204: Human Beans Are Mad!

Why do I make that statement?

Well, TOWTSH has been watching something on TV called ‘Rugby’.  I believe it’s a sport but it looks to me like a cross between catch-ball and World War 3.    It’s fast, furious, violent and … mad.  Why anyone would partake in rugby for ‘fun’ , I don’t know.

To make things worse, there are two versions, each with its own  set of arcane rules. I’ve watched a few matches over the last few weeks but I still can’t tell when the judge/umpire/referee is going to blow his whistle and stop play.  I imagine there are university degrees in rugby rules or, of course, the decisions by the judge.umpires/referee might be arbitrary -  perhaps because they players have  been playing too long without a rest.

Football, I have more or less worked out.  Players kick the ball, preferably to one of their own players, or even more preferably into the keepnet at the end of the playing area.  If they don’t manage to do this, they fall down and writhe around. If one of them gets too muddy (though TOWTSH calls it ‘dirty’), the kindly judge/umpire/referee lets them leave the pitch to have ‘an early bath’

Why would human beans invent such games when it puts them at the risk of huge disappointment  and/or physical injury.  Either I’m missing something (which I admit is quite likely) or, as I suggested in my title, it’s simply a form of collective madness.

Comments and clarifications, by postcard please.