Tejo - Colombia’s secret national sport

[DGUtley]

Colombia’s secret national sport

Screenshot 2023-04-28 at 08-00-27 Colombia’s secret national sport.png
In Colombia, it is almost impossible to escape fútbol. On days that the national soccer team plays, the country grinds to a halt for two hours. The streets are deserted, and the bars filled with fans watching the game. Humberto de La Calle, the government negotiator with the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas in the recent peace talks held in Havana, Cuba, said that even the FARC members would show up the day after a Colombia game wearing the national team shirt.

But Colombia’s official national sport is not soccer, it is tejo, designated as such by a 2000 Congressional vote. This is a modernized version of an ancient indigenous game practiced over the past five centuries in central Colombia in the high plateau that runs from the capital, Bogotá, to the region of Boyacá. Since then, tejo has expanded to the rest of the nation, and even some neighboring countries.

This game, which involves hurling metal discs at explosives, usually while holding a beer, captures the fascination of both tourists and locals. But for many Colombians, it has at times been synonymous with uneducated farmers, alcoholics, and vagabonds, resulting in practically nonexistent media coverage. Yet its rich history—shifting from an indigenous tradition, to a way for the powerful to convene, to a game heavily associated with drinking, to a proper sport and a symbol of national identity—has preserved it and propelled it to a place where it can defy class barriers.



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https://explorepartsunknown.com/colombia/tejo-sports/

[Collateral Damage]

OK then. I guess with the 'explosives' (contact explosive?), they know exactly where they hit. I was thinking something of the more... pyrotechnic... sort.

[carolina73]

Cornhole with a bang

[jigglepete]

Cornhole with a bang

I was actually looking for the set with Brian Welsh of Korn on one board and Courtney Love of Hole on the other, but I like this one better

[carolina73]

I was actually looking for the set with Brian Welsh of Korn on one board and Courtney Love of Hole on the other, but I like this one better

Courtney Love lying on her back and unable to talk? Everyone would think it was actually her!

CLove.jpg

[donttread]

Colombia’s secret national sport


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In Colombia, it is almost impossible to escape fútbol. On days that the national soccer team plays, the country grinds to a halt for two hours. The streets are deserted, and the bars filled with fans watching the game. Humberto de La Calle, the government negotiator with the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas in the recent peace talks held in Havana, Cuba, said that even the FARC members would show up the day after a Colombia game wearing the national team shirt.

But Colombia’s official national sport is not soccer, it is tejo, designated as such by a 2000 Congressional vote. This is a modernized version of an ancient indigenous game practiced over the past five centuries in central Colombia in the high plateau that runs from the capital, Bogotá, to the region of Boyacá. Since then, tejo has expanded to the rest of the nation, and even some neighboring countries.

This game, which involves hurling metal discs at explosives, usually while holding a beer, captures the fascination of both tourists and locals. But for many Colombians, it has at times been synonymous with uneducated farmers, alcoholics, and vagabonds, resulting in practically nonexistent media coverage. Yet its rich history—shifting from an indigenous tradition, to a way for the powerful to convene, to a game heavily associated with drinking, to a proper sport and a symbol of national identity—has preserved it and propelled it to a place where it can defy class barriers.



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https://explorepartsunknown.com/colombia/tejo-sports/

I gotta tell my redneck friends about this. I'm mean throwing something AT explosives while drinking beer? Could they combine it with shooting thermite targets?