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. He said, "We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name. You have a year to prepare, good luck". 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—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. 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 winner of that competition was a 4-year-old, who was coronated with a Burger King crown.
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.