The Olympics are Made for Drinking!

I have to admit, I love the Olympics.  If you're like me, you're watching these highly trained athletes, giving it their all, in the heat of competition, representing their country while resting comfortably on the couch with a beer.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it. 

However the combination of the Olympics and drinking isn't new.  Did you know, according to this Slate article, that in between the years of the ancient and modern Olympics ale was frequently included in the revelry?  

"A motley range of sports was on the schedule, including hammer throwing, bear baiting, shin kicking, and the brutally violent “fighting with cudgels,” which left the contestants bloody and toothless (an accidental echo of the goriest of the ancient Greek body contact sports, the pankration). The entire festival was marked by heavy imbibing of ale..."

I, for one, enjoy a good old-fashioned shin kicking with a beer in my hand.  Since then there have been a myriad of drinking games created for the Olympics.  I'm sure expressly invented to make the equestrian events interesting to those of us who aren't little rich girls.  Here's the Men's Health Olympics Drinking Game for the London 2012 Olympics.  I for sure got drunk by following this rule.  "5. Drink when Michael Phelps' massive diet is mentioned."

...and don't forget the beer related competitions!  Here's a podcast by The Brewing Network when they hosted the Lunch Meet 'Limpics where "ass-letes" compete in events such as the Long Pee, the Long Burp, and the Bad Beer Chug.

So the next time you're watching the Olympics, grab a beer and your cudgel and rest easy knowing that the Olympics and drinking go hand-in-hand.  GAME ON!

Flying Dog Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout

 
Great Divide Rumble

21st Amendment Brewery Bitter American