King of Extreme - Top 5 Strange Extreme Sports

            Some find their thrills on the gridiron, others choose to jump out of airplanes.  Not these guys.  The "Athletes" featured in this article can safely consider themselves the most extreme of the extreme, those precious few who simply weren't satisfied with conventional sports. Sure, they might be a little eccentric, but 10 years ago nobody thought Mixed Martial Arts would take off, and they probably ridiculed the first men to try and throw a ball into an elevated peach basket.  Ive scoured the web looking for the most unique sports in the world.

Without further adieu, here are the 5 craziest, most balls out sports out there.

Number 5- Ferret Legging

Thats right, Ferret Legging. This colorful sport involves grown men putting live ferrets, complete with razor sharp claws and teeth, into their trousers. The "winner" is the contestant who can last the longest with the ferret in his pants. The current world record holder, a sturdy man by the name of Reg Mellor, actually lasted an unbelievable 5 hours and twenty six minutes. Thats no small feat no matter how you measure it. Believe it or not, this sport has been around for centuries, only recently enjoying a resurgence in popularity in sunny England.

Number 4- Octopush

Either these people couldn't skate, or regular old ice hockey just wasn't fun enough. Octopush, also known as underwater hockey, is a surprisingly popular sport played all over the world today. The rules are, well, just like hockey...only underwater.  Two teams of ten battle it out underwater with snorkels and sticks to push a puck into an underwater goal.  It has referees, it has a governing body, and it has thousands of devoted "Octopushers" who swear by it. Me? I'll stick to my Ice hockey thank you very much!

Number 3- Wife Carrying

My girlfriend was not pleased when I told her about this sport.  Wife Carrying has a pretty simple concept, contestants race against one another while carrying their wife on their back.  Initially popular only in Finland, Wife Carrying is now played all over the world, with the world championships recently being held in Newry, Maine. Why this sport has taken so long to catch on I have no idea, its finally something a husband and wife can do together! No more fighting over the remote control!

Number 2- Extreme Ironing

This one has gotta be my favorite.  I would love to meet Phill Shaw, the man accredited with inventing this incredible sport, and ask him just what the heck was going on in his mind at the time.  As legend goes, he loved rock climbing, but was sick of  ironing....so he made the best of both worlds and combined them into a sport that can only be described as "awesome". The rules are simple, take a picture of yourself ironing in the most extreme spot imaginable.  People have done this underwater, on Humvees, and even while sky diving. I strongly encourage anyone reading this to take up this sport, because its clearly the wave of the future.

Number 1- Xarm

I cant decide if this is the most ridiculous idea on the planet, or a work of incredible genius.  It basically combines two of the most macho sports in the world, arm wrestling and fighting, and combines them into one, ugly mess that is now called XARM.  It doesn't take brain surgery to figure this one out, contestants arm wrestle...and then fight.  Needless to say, I don't see this sport replacing Monday Night Football anytime soon.