Sport Xtreme

In my Worldcon GoH speech a couple years ago I mentioned Finland’s habit of inventing new sports, conceived I suppose in the winter when they have little else to think about while drinking.  Finland is the home, for example, of swamp football, competitive sauna, and competitive hobby horse riding.

Of course Finland is also the home of heavy metal, with bands such as Finntroll, Eurovision winner Lordi, Stratovarius, and Night Wish.  In fact Finland, per capita, has more metal bands than anyplace else.

So it was only a matter of time before the Finns figured out a way to turn heavy metal into a sport, by uniting it with hardcore knitting.

Yeah, not makin’ this shit up.

But the best part of this is that you can participate.  Listen to the event’s official song (“Fight or Die” by Maniac Abductor), work out your heavy knitting moves, and make a one-minute video of you knitting to the music.  If your video impresses the judges, you’ll be invited to play live at the finals, in Joensuu, on July 11.

The top prize is a weekend at a hotel in Finland!  What’s not to love?

Feel free to take inspiration from the video.  Fight or Die!