# Oldest & oddest team games? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2002, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818 "2002-11-01T08:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eamohal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Eamohal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eamohal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/1 "2002-11-01T08:40:53Z")
Hi, In Ireland we have Gaelic football and hurling, in Scotland they play shinty. In Australia they play Aussie Rules. What is the oddest and/or oldest outdoor game (hurling is over 2,000 years old) played by teams on a pitch which is specific to only one nationality as the above are and which is still played today? Cheers Eamo ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/2 "2002-11-01T11:53:17Z")
oddest is a relative term. I have always considered baseball to be pretty odd as most team sports are somewhat symetrical while baseball is one to four guys against the entire team. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/3 "2002-11-01T12:06:28Z")
From this [site](http://www.us-polo.org/learn/outdoor_polo.htm) : > [@](#): > > The Outdoor Game of polo is considered to be one of the oldest team sports and was first played around 200 B.C. in Persia. Others consider [trapping](http://www.wlfa.org/interactive/features/Read.cfm?ID=879) to be the oldest outdoors sport, but its hardly in the same catagory as the ones you mentioned. (Fishing is another with the claim.) But, this [site](http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/history/oldestsport.htm) claims wrestling as the oldest. Whether you consider this an outdoor game is also debatable. As for oddest… that depends on your definition of oddness. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/4 "2002-11-01T13:23:46Z")
I see I somehow failed to read (or grasp) the entirety of your question, initially. Please ignore my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/5 "2002-11-01T14:15:09Z")
Welcome aboard the boards **Eamohal**. I can’t think of an older one than polo, although the Afghan version of it, buzkashi, is pretty odd - they use a sewn-up lamb’s carcass as the “ball”. I believe that’s how the original polo was played anyway. Cricket shares the asymmetry of baseball. My guess for the oddest game is [The Eton Wall Game](http://www.etoncollege.com/eton.asp?di=197). There’s always a big game played on St Andrew’s Day and apparently nobody has scored a goal in that fixture since 1909. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/6 "2002-11-01T14:20:04Z")
I am not familiar with a sport called hurling. Hurling to me has always been a result of drinking too much then driving the porcelain bus. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/7 "2002-11-01T14:41:12Z")
**racer72** [All about hurling](http://www.gaa.ie/index_hurling.html) As to the OP how about [Kabaddi](http://www.goindiago.com/sports/kabaddi/kabaddi1.htm) a Indian sport. Ch 4 in the UK used to show it. Very strange yet fascinating sport. > [@](#): > > Though kabaddi is primarily an Indian game, not much is known about the origin of this game. There is, however, concrete evidence, that the game is 4,000 year old. It is a team sport, which requires both skill and power, and combines the characteristics of wrestling and rugby. It was originally meant to develop self defence, in addition to responses to attack, and reflexes of counter attack by individuals, and by groups or teams. It is a rather simple and inexpensive game, and neither requires a massive playing area, nor any expensive equipment. This explains the popularity of the game in rural India. Kabaddi is played all over Asia with minor variations. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/8 "2002-11-01T14:41:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*I am not familiar with a sport called hurling. Hurling to me has always been a result of drinking too much then driving the porcelain bus. \*\* [It’s not only played in Ireland](http://www.hurling.net/). It’s also a pretty robust cure for a mild hangover, but if you’ve gone as far as driving the porcelain bus it would probably kill you. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/9 "2002-11-01T14:43:18Z")
That link should be [http://www.gaa.ie/html/hurling/all\_about\_hurl.html](http://www.gaa.ie/html/hurling/all_about_hurl.html) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/10 "2002-11-01T14:44:40Z")
Oh and howaya Eamo. Welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/11 "2002-11-01T14:53:32Z")
If we’re willing to include fiction, I consider “bagdrag” to be downright odd, from a Human / western society point of view. I found it in a science fiction magazine (either _IASFM_ or _Analog_) a few years ago. Imagine a Human-like species that evolved from herbivores, and retained their herd outlook. The story was built around the concept that such a species would promote cooperation and the good of the herd, even in a competitive sport. So here is bagdrag, as best as I remember. The game ball is a big bag, weighing (I think) 300 lbs. It’s so big and heavy that it takes several players to carry or drag the bag, hence the game name. Bagdrag is played by three teams on a field shaped like a regular hexagon. Each team has a target goal line, alternating around the field (i.e. team A’s goal would be the top edge of the hex, team B’s goal the down-right edge, and team C’s goal the down-left edge). If the bag crosses a goal line, that team scores one point. Now for the twist: If the bag crosses an edge between two goal lines, EACH team on those goal lines scores TWO points. (If the bag crosses the top-right edge, teams A and B each score 2 points.) And just to make things more interesting, a team currently with sole possession of the bag can share possession with another team. Now for a game strategy problem from the story, aka “you call the play”: It’s at the end of the game, time enough for one more play. Your team has sole possession of the bag, and good field position. The scores are: Your team 8, team B 8, team C 6. Do you: Go for your own goal line? Share with B and go for the A-B line? Share with C and go for the A-C line? In the story, the actual play was to share possession with C, and go for the A-C line. If the play worked, A would win and B & C would tie for second. If it failed, A & B would remain tied for first. Herbivores putting the herd first, remember? ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/12 "2002-11-01T15:27:38Z")
As a sidebar, the oldest team “game” is possibly war and sports may have involved as a substitute for, or a training exercise for it. More that 2500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote a military treatise called “The Art of War” which is still studied by military leaders that sets out basic tactics and strategy. The general principles are often used in team sports today. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/13 "2002-11-01T15:33:15Z")
I haven’t been able to find the proper name for it, but IIRC the Aztecs played a game wherein teams tried to throw a ball through a hoop suspended at some distance from the ground (except the hoop was perpendicular to the ground, not parrallel with it). It looked a little like basketball in that respect. The one major difference was that the team that lost had their hearts ritualistically cut out and sacrificed. Makes the NBA look a little tame by comparison, no? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/14 "2002-11-01T16:01:02Z")
According to [this site](http://www.geocities.com/afghanistan_ca/Buzkashi.html), Afghanis have been playing the sport of Buzkashi since “the time of Alexander the Genghis Khan.” And believe me when I say that Alexander the Genghis Khan was a _badass_, although I don’t know how long ago he lived. [Buzkashi](http://www.afghan-web.com/sports/buzkashi.html) is a horseback sport, played with a headless goat carcass. The simple variant (Tudabarai) is sort of a team version of smear the queer. The more complex variant (Qarajai) is a goal-sport in which the goat-carrier must trace a specific path away from and back to the goal. It can be very, very violent. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/15 "2002-11-01T16:04:24Z")
Yes, **plnnr** , that would be [tlachtli](http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/exp/rubber/aepisode/tlachtli.htm). The players weren’t allowed to use their hands either. [Calcio antico](http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/xcalcio.htm) is an ancient version of football played only in Italy. It’s pretty violent too, but doesn’t predate the really old ones mentioned so far. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-oddest-team-games/134818/16 "2002-11-01T16:32:33Z")
For unusual, there’s always curling. It’s the only sport I can think of besides Quidditch that involves brooms. RR