Top Ten Genea-Blogger Group Games That Were Cut by the Committee

If you’re a genea-blogger, by now you’ve probably heard the announcement about the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games which are being held August 8 – 25.  But you may not know that several competition categories were cut from the event by the official Committee (Thomas, Terry, Miriam, Kathryn, footnoteMaven, and Denise). We’re not sure why these events were cut, but the rumor is that certain participants were sure to win the gold by a mile.  So as not to embarrass the other participants, it was decided that these categories would be cut due to the unfair advantage that many genea-bloggers had.  But I was able to get my hands on a copy of the original program…here are the events you won’t see, and who was expected to take home the gold (or rather, the diamond, since that is the highest medal given in the Genea-Blogger Group Games).

( 10 ) The 1000 Meter Dash – Using only online sources, quickly connect with as many living cousins as possible.  Would have won: Randy Seaver

( 9 ) Long Jump – Trace your maternal line back to the Garden of Eden using mtDNA.  Would have won: Blaine Bettinger

( 8 ) Relay Race – Quickly pass on a meme to five other genea-bloggers before they’ve been hit by someone else.  Bonus points if you find out that the genea-bloggers are actually your cousins.  Would have won:  Becky Wiseman

( 7 ) Wrestling – The genea-smackdown event!  Wrestle with boxes and boxes of uncategorized and unlabeled documents and photos, organizing and scanning as you go.  Would have won: Craig Manson

( 6 ) Parallel Bars – Determine if two families with the same surname are related or not, documenting the search with correct source citations.  Would have won: Thomas MacEntee

( 5 ) Synchronized Scanning – Scan the greatest number of documents during Scanfest while, at the same time, chatting online with a dozen genea-friends, checking out the latest info on the Facebook wall, transcribing records for FamilySearch Indexing, submitting to the Carnival of Genealogy, and publishing a post on your blog.  Would have won: Miriam Midkiff

( 4 ) 100m Backstroke – Transcribe, photograph, and index all of your local cemeteries.  Would have won: Terry Thornton

( 3 ) Hurdles – Track down an elusive female relative’s parents’ names as well as her descendants.  You know, the relative who  married five times and moved frequently.  All sources must be properly documented, and her story should be presented in the creative nonfiction format.  Would have won: FootnoteMaven

( 2 ) Balance Beam – Serve as carnival host while writing your family history project and hosting more than one genea-blog.  Would have won: 3-way tie between Jasia, Lisa, and fM

( 1 ) Pole Vault – Find your immigrant ancestor’s hometown when the only placename listed on every vital document is either “Poland”, “Russia”, “Austria”, or “Prussia”.  Would have won: Steve Danko

Oh well, these events would have been fun.  But, there are still plenty of events to choose from!  Let the games begin!