I Will Be the Next Great Viii Sports Athlete

One of my favorite things to watch on the weekend is ESPN The Ocho. For a few years now ESPN News takes the weekends off and becomes The Ocho.

For people that may not know what The Ocho is, it is a joke from the movie "Dodgeball". Back when that movie was made the mere idea of dodgeball being on tv was so crazy that they had to make up a network that didn't exist. ESPN took that idea and ran with it. When The Ocho is on ESPN News they show all kinds of odd sporting events. One day we saw bandsaw races. That is exactly what you think. People took their band saws from home, suped them up and they have them race other suped up band saws. They show lots of wiffle ball and omega ball. They have corgi races. They have some events like slippery stairs and beer stein holding competitions. But this past weekend I saw my new favorite sporting event, and it is one that I am literally going to try to get involved in.

We were flipping through the channels, we got bored of basketball and my dad and son told me to channel surf. Then I happened to come across The Ocho and a sport called Viii Sports. For people that may not know what this is, Viii Sports is an event that consists of eight quick sports competitions and each contestant is scored on how many hits or makes they have, and how fast they finish the event. It all starts with chipping three golf balls into a grassy area that has some circles painted on it and a tee. Then the contestants have to throw three softballs in the air and hit them with a bat. Then they have to hit three tennis balls into a net, make three shots on a basketball hoop from short distances, throw three footballs through an open target, kick three soccer ball into a small net, throw three medicine balls over a line that is a certain distance away and finish it off with what looked to be about a 20 yard sprint.

I was immediately enamored by what I was watching. It looked so simple and so very fun. The contestants looked like regular people. They had stay at home parents, people who worked office jobs and people who head up programs at their local YMCA's. It all seemed so achievable and easily doable. While watching my son convinced me to sign up for their newsletter and it actually seems kind of easy to get involved. All you have to do is have a local YMCA that holds an invitational every year. The hang up for me, they are not doing it in my area as of now. I will be contacting the people involved to see if they are going to come to Saint Louis anytime soon. But they do have competitions in Wichita, which isn't too terribly far from me. It is a very drivable distance.

While watching, I truly think I could do this sport and do it at a high level. I'm not a great golfer, but I am a good mini golf player. And the chip into a certain area is a skill I think I could develop pretty quickly. I played baseball growing up, and coached my son when he played. When I was a coach my main job was to hit ground balls to the team before practices and games. Throwing a ball up in the air and making contact is second nature to me. I don't play tennis, but my sister in law does and I'm sure she would help me out with volleying a ball into a small netted area. Basketball is my favorite sport, I played and coach it, and the distances they have to shoot from go no further than a free throw. That was where I lived when I played. I was a big man that was allowed to only venture out to the elbows and free throw line for my shots. I always dreamed of being a QB when I was a kid, but I was too big. I was a defensive end. But I was always throwing a ball and i tend to gravitate towards carnival games that require throwing a ball through a circle net with an opening. And I think I'm pretty accurate. I can kick a soccer ball through a net, and not make it rise. When I looked for a local sports company, and was asked to do soccer demonstrations, short kicks into a net was my bag. That was all I knew how to do, and do well. Chucking medicine balls is fun too. I used to do this as a goof when I would throw shot put from time to time in high school. I just like hucking medicine balls. And a 20 yard sprint would be just what I would need to close it all out. I think I could do really, really well at this. I will say, the people on tv made it look easy, but I'm sure it is tougher than it looks. But I still want to give it a go.

I highly suggest people go check out Viii Sports. It is fun and looks like pretty much anyone could be a star if they put their minds to it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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