 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Sept. 9-11, 2005
Mudstalgia celebrates 30 years of Mud Bowl
By Tom Eastman
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. -- Often called the dirtiest sport around,
Mud Bowl -- the world championships of mud football -- will look
back at 30 years of mud mania when it splashes off at North
Conway’s world-renowned Hog Coliseum Friday through Sunday,
Sept. 9 through 11.
Now in its 29th year in North Conway, the colorful 13-game,
double elimination mud football extravaganza includes three days
of exciting football action, culminating with the championship
Sunday afternoon, Sept. 11.
This year’s games and parade will celebrate a theme of
“Mudstalgia,” as teams bring back some of their favorite skits and
moments of the past 30 years. That’s right, this craziness has now
been celebrated in North Conway for three decades -- ever since
a ragtag bunch of players banded together to form the Mt.
Washington Valley Hogs to play in a tourney in Maine' s
Sugarloaf, USA in 1975.
The Hogs won the first of their 11 titles that year, and North
Conway hosted its first tourney in 1976 as a result, as the winning
team in those days got to host the Mud Bowl the following year.
That 1976 game was played in a corn field. After North Conway
volunteers built Hog Coliseum in 1981, organizers in 1983
decided to have all games played in North Conway -- permanently
making the Valley the mud football capital of the world.
The weekend of fun includes the 24th annual Tournament of Mud
Parade down Main Street at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10;
halftime events, cheerleader competitions, raffle prizes and much
more.
The family-oriented event benefits local charities, with more than
$400,000 having been raised over the years. The Muddas
Football Club of Amherst, N.H., defeated the 1999 champion
Nashua Mud Gumbys of Nashua, N.H., 26-20, in last year’s
exciting finals to win their 16th championship.
Other teams include the previously-mentioned, hometown 11-time
champion Mt. Washington Valley Hogs; the 2001 champion
Merrimack Mudcats of Franklin, N.H., the North Shore Mudsharks
of Beverly, Mass., the Peabody Predators of Peabody, Mass.;
the Carrabassett Valley Rats of Kingfield, Maine; and the
Cumberland Muckaneers of Rhode Island.
Patrons may use their admission ticket as their entry in several
raffle drawings that will be held throughout the weekend. Three-
day tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the gate. Daily tickets
are $6 for adults and $4 for children under 12. (Discount rates will
be available Saturday only immediately following the parade for
one half hour for Saturday's admission).
For more information, call the MWV Chamber of Commerce at 1-
(800) 367-3364, or North Conway Day Care at (603) 356-5213 ,
or on the web at www.mountainear.com and click on Mud Bowl.
| World Championships of Mud Football |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
