Timbersports

On of those sporting events that makes you wonder why people do sports at all. It consists of a bunch of big lumberjack-y kind of guys participate in events like the "Underhand Chop", the "Standing Block Chop", the "Tree Climb" the "Crosscut Saw" and the "Hot Saw". These guys really work it, but I don't quite understand what they do with their skills besides endorse power miters and Leatherman tools.

It kind of reminds me of those Irish guys who throw logs...not inherently bad, just utterly pointless......

Au contraire, mon frere: "Timbersports" are the one of the very few valid excuses for television. Who the hell cares how far or fast some knuckle-dragging glandular monstrosity can chase a football? Okay, some people care very much, but there's no good reason for it. "Timbersports", on the other hand, have some basis in reality, however shaky it may at times be. These people are doing stuff that's mostly useful, and they're really damn good at it. It's cool. I find it genuinely entertaining. There's a real, deep visceral appeal to watching people cut up pieces of wood with dangerous machines.

By the way, I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that those logs are called "cabers" and they're Scottish. Irish sports seem to run to things like hurling, which is equally pointless but much bloodier.