The Friday Challenge - 11/13/09

We've got five entries this week for our alien invasion / first contact challenge. Before going on to the entries, I would request people who use drop.io to post their entry either include their name in the document title or include a byline in the entry itself. It helps everyone -- me, especially -- keep the entries straight. Now, on to the entries:

torainfor - Aliens!

Practical Mystic - They

miko - Sitting on Dynamite

Lady Quill - First Contact (drop.io)

Al - Technology, Advanced (drop.io)

As always, even if you haven't submitted an entry this week—even if you never submit an entry in any week—you're invited to read, comment on, and vote for your favorite. Don't be shy about leaving feedback on the authors' sites, either. Writers thrive on knowing that someone out there is actually reading their words. The winner will be announced on Sunday.

And now for this week's challenge.

"Now That's Entertainment!"

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Have you ever stopped to think about what causes a previously obscure sport to suddenly become a popular spectator sport? For example, volleyball has been around for over a century. Sure, during the Olympics and when the U.S. had a good team, you could find volleyball on TV, though rarely during prime time.

But what if you move volleyball from an indoor court to the beach? And what if you reduce the number of players from six to two? You end up with a sport that beach bums and surfer dudes might watch, nothing more. Guys still don't find it entertaining to tune and watch other guys play volleyball, beach or not. And everyone knows virtually no one tunes in to watch women play any team sport.

Then, inspiration! Have the women play in bikinis! Suddenly, women's beach volleyball is worth televising in prime time during the Olympics. Suddenly, men can actually name some women who play beach volleyball even though they can't name a single man who plays it.

What's all this have to do with the challenge this week? Well, in a way, it describes the challenge. What we want you to do is think of a sport. Any sport will do. Then, write how you would "improve" the sport so it becomes a popular TV spectator sport.

For example, you could change NASCAR races by requiring the cars to tow a boat and trailer, have two whiny kids in the backseat asking "Are we there yet?" and a wife in the front passenger seat asking "Why are you always turning left? We're just going in circles!"

Or how about changing fencing rules so the bouts are held in a renaissance tavern, complete with tables, chairs, beer mugs and a chandelier? Then make it a team sport with, say, four fencers per side. "One for all and all for one!"

Now that's entertainment!

Your entry can be in any form you prefer. Write a short story. Write a new set of rules. Write a simple outline about your changes. Feel free to explain how your changes will lead to good TV ratings or just leave that to our imagination. You get extra points if sports purists will be outraged by your changes.

As usual, we're playing by the loose-but-not-entirely-non-existent rules of the Friday Challenge. The winner will get to choose a prize from behind Door #3.

Ready? Set. Go!