Connect and combine - or -“Shoot a target by opening a wine

bottle with a shoe”!

Ok, the title pretty much spoiled what this sport is about, but here’s how

it is born..

Some time ago, while living in Finland, I once happened to be at a dinner

with a nice wine bottle but without a corkscrew. Upon suggestion from a

flatmate of mine, we then proceeded to put the bottle in a shoe, tilt both

of them horizontally and repeatedly hit the wall with the bottle

“wrapped” in the shoe (so that the former wouldn’t break). To my great

surprise, the cork moved slightly with each hit, eventually popping

joyfully from the bottle and hitting my friend in an inconvenient place. I

immediately fell in love with such a brilliant activity (opening the bottle

with a shoe, not hitting friends), even more since itcombines two things

my country (Italy) is good at making.

Since then, I shoe-opened wine bottles in other occasions, the most

panoramic of which being on a Portuguese cliff, picnic-ing in a sunset,

using just a flip flop and a rock.

Hence, I believe it is time to bring this idea to a whole new level,

introducing the magic of OLYMPIC-WINE-BOTTLE-SHOE-OPENING-

SHOOTING!

Now, some may say it is a nonsense sport, but so is equestrian dressage

and yet it currently features in the Olympics. Someone else might argue

that I didn’t invent anything, that people already knew how to open

bottles with shoes, and I just put that together with aiming at a target:

that’s at least in part true, but isn’t this exactly about connecting and

combining existing things in new ways?

(You are mistaken if you think the target is badly drawn, that is the standard shape

of this sport’s targets)

Now, I won’t bore you with the technicalities of how the hitting

movement helps build up pressure inside the sealed container, powering

the cork towards the target, nor will I get into secret details of how to

best shoot, because I heard the Olympic village is a lot of fun, and I would

like to qualify to get there without too much competition. However, keep

in mind that even if you come from a disadvantage country, which is not

naturally well-endowed with shoes (e.g. Ethiopia) or wine (e.g. the USA),

you might always request a Wild Card to participate and live the magic of

the Olympics!

Cheers,

Fabio