In the spirit of......

.....diverting our attention from the lengthy arguments, pro and con, of dealing prospects and draft picks for Sonny Gray ,  I offer you this tidbit of sports news:

In Finland, boot tossing has become an annual event, attracting participants of all ages, genders and cross genders.

There is the season opening,
" granny boot toss," in which  participants must arrive with grand-children in tow and DNA printouts to prove heritage.   When granny's started to arrive at the age of forty, the rules committee set a new standard;  Granny Tossers had to be at least 65 years old to qualify for the rainbow boot, the coveted prize button.

Children throw boots down a lane, with spectators on both sides.  Boots must remain within the lane to qualify.  Some of the boots they throw are nearly as tall as they are.  In the spirit of the Finns, each child participant is awarded a rainbow boot tee shirt and a spoonful of Lingonberry sorbet for their efforts.

The final, and largest crowd-drawer, goes to the unlimited category; open to men and women.  Oft-times lumberjacks do this toss on ice skates to demonstrate their expertise.  Used firemen's boot are painted ( see above ) for this prime event.  So far, the record toss is 33.3 meters.

Finn application to the Olympic Committee have thus far been denied.

I hope this has satisfied the diversion objective for the week, and that you may never wish to read anything about sports again until August 1.