Sometimes sports can seem so formulaic. Show up, play by the rules, stay between the lines, get your check, go home. Where's the intrigue, the gamesmanship, the clinical insanity?
International carp-fishing competitions, that's where.
Winners Romania spent the five months preceding the tournament feeding the fish of Lake Corbu with a secret bait recipe.
Unfortunately for the 10-man England side, who finished 18th, they turned up at last month's tournament with £10,000 worth of traditional "boilies".
The mash-up of flour, egg and flavourer such as blended dried dog food is popular with British fish but failed to spark a flicker of interest in the Romanian carp which were happy to gorge on the feed offered on the hooks of their hosts which they had grown obligingly fat on throughout the summer.
LINK (via: Deadspin)