The concept of the Florida man has taken a life of its own.
One event is going to find the next man in the Sunshine State who will earn that monicker.
And one insane competition will determine who joins the ranks of Florida man legends.
Florida Man Games celebrates the outrageous behavior of the state’s residents
The Florida man became an internet sensation because of the wild and wacky situations that residents of the Sunshine State have found themselves in over the years.
Something about Florida has the state being ground zero for bizarre behavior in the country.
Rather than look at the Florida man as a source of shame, one group of residents is using it as a point of pride.
A group of friends in the Sunshine State decided to create Florida’s version of the Olympics with the Florida Man Games.
The first annual Florida Man Games was held in downtown St. Augustine, Florida last February.
Event organizer Pete Melfi created Olympic-style events ripped straight from the headlines of Florida man stories.
He admitted that he could not make the games as wild and crazy as he wanted and still get a permit from the city.
“The city frowned on it when I asked for drugs and nudity,” Melfi admitted.
Some 16 teams competed in events like the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course, Beer Belly Florida Sumo, and a pork-eating contest for cash prizes and professional wrestling-style championship belts.
Florida Man Games is looking for competitors next year
The Florida Man Games held a tryout for next year’s competition in St. Augustine at the training facility for Hatchet Pro Wrestling.
Florida Man Games creator Pete Melfi admitted that he had a boozy inspiration for the competition.
“This came together over a lot of beers,” Melfi admitted. “I can tell you that much.”
He is looking for a unique competitor to take part in the second edition of his competition.
“We are looking for really as weird as it gets,” Melfi explained. “We’re not necessarily looking for the best athlete Florida man doesn’t necessarily produce the best athletes, but we produce a lot of cool weirdos.”
Professional wrestlers Samuel Shaw and Brandon Bullock use the facility to teach people how to become professional wrestlers.
“[Pete] said ‘Hey I’m doing this thing called the Florida man games’ and I’m like yeah it sounds cool,” Shaw said. “I don’t even need to know what the events are or what’s happening. I’m on board let’s go.”
One of the events has competitors run through an obstacle course of tires, tip over a cardboard cutout of a cow, and toss a plastic alligator into a bucket.
The final part of the event was inspired by a Florida man who threw an alligator into the drive-thru window of a Wendy’s.
“So excited,” Bullock stated. “There’s just classic Florida legends that they turned into game somehow and I like to think I’m creative, but I gotta give my hat off to Pete to think of these games and complicated names for games.”
More than 10,000 people are expected to turn out next March for the second annual Florida Man Games to see who can join the ranks of legendary Florida men.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
