Now I think that I am a pretty understanding individual. I am fairly liberal in my opinions about many topics, but today I believe my foundations had a bit of a shaking.

From time to time I find myself watching the TV station "Eurosport" which includes an eclectic arrangement of sports not quite popular enough for main stream dispersal. I have watched many a sport on here including but not limited to Golf, Sumo Wrestling, a form of billiards that appears that the only goal is to hit the balls as many times as you can in the same way and in the same position, Darts, Ski Jumping and many others. I always took these with a grain of salt (or rice as it were with the Sumo's), but I had to draw the line at Biathlon.

At first glance this sport kicks ass, and I can't say that I disagree. Look at the principle, you ski around for awhile, stop occasionally to lay down and shoot some targets, and then repeat the process a few times, maybe a beer or two, and then your done. In the world of sports it's the only one that prepares you for a practical get away scenario.

But taking a deeper look at the possible roots of this sport, one tends to get worried. I mean, what drove people to make this a competitive process? "Well Bob, I want to play a game too, but all I have are skis and a target rifle....wait a minute!!!" or "In a renewed effort to get ex-cons back into shape, the Norwegian government has produced an absurd new hobby." or "You know, killing a caribou on skis really gives the meat that faint taste that it really was hunted down."

I guess the world will never know.