How To: Create a Man of the Year Competition

For the six people who view this blog, here's the basics to creating your own Man of the Year Competition:

1) RECRUIT!

Recruit a dozen great men (at least) to be part of the competition: More is possible, but planning events becomes a bit tougher. MOTY Competitions take place every month and participants should be willing to participate in every/almost every event. Strong participation is key to a good MOTY!

2) CELEBRATE THE START OF YOUR MOTY TOURNAMENT!

Have a guys night to celebrate the beginning of your MOTY competition! This event is an opportunity to explain how the MOTY Competition will work.

3) DETAILS OF THE MAN OF THE YEAR COMPETITION

Monthly Competitions: Each month, one of the guys organizes a unique competition. Determine who is responsible for each month. The event can be anything and everything. Three rules should be followed when selecting an event:

• The event has to be judged in a non-subjective quantitative manner. Measures like "Best wipeout" or "Style-points" should be avoided as they'll lead to conflicts.
• 1/2 the men must agree to participate or the competition is vetoed by the group. You might kick tail at a lard-eating contest, but it's probably not something the men of MOTY want to do. Or perhaps your expensive Vegas Survival weekend would have been awesome but if half the group can't afford it, it's a no-go. Keeping it fun and accessible is key.
• 2 weeks notice must be given prior to a competition to allow participants to practice, prepare and/or clear their schedules.

Scoring Points: Scoring of events is based on the ranking and number of participants. If there are 12 participants, 1st place gets 12 points, 2nd gets 11 points, etc. until last place gets 1 point. MOTY members who miss the event get 0 points. Scoring is at the discretion of the organizer. All ties should be settled during the event. Any unforseen disagreements are settled democratically with the organizer having the last word if there is still a tie.

Winning MOTY: Points that have been amassed throughout the year are tallied and the man who has the most points at the end of the year is proclaimed to be the Man of the Year. Some sort of token should be awarded to the MOTY as a sign of respect for their testicular fortitude. Our group rewards the winner with a custom belt buckle.

The Great MOTY Buckle

Manly Competition Ideas: There's a few MOTY-style websites out there for ideas but, generally speaking, they are terrible and pretty useless unless you plan on playing poker and going to the casino every weekend. Here's a few ideas to get your group of men inspired and the envy of your families, friends, schoolmates, and coworkers.

Classic Manly Competitions:
- Texas Hold'Em Tournament

- Go Kart Racing
- Billiards/Darts Tournament
- Scotch/Beer/Wine Tasting Competition

- Golf Tournament
- Casino Survival

Competitions for Beasts & Athletes:

- Strong Man Competitions

- Triathlons / Marathons / Cycling Races

- Racket Sport Tournament (Squash, Tennis, RacketBall)

- Sport Competition (Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, Etc.)

- A Spartan Race / Death Race / Tough Mudder / Adventure Races

Competitions for Outdoor Enthusiasts:

- Survival Competition

- Lumberjack Competition

- Fishing Tournament

- Ranch/Cowboy Competition

- Orienteering/Trail Running Competition
- Whitewater Canoeing Competitions
- Raft Building 

Competitions for Ninjas and Snipers:

- Sharpshooter Competition

- Paintball Tournament

- Hunting Competition

- Fencing Competition

- FightClub (Boxing, Wrestling, Sumo, MMA, etc.)

Details on some of these competitions are in the blog and there are new events listed every month on our website! This is an awesome way to spend some time with your boys and try out new things. Keep it fun and you'll have yourself an awesome MOTY competition! Now quit reading and get to it!