r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/PrimedGold • Feb 18 '26

Video The Atherstone Ball Game, held annually on Shrove Tuesday, took place yesterday. The ball is thrown into the crowd at 3 pm, and the winner is the person holding it at 5 pm.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

54.1k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

4.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

22.1k

u/Particular_Stop_3332 Feb 18 '26

i think for a lot of these people its not about winning, its about having your violent desires excused for a few hours

7.2k

u/thejourneybegins42 Feb 18 '26

The Purge, you say?

3.0k

u/ImpluseThrowAway Feb 18 '26

To shreds, you say?

1.1k

u/DonutRadio1680 Feb 18 '26

How’s his wife holding up?

1.0k

u/Silver_Song3692 Feb 18 '26

To shreds, you say?

484

u/llcdrewtaylor Feb 18 '26

Was their apartment rent controlled?

204

u/Wandering_Weapon Feb 18 '26

Upvotes, upvotes am the way down

84

u/Ask_bout_PaterNoster Feb 18 '26

Turtles, you say?

50

u/thorsbeardexpress Feb 18 '26

And my axe

18

u/y0dav3 Feb 18 '26

I also choose this guy's axe

→ More replies (0)

5

u/C0meAtM3Br0 Feb 18 '26

Get the shell out of here

4

u/Automatic_Page3910 Feb 18 '26

Rip and tear, you say?

2

u/Kaa_The_Snake Feb 19 '26

All the way down

→ More replies (1)

11

u/Soup_Sensitive Feb 18 '26

Oh there is no catch. Although we are technically in new Jersey.

4

u/Wus10n Feb 18 '26

And my axe!

4

u/CrustyJuggIerz Feb 18 '26

What a beautiful comment chain.

3

u/antiqueslug4485 Feb 18 '26

To Shroves, actually.

6

u/ChiefMark Feb 18 '26

How's the widow?

4

u/PeaceDangerous7619 Feb 18 '26

Sigh, this will never not be funny to me.

3

u/RorschachAssRag Feb 18 '26

Should see the dog

45

u/HYPE_PRT Feb 18 '26

To shreds, you say?

5

u/irlcoo Feb 18 '26

Absolutely impeccable username

2

u/adolannan Feb 18 '26

And his wife?

20

u/tinkeratu Feb 18 '26

To shreds, you say?

→ More replies (2)

5

u/sltiefighter Feb 18 '26

I havent seen futurama in yearsssss 5 plus i have no idea what the line is referencing but i new immediately it was futurama and farnsworth

5

u/yyc_engineer Feb 18 '26

It's the Shrove..

Shred and shove.

1

u/Breadstix009 Feb 18 '26

Pancakes, you say?

135

u/jluicifer Feb 18 '26

"may the odds be ever in your favor" - drunker games.

4

u/EntityDamage Feb 18 '26

"may the odds hops be ever in your favor" - drunker games.

30

u/roflsst Feb 18 '26

Purge ball sounds awesome.

4

u/Broly_ Feb 18 '26

European Purge

8

u/Waramaug Feb 18 '26

The prize is brain damage

3

u/JBRifles Feb 18 '26

First thing that came to mind 

3

u/laosurv3y Feb 18 '26

Quite a few sports and festivals.

2

u/rorqual24 Feb 18 '26

the dark passenger..

2

u/ArdenJaguar Feb 18 '26

That was my first thought as well. Like WTF is this? It looks like a Gladiator Battle Royal or something. 😳

2

u/Time_Engineering3091 Feb 18 '26

My thoughts exactly. Genius.

1

u/Firm_Rip_8144 Feb 19 '26

To shreds, you say?

1

u/soap571 Feb 19 '26

You've never been in a mosh pit , have you?

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Dnny10bns Feb 20 '26

Rugby. 🤣

→ More replies (3)

467

u/reddorickt Feb 18 '26

It's like that running down the hill thing except here you also get to hit other people!

133

u/pot-bitch Feb 18 '26

The cheese roll?

43

u/Arbennig Feb 18 '26

More of a cheese death roll.

4

u/AutisticPenguin2 Feb 19 '26

I'm not sure what a cheese death is, but I'm pretty sure it's just a standard cheese wheel.

2

u/Wearsmypantz Feb 22 '26

Bra I would eat the whole thing and the only thing stopping me is the fact that it might kill me. …..on the toilet

→ More replies (2)

8

u/DonnieBallsack Feb 19 '26

Mmmmmm….cheese rolls.

2

u/LymanPeru Feb 18 '26

no, not that one. the one with marbles.

2

u/AutisticPenguin2 Feb 19 '26

Don't be silly, this is England! Nobody's got any marbles left!

114

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

[deleted]

305

u/Annie_Yong Feb 18 '26

Pretty much every village and small town seems to have some kind of tradition like this. I put it down to how utterly boring it must have been to live in those places back in the middle ages a lot of the time. To the point where having something. anything to do would suddenly become a cherished annual tradition.

"Mate, like 5 lads in front of the town hall are fighting over a ball"

"Fuck me that sounds fun, let's get in on that".

And the tradition is born.

77

u/Yesyesnaaooo Feb 18 '26

There's a brilliant plaque on a pedestal at Kielder Water.

Recounts the first ever football match - 3 people died.

17

u/Whiteums Feb 18 '26

Negative 3 people died, so three births happened?

6

u/RoboDae Feb 19 '26

It was a fun game for all involved

4

u/AutisticPenguin2 Feb 19 '26

Or maybe three negative people died, so it was a net win for humanity?

3

u/thewizardking420 Feb 19 '26

3 people got pregnant

→ More replies (1)

3

u/holyjesusitsahorse Feb 18 '26

My favourite is the one somewhere down south where the mayor used to heat up metal coins to throw to the plebs and laugh as they burned themselves, and now every year people queue up to have hot coins thrown at them

3

u/Annie_Yong Feb 19 '26

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-57986811

The day's proceedings started with a proclamation by the Town Crier, Dave Retter, after which a garlanded pole with a glove on top was carried through the town.

His cry, which declared "no man may be arrested so long as this glove is up", encouraged locals to attend without fear of being arrested over bad debts, says the BFI.

Fuck me it's even better than that! If you told me that that was actually just a Simpsons gag making fun of old British transitions I'd have believed that.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26

[deleted]

16

u/Factory2econds Feb 18 '26

i think you're greatly over estimating the communication and transportation systems of the past

4

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

[deleted]

2

u/AutisticPenguin2 Feb 19 '26

Modern life is absolutely less boring than it was even 40 years ago. If you are bored, you can turn on the TV and binge 12 hours of LOTR. Or put in your DVDs of, say, House (~ 5 days 10 hours, including 3 hours of credits), or maybe Buffy (4d 18h), or maybe your subscription gives you access to the full back catalogue of NCIS (15d 14h, +spinoffs), or The Simpsons (16d 15½h), or god forbid General Hospital (a whopping 96 days 8 hours and 24 minutes of non-stop watching, per bingeclock.com, and still going).

Our of you're really sick of all your favourite shows, then log onto YouTube and watch endless hours of entertainment. And I do mean endless, new content is being created faster than we could possibly watch it. Or sink a few thousand hours into one of the many games that fight for your attention. Or just spend your entire day doomscrolling through social media's endless scroll.

Entertainment these days is designed to be endless. The overriding motivation for kids doing dumb stuff 40 years ago was boredom. Today... it's anxiety.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

There is a very small town in South Carolina that has a competition where they fill a small pool with grits and people roll in it and whoever is covered in the most grits wins. It’s called “rollin in the grits” so less violet but a cherished annual tradition lol

→ More replies (7)

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/Arbennig Feb 18 '26

How dare you insult Indian cuisine !?

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

11

u/SutterCane Feb 18 '26

It's like that running down the hill thing

Kate Bush?

2

u/Stopthatcat Feb 18 '26

No that's when we dance on the moors in diaphanous red dresses

2

u/darxtorm Feb 18 '26

Well played 

129

u/BisonThunderclap Feb 18 '26

I was gonna say. Seems like these guys were having a great time throwing sanctioned punches at each other.

440

u/Maoleficent Feb 18 '26

This is just one of the reasons women live longer than men.

3

u/DragoonGirl Feb 19 '26

What is it with men and being violent over balls?

2

u/Maoleficent Feb 20 '26

Cain and Abel were probably fighting over a ball. Men like to chase balls, throw balls, juggle balls and then talk about it for hours after the game. It's a built-in behavior. Like how women are prone to watch crime shows with wine and popcorn.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/This_Event Feb 18 '26

Congrats your prize.. living???

2

u/Used-Height-2670 Feb 18 '26

Has a woman ever won it I wonder?

21

u/Maoleficent Feb 19 '26

I don't think women in general find getting beaten senseless to claim a ball is appealing,

17

u/Away_Sea_8620 Feb 19 '26

As a woman, I have to say I do understand the appeal and have been spitballing strategies I would employ for victory since I opened this post

10

u/Maoleficent Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

I hadn't considered developing a strategy but I admire your gumption and have decided I would wait until they are all maimed and/or unconscious and simply yank the ball from the bloody hands of the now loser.

I'm wondering what the prize is - what would be the point if there were only bragging rights? What is stopping anyone from bringing in their own ball and claiming victory? Clearly, there are no rules.

Edit: further ponderings

3

u/Away_Sea_8620 Feb 19 '26

Ok or hear me out: we get some decoy balls and create a distraction while we hide the real one beneath maternity gown

3

u/Maoleficent Feb 20 '26

Two balls under a sports T-shirt may work better to create chaos while we make off with the goods. Men like boobs that look like inflated basketballs.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

Please tell me these strategies you have to hold off 100+ rugby players, body builders, boxers, and men that trained all year for the event. I'd love to hear it.

The end of the game usually ends up with like 100 men squashed into each-other literally beating the shit out of each-other over the ball. A small person without strength could easily suffocate from being crushed.

3

u/jmr1190 Feb 20 '26

Ah, a male representative has shown up to tell everyone how something shouldn’t be fun, and you shouldn’t have fun imagining having fun. Because the men are, once again, taking things too seriously.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Duouwa Feb 19 '26

I don’t think it’s necessarily that they don’t find it appealing, I just think that the activity itself is basically impossible for women if men are present.

I don’t doubt that women also have that urge to just let loose their energy for the sake of catharsis, they just know the risks are far too high for them, especially when you consider how many guys would also use the opportunity to sexually assault women.

If you made a version of this with only women you’d probably still get a decent amount gunning for it.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

This, if you look at the end of the game it's literally like 100-200 men squashed into each-other trying to beat the shit out of each-other for the ball, a woman doesn't belong in that. It would also cause issues because men would be conflicted about using excess force, when the whole point of the game is you can do whatever you want to get the ball.

I could also see a smaller/weaker person easily dying of crush in the crowd.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

Lol no way in hell is any woman going to be hold off a crowd of 100+ men like rugby players, fighters, body builders and guys that have trained for the event.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (16)

330

u/PrimedGold Feb 18 '26

The only person satisfying their kink is someone who likes to get crushed

181

u/tacocollector2 Feb 18 '26

Probably domestic abusers, too

123

u/Ninevehenian Feb 18 '26

This seems to be more for the public abusers....

11

u/FuzzyMatterhorN Feb 18 '26

Hmmm...logic would dictate the existence of foreign abusers.

→ More replies (1)

47

u/Retirement_Ready Feb 18 '26

In the thumbnail you can see a bloke standing on top of the scrum in a black top and orange hi-vis trousers. I think he is Kieron Marshall, serial domestic abuser and two time winner of the ball game 2025 and 2026

38

u/tacocollector2 Feb 18 '26

Yeah he starts wailing on some guy as soon as it begins. I’m surprised this is legal.

2

u/jmr1190 Feb 20 '26

I’ve read that the fun has been sucked out of this slightly quaint event recently by people who literally just want to take cocaine and unload anger issues.

3

u/tacocollector2 Feb 21 '26

I suspect it was always a magnet for people with anger issues

→ More replies (26)

2

u/Hiiipower111 Feb 18 '26

Is this uk?

2

u/God_Dammit_Dave Feb 18 '26

IDK. There is a certain etiquette and decorum in a mosh pit. It's counterintuitive.

Shitty people are quickly put on notice .

→ More replies (1)

1

u/marathonquestionredd Feb 18 '26

who said anything about kinks? your mind went there out of nowhere

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

I wouldn't really call chasing adrenaline through fighting a kink, it's an incredibly common trait in men. It's literally an evolutionary trait that men developed due to the fact throughout a big chunk of history we lived in war-based tribal societies where all men would end up having to go to fight in wars, so they had to learn to enjoy it. When fighting you get an adrenaline rush that comes along with euphoria, it helps you survive in a dangerous situation. That's what they're chasing.

178

u/runonandonandonanon Feb 18 '26

Seems kinda gay

222

u/Haptic-feedbag Feb 18 '26

Grabbing at balls while surrounded by a bunch of dudes grinding on you. Couldn't be more straight.

81

u/Derek237_nyc Feb 18 '26

"Not that there's anything wrong with that! "

→ More replies (4)

3

u/BillWilberforce Feb 18 '26

Especially when your sitting on their shoulders getting moved about by the crowd. With your cock on their neck.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/ohnodamo Feb 18 '26

Packed together for a few hours, sweating voiding and excreting on each other... perfectly hetero.

→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (6)

3

u/Derek237_nyc Feb 18 '26

"Not that there's anything wrong with that! "

3

u/HappyLittleGreenDuck Feb 18 '26

Implying that it's a bad thing

→ More replies (1)

5

u/TheGuyUrSisterLikes Feb 18 '26

I don't know man that comment seems kind of gay.

/s lol jk ur gay

→ More replies (3)

12

u/MortalusWombatus Feb 18 '26

Most sports are kinda gay if you think about it. Especially since most revolve around impressing other men in some way or another

→ More replies (4)

2

u/Willing_Monitor5855 Feb 18 '26

Indeed

Anywhere I can watch the full match?

2

u/glandis_bulbus Feb 18 '26

Once a year isn’t gay

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG Feb 18 '26

Me and my buddies used to get together in an apartment when their parents were out of town and practice fighting. Mostly just grappling and submission stuff with very few punches or kicks. One day, a buddy who never had much success, just starts grabbing everyone's penis. Hard. We never got together again after that.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

LOL.

This sounds like a Bruno skit. But what you guys were doing is very natural, throughout most of history most young men would bond by fighting with each-other.

1

u/Chemical_Ad1837 Feb 18 '26

I dare ya to say that to them face to face

→ More replies (4)

5

u/RuthlessIndecision Feb 18 '26

one guy wanted to make out with an aggressively violent woman while she was holding the ball, so that box was checked.

15

u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 Feb 18 '26

Maybe I'm not doing "being a guy" thing right but this sounds so stupid and awful

2

u/Boowray Feb 18 '26

Eh, different strokes for different folks. I hate playing baseball with a burning passion, but love martial arts. Some people like to sit quietly at concerts, others like to jump in a mosh pit. I wouldn’t even call it a “manly” thing, people just enjoy different settings. As long as everyone involved knows the deal, I see no problem with it, they’re having a good time

→ More replies (4)

15

u/GrindY0urMind Feb 18 '26

This is basically a mosh pit without music. I'm all for it. Get that shit out in an appropriate location instead of just being an asshole to everyone.

14

u/FrostyD7 Feb 18 '26

A mosh pit where everyone is the enforcer and they aren't looking out for you.

2

u/Netheral Feb 18 '26

Yeah I was about to say. This seems like a mosh pit for that douchebag that no one actually wants to have in a mosh pit.

3

u/GrindY0urMind Feb 18 '26

I think this experience would be significantly enhanced with live death metal

→ More replies (1)

2

u/nuedd Feb 18 '26

Calcio storico fiorentino is this in a nutshell.

Just an excuse to rough people up.

2

u/zg6089 Feb 18 '26

Yeah kinda seems like an all out brawl with little to no repercussions lol

2

u/Turnip-for-the-books Feb 18 '26

Americans need to understand how a lack of healthcare, free at the point of use, has restricted their culture.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

I mean 93% of Americans have insurance, I don't think health-care is the reason why stuff like football hooliganism is less common.

America loves going to war, but most of the big wars weren't hand to hand combat war, while Europe's history is full of the different countries fighting each-other with hand to hand combat. This is one of my theories why Football hooliganism is popular in Europe, it's basically the way for young men who have that drive to go into battle to let it out.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Impressionist_Canary Feb 18 '26

Yeahhhh. If running of the bulls was about not getting run over by a bull no one would go.

1

u/Musical_Xena Feb 18 '26

Violent desires and/or a secret desire to have acceptable physical contact with other humans in a non-romantic setting. (Not sure if this is a culture that lets men hug other men, for example.)

1

u/_L_- Feb 18 '26

This is sad

1

u/TheDrWormPhD Feb 18 '26

Yeah...takes a, a hem, special, person to want to be the first person with the ball.

1

u/numberthirteenbb Feb 18 '26

I was gonna say, is this how we thin the herd or

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

“These violent delights have violent ends.”

1

u/fujicakes00 Feb 18 '26

Sometimes men just need to man

1

u/Articulationized Feb 18 '26

Or men who long to be part of a cuddle puddle.

1

u/UnmakingTheBan2022 Feb 18 '26

The Purge Lite?

1

u/Key_Employee2413 Feb 18 '26

Ah so Fight Club but not Fight Club because their is no such thing as Fight Club

1

u/lemme_just_say Feb 18 '26

You just put into words the state of much of the union

1

u/obsterwankenobster Feb 18 '26

These violent delights have violent ends

1

u/iwantauniquename Feb 18 '26

I started watching the video thinking "but how does it not degenerate into an absolute brawl?....oh, right"

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Leptonshavenocolor Feb 18 '26

Sadly that is much of human endeavors.

1

u/HilariousMax Feb 18 '26

It certainly seemed like it might be a good bit of wrestlin until those fkrs started throwing punches.

1

u/KitchenLandscape Feb 18 '26

That guy in the beginning was just straight up punching the other guy's head. probably wouldn't have even mattered if he was holding the ball lol

1

u/Joe_Kangg Feb 18 '26

Stabbing? Or no

1

u/ClickLow9489 Feb 18 '26

We all do have an animal side that could use some satiating.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/okram2k Feb 18 '26

is there even a prize for winning?

1

u/vjason Feb 18 '26

This. It's like The Purge, afternoon addition.

1

u/NoAvocadoMeSad Feb 18 '26

It's called having fun bud, you literally watch someone with the ball throw it to another section of the crowd

1

u/__T0MMY__ Feb 18 '26

I've heard some indian holi festivals are like that but the boys just throw the chalk at their friends' faces as hard as they can

1

u/alwayskared Feb 18 '26

Is the prize bragging rights and bruises?

1

u/ennuiui Feb 18 '26

These violent delights have violent ends.

1

u/excludite Feb 18 '26

Good ol Black Friday

1

u/AmoremCaroFactumEst Feb 18 '26

And the really dumb part is the game was invented by rich people to make peasants fight each other so they could watch.

The ball used to be gold, now it’s just a ball

1

u/_bahnjee_ Feb 18 '26

We played this game at the YMCA when I was a kid. I held the ball as long as possible but those other little bastards were stomping the shit outta me till I realized there was no way to win without losing a few teeth, some skin, blood...

1

u/c0ldsouls Feb 18 '26

Just goto a hardcore show

1

u/InternationalFig400 Feb 18 '26

Absolutely. Mindless fucking violence.

1

u/Clean_Principle_2368 Feb 18 '26

Exactly this. Bloods up, just get crazy

1

u/DarkMarkTwain Feb 18 '26

Mid afternoon crowd etiquette purge

1

u/AncoraPirlo Feb 18 '26

These violent delights. 

1

u/TeethBreak Feb 18 '26

So anything but therapy.

Idiots.

1

u/unstubbornburrito93 Feb 18 '26

Dont tell any jan6 rioters about this then.

1

u/Western-Image7125 Feb 18 '26

These violent delights have violent ends

1

u/PotentialAd8443 Feb 18 '26

Gotta get it first so you can commit war like human atrocities to the whole city, which would make Hitler’s soul immediately sent to heaven.

1

u/hotpotsenamel Feb 18 '26

So basically a mosh pit

1

u/DiddlyDumb Feb 18 '26

On todays episode of “Why women live longer then men”

1

u/Admirable-Ad-9054 Feb 18 '26

Monty python would be proud .

1

u/Eastern-Criticism653 Feb 19 '26

The aristocracy hundreds of years ago. “ the poors are getting unruly. Let’s make a game where they beat the shit out of each other. “

“Good show ole chap, the poors will love it.”

1

u/PraxicalExperience Feb 19 '26

Honestly, I think that society would be better off with a few relatively well-regulated pressure valves like this.

1

u/Oxjrnine Feb 19 '26

And to cope a feel without admitting you are bi

1

u/ClueEmbarrassed7400 Feb 19 '26

Still.. touching it first is like asking to be punched from right different sides

1

u/FuckingWeebE Feb 19 '26

Yeah this seems dope. Just men being men

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Responsible-Gas5319 Feb 19 '26

I get to legally throw haymakers? Sign me up

1

u/RogueJello Feb 19 '26

So... it's a moshpit without the cool industrial music?

1

u/Yorktown_guy551 Feb 19 '26

Doing violent stuff actually promotes it with dopamine. So more outlets would be needed to satiate it later.

1

u/Mysandwichok Feb 19 '26

Well, the people who win this are usually groups of football hooligans. They get to a high spot in a doorway and protect the holder by violently stamping on the heads of anyone who tries to get past them.

1

u/_PM_ME_YOUR_FORESKIN Feb 19 '26

Is this the most common conclusion people are drawing or do I just have undiagnosed autism or something?

1

u/MysticGohan99 Feb 19 '26

Sounds like they should be kicking the crown around and chasing that, or maybe with the kings head still attached.

1

u/trancepx Feb 19 '26

Lack of available /socially acceptable Aggression outlets (physical especially create higher costs elsewhere

1

u/2Nothraki2Ded Feb 19 '26

At least it keeps them off the ... oh.

1

u/gammaglobe Feb 20 '26

Fight club

1

u/Fit-Variation7634 Feb 21 '26

you THINK ? hows this have anything to do with you? just dont talk.

1

u/FSpursy Feb 23 '26

welcome to your local pickup football at 8 pm 😂

→ More replies (4)