Frog Jumping

The Joys of Competitive Frog Jumping

Among the many many shows Netflix is presently offering, there is only one that I can find that features frog jumping. (I’ll admit, I haven’t looked to see if there are others.) This delightful show is called We Are the Champions. Now I’ll admit it, I was hooked from the first episode that featured the annual cheese rolling — hurtling your body down a hill glorious event that happens in Gloucestershire once a year.

I continued from cheese-rolling through the mysterious competitive worlds of yo-yo mastery, chili pepper eating, dog dancing, and competitive hairstyling. Quickly I found myself at the end of the series, and what a grand finale it was: frog jumping. May your frog be not flat of feet, I thought as I delved into this curious championship.

In case you are unfamiliar with the particulars of frog jumping (as I was), the championships take place annually in a small town in California called Angels Camp proving, once again, that life in California varies widely depending on what part you are in. For the championship, you place your frog down on a pad in a semi-circle. Yes, in case you were wondering, you have to supply your frog. And they are frogs, bullfrogs to be precise, so don’t try to sneak in a toad. Once your athletic amphibian has hit the pad, its human counterpart jumps behind it to scare it and see how far it can jump after three jumps (one right after the other.) After the third jump, the distance is measured from the initial pad.