The Weirdest Sporting Events

Oddball traditions say plenty about a culture

(NEWSER) - Forget museums and street markets. To truly understand a culture, travelers should take in its bizarre traditions. From fire walking to tomato hurling, Travel and Leisure looks at the world's most off-the-wall celebrations.

• Lopburi Monkey Buffet in Thailand: Each November, Lopburi's residents lay out a feast to appease the city's greedy monkeys.

(NEWSER) - After a "bloody battle royale," the sports staff of the New York Daily News has anointed the best sports films of all time. Among the contenders:

• Raging Bull: Robert De Niro's knockout performance as boxer Jake LaMotta makes this one of the greatest movies of any kind ever produced.
• Hoosiers: The heartwarming underdog tale loosely based on a real Indiana basketball team beats out other hoops flicks.

When you're down, these clips can get you going

(NEWSER) - World got you down? Let one of these coaches buck you up: AskMen picks the best sports movie inspirational talks. The top five:

1. Kurt Russell, Miracle: “If we played ‘em 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game.”
2. Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday: “You find out life's this game of inches. So is football. The inches we need are everywhere around us.”

(NEWSER) - Just like their big-league heroes, Little League players compete each year in their own small-fry World Series. But Deadspin offers 10 reasons to cancel the big game:

1. Flat-brimmed caps: Learn to crease those caps boys.

2. Giving up home runs to Canada: No self-respecting team should lose to hockey players.

3. The National Anthem on violin: Is there anything less manly?

(NEWSER) - For those who won't watch every Olympic game—and who will?—Esquire has picked a few Olympic highlights to Tivo:

• Day 1: Michael Phelps starts his second bid for eight gold medals.
• Day 2: Kobe Bryant dribbles and shoots in the Olympics—for the first time ever.
• Day 2: US field hockey player Jesse Gey wows with her looks and her game.