Mobile phone throwing is actually a national sport in Finland. Competitors meet annually to see who can throw their handset the farthest.
Everyone has fantasized about throwing his or her mobile phone at one point or another. Whether it was after a fight with your significant other, being put on hold forever by your mobile provider, receiving an angry text or losing signal during a crucial call, there have been multiple points where we've all had enough and just wanted to chuck our phones as a metaphor for whatever problem they currently represented.
Ratchet reality TV stars aside, most of us are able to hold it together and refrain from the overwhelming urge we occasionally get to just wing our phone into the atmosphere, or even at the object of our ire. However, what if we could, just once, throw reason out the window and our cell phone flying after it?
The folks over in Finland have not only created an environment specifically for themselves to play out that fantasy, they've actually made it into a national sport. Since 2000, natives of Finland have been flocking to the town of Savonlinna to participate in the Mobile Phone Throwing Championships. The contestants throw phones that have been donated and provided, and are not allowed to bring their own devices. They are, however, encouraged to "choose the phone that fits best to his/her hand or looks the nicest," according to the official website of the sport. It further explains: "There are clearly two parties in this; some believe that the heavier phones fl[y] further than lighter ones and others think just the opposite."
There is an official jury panel that determines the acceptability of each throw and approves the results, with absolutely no appeals allowed. The longest throws — 97.73 meters (320.63 feet) is tops thus far — are recorded. Though the rules are presented seriously, the entire concept is somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
"Humor connects people globally and is also part of this sport," the website pronounces, along with the spiritual freedom symbolized by the throwing of the device and all it represents. After all the fun is over, in a fitting nod to the environment, the devices are then recycled.