ESPN8 The Ocho Is Back With Arm Wrestling, Air Hockey and the USA Mullet Championship

The Weird World of Sports is returning for 24 hours of wackiness on Friday

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Dodgeball won’t be involved, but ESPN8: The Ocho is returning this Friday with 24 hours of seldom-seen sports programming.

Airing for the first time since March of last year, the 2021 edition of The Ocho will be the fifth time ESPN has busted out its phony Dodgeball-inspired network since it first gave it a shot in 2017.

Airing on ESPN2, ESPN8: The Ocho will broadcast live from the 2021 American Cornhole League (ACL) World Championships in South Carolina on Friday night. ESPN2 will also air preview days of the special sports content on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

New events this year include:

  • Table Shuffleboard Crazy Eights: Competitors meet in Dallas, Texas for a variation of traditional shuffleboard that gives every player equal chance to win. The goal is to accomplish a hanger in which four points are scored – which is the maximum amount possible – and is achieved by getting the weight to hang over the end of the board.
  • Minecraft: Battle of the Boroughs: Students/players are tasked with designing and building up a virtual city in the game that empowers sustainable communities.
  • Pogopalooza: The world championship of extreme pogo, this game features the best pogo athletes as they perform innovative moves and enthrall the onlooking crowd.
  • CROSSNET Sand Series: SoCal: An emerging sport similar to four square and volleyball featuring a centrally placed net and a four-quadrant court. Players are eliminated as the game goes along and the winner is the first player in square four to 11 points.
  • Stern Heads-Up Pinball Invitational: At the Stern Pinball Invitational, players from various locations compete, trying to obtain the highest scores possible.
  • Air Hockey Invitational: At the Air Hockey Invitational, competitors work to get their puck into the opposite team’s goal, scoring enough points to eventually win the game.
  • World Championship Rototiller Races: Competitors run full speed behind a garden tiller as they race up a dirt strip with the goal of getting to the finish line as quickly as possible.
  • 2021 Corgi Races at Emerald Downs: Members of the beloved small dog breed dash down the track to see which one can cross the finish line first.
  • 52nd Annual World Championship Cow Chip Throwing Contest: Originating in Oklahoma, the Cow Chip Championship consists of contestants throwing dried cow feces to see who can make it the farthest distance.
  • 2020 USA Mullet ChampionshipsIt’s business in the front and party in the back for contestants with the much-talked-about hairstyle, whose mullets are judged for a chance to win the Mullet Mega Money Pot.
  • 2021 US Air Guitar Championships: “Musicians” use invisible instruments to perform songs for judges in hopes of becoming the US Air Guitar Champion.
  • World Chase Tag USA 2021: World Chase Tag (WCT) combines the dynamic athleticism of Parkour with the age-old game of tag.

The official broadcast of The Ocho kicks off at midnight on Friday with a foosballers documentary.

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