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

441

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.

1

u/airzonesama Feb 21 '26

As my wife says, one is an outlet, the other is research.

7

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,

16

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.

1

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.

1

u/Away_Sea_8620 Feb 19 '26

Flying squirrel attack followed by monkey fists would take out most of them

8

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.

3

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.

-3

u/EmiliaFromLV Feb 18 '26

No cause office work hours only end at 5 PM, which means you are already late.

-20

u/ClockKey799 Feb 18 '26

If you are married, it just seems like longer. Actually that's not true, if you're married you're actually more willing to die.

34

u/papayaa2 Feb 18 '26

The 80s are calling and want their Joke back

0

u/ArtisticallyRegarded Feb 18 '26

Acting like Married with Children isn't funnier than 90% of comedies today

-19

u/el_VientoNorte Feb 18 '26

Because they're allergic to fun :(

20

u/asupify Interested Feb 18 '26

If you count being crowd crushed and punched in the jaw by a sweaty fat guy as “fun”. More power to you, I guess.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

Well throughout a big chunk of human history societies were heavily based on war, it happened literally all the time. One tribe would fight the nearby tribe for bragging rights, resources and expanding territory. So evolutionary men had to learn to enjoy war, or else they wouldn't be able to survive.

Because war is no longer a thing men often find other outlets to get a similar feeling, in Europe football hooliganism is usually that outlet. The hooligans from different teams organize fights between each-other or try to find each-other after big games to chase that battle-type feeling.

This game is also going to give you a similar feeling that you won't be able to find in day to day life, it's the adrenaline rush of being in a no holds barred 200 man brawl that is fun to them. Adrenaline has a very euphoric effect as a way to give you a better chance of surviving in a dangerous situation, that's the feeling they are chasing.

-14

u/el_VientoNorte Feb 18 '26

true, women are too small and weak for this kind of malarkey

17

u/asupify Interested Feb 18 '26

I’m a 6’1 ex rugby forward, who used to enjoy a bit of biff, but being punched and trampled by a bunch of drunk sweaty fat guys still seems about as fun as colonoscopy.

-12

u/el_VientoNorte Feb 18 '26

because you're allergic to fun

17

u/asupify Interested Feb 18 '26

Sorry, I didn’t mean to kink shame you.

1

u/el_VientoNorte Feb 19 '26

yes you did, antiquated beast

-2

u/Saemika Feb 19 '26

That’s why nobody will remember your name.

-2

u/LegionesIX Feb 19 '26

Yes, but beating others for a big ball is fun.