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Sure bets for coming of apocalypse

It’s been said for some time that the signs of the apocalypse are with us right now.

And without even considering — or even factoring in the situation in Washington D.C. — I can see enough in sports alone that should have everyone very worried.

Take the recent selection of the Lephrachaun mascot at the University of Notre Dame.

For the first time, the Irish mascot, known for his antics on the sidelines with a shillelagh, will have a female as one of three persons filling the role in 2019.

Now, the Leprachaun is an iconic figure at Notre Dame,

In the movie, “Rudy,” Rudy Reuttiger said he was mistaken for the mascot on occasion.

Another thing that completely mystifies me is the suddenly hot sport of cornhole.

The sport, if you call it that, involves throwing what looks like a bean bag into a hole roughly 40 yards away. Throw it in the hole and you get three points, one point for placing it on the board. First player to 21 is the winner.

The target, ostensibly made of cardboard, looks like a game invented by a three-year old child. Actually a guy named Heyliger Dewindt put out a patent on the game in 1883, calling Parlor Quoits.

Cornhole can now be seen regularly on ESPN, the network that gave us such staples as the National Hot Dog Eating contest and Rodeo from Mesquite, Texas.

Joey Chesnut is almost as familiar as Tom Brady of the New England Patriots or Mike Trout of the L.A. Angels for his accomplishments in the Hot Dog Eating contest.

A native of San Jose, California, Chesnut holds the world record for gobbling down 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

But he also has the mark for drinking 12 gallons of milk, and he’s the current record-holder for eating the most deep-fried asparagus.

The thought of the last mark is almost enough to make a normal person lose their cookies.

There are plenty of other obscure sports out there, too.

Like Quidditch, Bog Snorkeling and Chess Boxing. Don’t ask me to explain them, however.

And, to think, I once thought curling was strange ….

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