To celebrate the birthday of babysis tomorrow, half-a-sista contributed a very special post in her honor. Thank you, half-a, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, babysis!
WARNING: Make sure your cabbage patch kids are out of the room.
I came across a new sport that appeals to the vegetarian in me: coleslaw wrestling. The championships have been held in Samsula, Florida every year since 1988.* For those of you unfamiliar with the location of this town of approximately 4,900 people, it's in Volusia County at the intersection of Watermelon (between Parsley and Lettuce) and North Samsula Drive . . . just south of Spruce Creek, Florida.
The first competition on Wednesday, March 3, attracted between 15,000 and 50,000 bikers, depending on which reports you read. All we know for sure is that a lot of people like coleslaw wrestling. It's so popular that additional matches were planned for the weekend.
On that cold Wednesday, several days before the Oscars (probably a smart business decision to give everyone a chance to see both shows), the competition began with a pre-show photo session with an adult erotic film star, who according to reports, bared her breast for her fans. Maybe she did so in case a costume failure didn't occur during the wrestling matches (but many did).
After the explanation of the rules, the wrestlers began the long slaw crawl to the top. Local contestant, Heather Spears, took the championship for the fourth year in a row. View one of her matches here.* Congratulations, Heather.
The crowd, mostly men, mostly bikers, stopped at the former cabbage farm -- now Spotonick's Cabbage Patch Bar -- on their way to a bikers' weekend in Daytona Beach. The wrestling matches break up a long trip.
To have your own coleslaw wrestling matches, take 2,000 pounds of cabbage shredded by a wood chipper, add 20-40 gallons of cooking oil, stir, throw the mixture on a blue tarp (the wrestling mat) and find people willing to participate. NOTE: My grandmother put sugar in her coleslaw and some milk, but apparently they don't make coleslaw that way in Samsula, Florida.
First prize was $500 and second prize was $350. The wrestlers who came in third and fourth received a buck and quarter each. So there's money in the sport.
The announcer did tell the crowd that should they stop for dinner somewhere, and the server asks if they want coleslaw with their order, they ought to pass.
Any great coleslaw recipes out there? Has anyone seen the coleslaw wrestling competition? Would anyone admit it if they had? What unusual sports have you participated in that are suitable for Sassistas!?
* Please be advised that some of the images in the links provided are intended for adults only and may be a bit unsavory to many living, breathing human beings.
'Fess up, birthday girl (I know, it's not really until tomorrow). I thought I saw you in the crowd in that video link provided in the post. The video is 10 minutes long, but worth every every second of slaw-ter. Again, be advised that some images are a bit distasteful.
Going out to eat for your birthday? Pass on the slaw.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 05:46 AM
Last weekend, half-a-sista ran this Wrestling Match by the Sassistas! as an idea for a possible post. At first I didn't think we would find ANY reason to post such a story in the 'sphere.
Then we remembered babysis would be celebrating a birthday. We remembered her post called "Monster Jam".
Kismet.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 05:48 AM
babysis -- if you are going to participate next year, I don't recommend that you wear this t-shirt:
http://www.zazzle.com/theres_nothing_sexy_about_coleslaw_tshirt-235044735925094464
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 07:54 AM
Another, somewhat shorter video of the Cabbage Patch Wrestling Matches in 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8enpwo23RsQ
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 07:57 AM
My favorite line from the 2010 video linked in half-a's actual post:
"Jabba the Gut"
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:00 AM
A little clarification is necessary here. I sent this article to Flann for her amusement. She suggested that I write a post about it. I was hesitant until she told me it was babysis' birthday tomorrow and how babysis loved coleslaw. What could I do, but write a post?
It was not my idea first though, babysis.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and may your birthday wishes come true.
NOTE: This was birthday week in babysis' household as hubby turned 50 on ?Monday?
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:17 AM
My grandmother made excellent slaw by all reports. At the time I wouldn't touch the stuff (probably because intuitively I knew that in about 35 years someone would start coleslaw wrestling). My mother didn't get the recipe because my grandma used "a pinch of this" and a "spoonful of that" but she never knew the quantities. It was sweet and creamy with a little cream/milk and some sugar.
Coleslaw is kinda like Chinese food. It depends on what restaurant you go to as to the taste.
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:22 AM
Heather, the current Ms. Coleslaw Wrestling Champ, attends a local college. No, she isn't studying to be a chef or to be a cabbage farmer.
You can get a Cabbage Patch doll dressed like a wrestler. You must provide your own coleslaw.
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:24 AM
More clarification needed, half-a:
I suggested you write a post about it in honor of babysis's birthday because she would love to watch sports such as Cabbage Patch wrestling . . . not simply because she loved coleslaw. I was thinking about her aesthetic sensibilities. I don't want to step on her artistic toes by reducing this sport to mere coleslaw.
By the way, my favorite line in your post is "the wrestlers began the long slaw crawl to the top". That's just poetry.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:24 AM
half-a: I linked an image of a Cabbage Patch doll dressed like a wrestler in the "WARNING" preceding your post.
A quessass for the 'sphere. What puts the "cole" in coleslaw? Further, what puts the "slaw"?
I've been up all night wrestling with these mysterious, even heartbreaking, questions. Is the word "coleslaw" an oxymoron?
A koan?
An omen?
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:29 AM
The real connoisseurs of this sport watch the matches in 3D glasses and think Jersey is an idiot.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:30 AM
How do "the real connoisseurs" even know Jersey? She attends the coleslaw wrestling championships in Samsula?
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:34 AM
Jerseysista, like her whisks (which may come in handy when making coleslaw), is omnipresent, half-a. She can be at the wrestling championships WHILE being where she is right now as I click the computer keys . . . in bed, sleeping.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:39 AM
"Coleslaw" is from a partial translation of the Dutch term "koolsla". Kool meant "cabbage" and sla was an abbreviation of "salade" so there you have it: "cabbage salad".
The Dutch do not, however, engage in coleslaw wrestling, maybe a little slinging, but no wrestling.
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:40 AM
Flann, do you like coleslaw? What's your favorite off the mat? No mayo? No vinegar? No pepper?
Before the referee starts the matches, he gathers the women together and lays down the slaw.
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 08:42 AM
Thank you for the literal meaning of "coleslaw," half-a. However, every time I see the word "coleslaw" and/or view the videos in this post, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I feel a chill in the air. Far off in the distance, I hear a wolf howling.
Is there something inherently evil about coleslaw? Is this what is fed to the the seven horses of the apocalypse? I shudder just thinking about it. Really, ever notice how coleslaw is ADDED TO EVERYTHING YOU ORDER IN A RESTAURANT? I tell you, it's the work of the devil!
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:46 AM
Obviously, I live in abject terror of coleslaw, half-a.
My profound fear is that we live in a country where there are WAY TOO MANY slaw-abiding citizens.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 08:49 AM
What is it about bikers and females flopping about in food that seem to go together? Any good biker bash will include a pit of mud, jello, or whipped cream & gals willing to wrassle for the hoots & hollers (or buck and a quarter).
Happy Birthday to my very dear babesis. My heart -- well, you know how I feel.
What a great post, half-a. Your writing captured the spirit of the event exquisitely. Kudos.
Posted by: Carolyn | March 12, 2010 at 09:16 AM
What? No coleslaw recipes, Carolyn? Perhaps one that includes beets?
Any theories on slaw's sinister side as a side?
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 09:20 AM
Half-a, LOVE this line, "he gathers the women together and lays down the slaw." LOL!
Happy birthday, babysis! Hope the weather clears and you have a glorious weekend!
Posted by: Chrysosistah | March 12, 2010 at 09:33 AM
I will have to tell PEACE to forget about all of those places we want to go. We cannot miss Samsula 2011. It just went to top of the list.
She will love it.
Posted by: nowayasista | March 12, 2010 at 09:43 AM
Flann, I think the hairs standing up on the back of your head mean (a) it's time to wash your hair or (b) this post was a little too stimulating for you (if you get my drift).
The horses of the FOUR MEN OF THE APOCALYPSE don't eat anything except maybe our sons and daughters. The websites weren't really clear on that.
You know that slaw is the salad of the poor as in Marie Antoinette losing her head over, "Let them eat slaw" while she dined on hearts of palm, butter lettuce and vineagrette.
Found a reference to a Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Burger Challenge.
Posted by: half-a-sista | March 12, 2010 at 09:46 AM
Ah-hem, nowayasista. Come clean -- you will love Samsula, too.
half-a: you may be onto something in terms of washing my hair. I did it at the beginning of the month, but sometimes I need to wash it a couple times a month.
Your reference to a "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Burger Challenge" only solidifies my fears that the devil is in these wacky food wrasslings that involve hootin' and hollerin' and scantily clad babes. It's simply not natural.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 09:59 AM
It's kind of scary to admit, but I know a man that actually served as the referee for this event a few years back.
For some reason, I think it's false advertising . . . the girls in the video don't look much like the girls in the ad.
Posted by: Sistasista | March 12, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Sistasista! Where you been, girlfriend?!
Yes, that is a scary admission, however, I know that serving as a referee at an event of this caliber requires special skills. Did you know him well enough to know what those skills were?
And you're absolutely right about the false advertising. I was crushed (like the coleslaw) when I saw the actual wrasslin' babes. Kind of the way I felt when I learned that Sarah Palin was actually human.
Devastating.
Posted by: Flannista | March 12, 2010 at 10:28 AM