Ralph the Llama Gets Physical Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Eton Wall game

The wall in question is found at Eton College, an independent school in Southern England that has provided many of Britain's prime ministers. It dates from 1717 and the game, which is played formerly on St. Andrew's day and Ascension Day, dates back to 1766 and probably further. Like most sports it has its own glossary of terms which includes the calx, bullies and furking. The rules for scoring are too complicated to explain here and, anyway, many games avoid troubling the scorers by finishing 0-0.

It's a long time since glendathecat went to school and, unfortunately, it was nowhere as prestigious as Eton.

Answer: Diving

Diving has been an Olympic sport since the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis and has typically included the 10m platform and the 3m springboard for both men and women (single and synchronized). Along with water polo and the dozens of swimming events, diving is one of the components of the Summer Olympic Aquatics events. Ralph is actually pretty good at the pike position in which he needs to keep his body straight excluding a single bend in the hips. The tuck is easier to perform typically as the body must curl into a ball to perform it.

Unfortunately, Ralph was omitted from the Peruvian diving team for undisclosed reasons. Shame, really; Kyleisalive was planning to place money on his win.

Answer: Australian Rules Football

Australian Rules Football is a fast moving game played by teams of 18 a side on an oval playing field whose size is variable. A typical ground would be between 135m and 185m in length (150-200 yards) and 110m to 155m (120-170 yards) across its widest point. There are eight on-field umpires: three field umpires who monitor play, two boundary umpires who supervise the return of the ball to play after it leaves the field, two goal umpires (one at each end) who decide when a team has scored and one emergency umpire available to replace any of the others if necessary, as well as monitoring off-field activity. The goal umpires are probably those most familiar to those whose acquaintance with the game is based on television - they wave white flags to indicate whether the player has scored a goal (worth 6 points when the ball passes between the two inner goal posts), a behind (worth 1 point when the ball passes through the two outer goal posts) or has missed the goal posts entirely.

The game originated in the Melbourne area, and the MCG is considered the premier ground on which it is played. Fortunately, AFL and cricket seasons have little overlap! Looney_tunes taught Ralph to sing "Up There, Cazaly", the AFL anthem which urges players to 'fly like an eagle' in reference to the spectacular leaps to catch the ball which are a feature of play. Ralph thinks catching a high mark looks like a lot of effort for a llama.

Answer: Trugo

This game, which sadly only has about 300 members left playing, had its origins in the Newport railway yards in Melbourne's western suburbs in the 1920s. During lunchtimes the workers would use their sledgehammers to hit the 'rings' (the buffer washers that connect carriages together) through a set of goal posts which were the width of a carriage. The pitch was the length of a carriage. The game has since been refined to wooden mallets, lawn greens and rubber rings.

It has been likened to an amalgam of croquet, wood chopping, lawn bowls and AFL football because of all of the individual features of the game.
There are still a small number of trugo clubs in Melbourne's inner western and northern suburbs who would love to hear from Ralph or anyone else interesting in playing. Exit10 will be joining up next week.

Answer: Camel wrestling

Camel wrestling evolved from the fights between two male camels for the affections of a female camel. The sport reportedly has existed for over two thousand years, and while its popularity waned during the early twentieth century, the government encouraged the re-emergence of the sport towards the end of the century because of its significance in Turkish culture. To get the camels to fight, a female camel was used as a motivator, but this led to extremely violent fights, so it became preferred to starve the animals to make them more aggressive. Thus the sport is a target for animal activists who protest the cruelty involved.

PDAZ tells Ralph to skip this activity - she doesn't approve of sports involving animals.

Answer: Curling

The sport of curling can be dated back to 16th century Scotland, to a pastime involving throwing stones across ice. The sport, and indeed the name, of curling evolved from this, and the first clubs were formed in the 19th century, where players would play on frozen ponds and lochs. It was in 1924, at the first Winter Olympic Games at Chamonix, that the first international competition for curling teams took place. Curling is known as 'chess on ice' due to the necessity for precision, accuracy and strategy. Two teams of four players take turns to slide stones across a smooth ice sheet to a target. Points are awarded for stones that are closest to the centre of the target. Two 'sweepers', armed with brooms, can sweep the path in front of the stone to alter the ice so the stone can reach its optimum destination.

While Ralph takes to the ice with ease, eburge decides to cheer him on from the sidelines - what an ice guy.

Answer: Skeleton

Skeleton involves hanging onto a small sled for dear life as the participant hurtles down a bobsled track at speeds faster than some cars. Because the rider takes the same banks and turns as the bobsleds and luge, a great amount of force is exerted on the participant throughout. Many regard this as one of the more dangerous sports on the Winter Olympic roster, mostly due to a lack of possible safety precautions. The sport has temporarily recurred on the Olympic sport listings for several decades but became a permanent fixture in 2002. Most people relate it to tobogganing...only face first.

Kyleisalive would caution Ralph to wear a helmet (and wear a safer uniform) before taking his chances on the course, but he's been asked not to make an attempt; his hooves can't grip the sled.

Answer: Throwing a bag of straw using a pitchfork

Primarily based on strength, the Highland games have uncertain origins, though they are thought by some to have started from a competition held by the 11th century king Malcolm III to find the swiftest runner, who would act as his royal messenger. The largest Highland games is held in Pleasanton, California. This impressive gathering not only hosts strength-testing sports, but provides traditional Scottish music and food, as well as historical re-enactments.

Doublemm decides against taking part in the games of his homeland after glancing at the 6m long caber, and indulges in some delicious haggis instead.

Answer: Poc Fada

Translated to English, Poc Fada means 'long puck' or 'long hit'. In the Annual All-Ireland Championship, qualifiers from around Ireland compete to complete a pre-determined course in the shortest number of pocs. In case of ties, the final poc is measured to see how far the sliotar has travelled past the finishing line. The competitor who finished furthest from the line is declared the winner as their poc is longest.

The skills required come from the games of Hurling and Camogie, which are Irish field games played with a wooden stick, known as a hurley and a small ball known as a sliotar. Hurling is played by men, Camogie by women, but the games are virtually identical.

Ralph the Llama was eager to give the game a go, but EmmaF2008 found it hard to find a hurley that he could grasp with his hooves.

Answer: Zorbing

Zorbing, also called orbing and sphering, is a recently-emerging sport. Since the first zorbing site was established in Rotorua, NZ in 1994, the craze has spread around the world. A zorb is composed of two layers of flexible plastic, with an air cushion in between them. Zorbing can be conducted as a casual activity or as a competitive sport, aiming either to roll the longest distance, or to cover a fixed course in the shortest time. Zorbs are going to be one of the symbols of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Looney_tunes hopes Ralph didn't get too dizzy - the standard zorb wouldn't leave him much room to move around and keep his head up, so he probably had to squash in and roll with the flow.