Hundreds Gather in Nebraska to Battle Over the Name Josh

#JoshFight happened Saturday in Lincoln
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 25, 2021 4:30 PM CDT
Hundreds Gather in Nebraska to Battle Over the Name Josh
Multiple people with the name Josh duked it out with pool noodles to find out who is the rightful owner of the name Josh via a battle royale in an open green space in Air Park on Saturday, April 24, 2021, in Lincoln, Neb.   (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

A fight over the name of Josh drew a crowd from around the country to a Nebraska park Saturday for a heated pool-noodle brawl. It all started a year ago when pandemic boredom set in and Josh Swain, a 22-year-old college student from Tucson, Arizona, messaged others who shared his name on social media and challenged them to a duel. "We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name. You have a year to prepare, good luck," Swain wrote. ESPN reports he wasn't serious about fighting, but the messages went viral, and a year later #JoshFight became a reality. Hundreds showed up at Air Park in Lincoln—random coordinates were picked, which is how they ended up in Lincoln, Nebraska, reports the Journal Star—to participate in the silliness.

The festivities started with a "grueling and righteous battle of Rock, Paper, Scissors" between the Josh Swain from Arizona and another Josh Swain from Omaha, reports the AP. KLKN-TV reports that the Arizona student won that competition, allowing him to claim the title of the true Josh Swain. The pool-noodle competition that followed was open to anyone with the first name of Josh. The victor of that competition was a 4-year-old, who was coronated with a Burger King crown. Swain, the organizer, said he is a little surprised about how the whole thing blew up: "I did not expect people to be as adamant about this as they are right now." And there was a pretty nice side-story too: Those who came donated at least 200 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Lincoln and $8,000 to the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation in Omaha.

(More strange stuff stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X