'Rednecks' compete in annual games

EAST DUBLIN, Ga., July 12 (UPI) -- Organizers of the 15th Redneck Games in Georgia said thousands of people turned out to watch and participate in bobbing for pigs' feet and other off-beat games.

The organizers said the Redneck Games, which began as a parody of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and now serve as a fundraiser for the Lions Club, typically draws 5,000 to 7,500 people, with thick crowds on hand Saturday in East Dublin for such events as a version of horseshoes using toilet seats and an "armpit serenade," The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph reported Monday.

"It's really recognized worldwide," said Freddie Baugus, president of the East Dublin Lions Club. "We've got a crew from Japan here -- I just talked to them. We've got people from England and some from France. I've done interviews on live radio in Spain and England."

Baugus said they all want to know what a redneck is. Historically, a redneck is a derogatory term used to describe poor, rural, bigoted, white Southerners. But Baugus gives it a different and positive spin.

"I tell them it's just an average person having a good time, that's my definition of a redneck," he said.