’t care,” the organizers say — and a mullet contest.
There will also be an all-out brawl between police officers and firefighters, in “911 fight night” called “Brawl of the Badges.” Bets, anyone?
The games are set to take place next year on Feb. 24 in St. Augustine, Fla., and general admission tickets are on sale for US$45. For US$145, spectators can get access to a VIP area and take part in a celebrity meet and greet.
The Florida Man concept crept into the public’s consciousness a decade ago with the @_FloridaMan Twitter account. The account, with the tagline “Real-life stories of the world’s worst superhero,” has been home to headlines of men from Florida doing just the wildest things.
While some may draw a few stereotypical conclusions about Floridians from this phenomenon, the real reason there are so many examples of Florida Man headlines is because the state has quite liberal public records laws, making things like arrest reports very easy to obtain.
A St. Augustine resident is behind the games: Pete Melfi, owner of The 904 Now, a media outlet covering St. Johns County.
“We thought, ‘How can we really play on these Florida Man headlines that we hear so much about?’ Someone gave me the idea to make it into an athletic competition,” Melfi told the Orlando Sentinel.
“It’s going to be a wild day of mud games and Florida-style obstacle courses. It’s going to really be an opportunity to live that Florida Man life for a day.”
— with files from The Associated Press