Joy in Mud Bowl: Football tournament celebrates 50 years of messy fun

CONWAY, N.H. (AP) — College football players aspire to play in bowls games. Professional players dream of playing in the Super Bowl.

A bunch of amateurs in New Hampshire just want to get muddy.

On Sunday, a three-day sloppy, muddy mess wrapped up for the Mud Bowl, which is celebrating its 50th year of football featuring players trudging though knee-deep muck while trying to reach the end zone.

For these athletes, playing in mud brings out their inner child.

“You’re playing football in the mud, so you've got to have a smile on your face,” said Jason Veno, the 50-year-old quarterback of the North Country Mud Crocs, who described mud as an equalizer. “It’s just a different game in the mud. It doesn’t matter how good you are on grass. That doesn’t matter in the mud.”

The annual event takes place at Hog Coliseum, located in the heart of North Conway. It kicked off Friday night with revelry and music, followed by a Tournament of Mud Parade on Saturday. All told, a dozen teams with men and women competed in the tournament in hopes of emerging as the soiled victor.

Ryan Martin said he’s been playing mud ball for almost 20 years and said it’s a good excuse to meet up with old friends he’s grown up with.

“You get to a point where you’re just like, I’m not going pro on anything I might as well feel like I’m still competing day in and day out,” he said.

He also acknowledged that the sport has some lingering effects — mostly with mud infiltrating every nook and cranny of his body.

“It gets in the eyes. You get cracks in your feet. And you get mud in your toenails for weeks,” he said. “You get it in your ears too. You’ll be cleaning out your ears for a long while …you’ll be blowing your nose and you’ll get some dirt and you’re like, oh, I didn’t know I still had that there.”

Mahala Smith is also sold on the camaraderie of the event.

She said she fell in love with football early in life and has been playing the sport since first grade and ultimately joined a women’s team for tackle football in 2018 and played that for a few years before she was invited to play in the mud.

She said the weekend was a treat.

“It’s like a little mini vacation and everyone’s all friendly,” she said. “People hang out at the hotels and restaurants, people camp, we all have fires and stuff, just like a nice group event.”

Even though it's fun, the teams are serious about winning. And the two-hand touch football can get chippy on the field of play, but it's all fun once the games are over. Many of the players were star high school or college athletes, and there have been a smattering of retired pros over the years, Veno said.

The theme was “50 Years, The Best of Five Decades.” Over the years, the event has raised more than $1 million for charity, officials said.

Mahala Smith, of Sabattus, Maine, scrambles for yardage during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A Muckaneer's player dunks himself in a tub to clean off after a football game at the 2024 Mud Bowl Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Jacob "Moose" Colon, of Westfield, Mass., of the Muckaneers, hoses off after a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Tori Belkin, foreground, and the Hogettes, entertain the crowd in between football games at the Mud Bowl competition in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mud-splattered sideline official Kellie Gramstorff holds a first down marker during a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mahala Smith, of Sabattus, Maine, scrambles for yardage during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Amanda Lackey, of Bow, N.H., is splattered with mud as she walks back to the huddle during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Eric Germelli, bottom, and Kevin Terban, of the Mudsharks, defend against Josh Phillips, of the Muddas, on a pass in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The Muckaneers take on the Muddas' at the 2024 Mud Bowl football game at Hog Coliseum Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Andre Rioux, of Nashua, N.H., dives for the ball in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mike Woodworth, of the the Muddas, goes down after making a catch in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The Mudshark's Jevin Smith, center, gets around Muddas' blocker Kurt Mailloux to put pressure on quarterback Jay Holder in a football game at the 2024 Mud Bowl Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday launched his family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, with an interview on the X social media platform in which he also gave his first public comments on the apparent assassination attempt against him a day earlier.

Trump did not discuss specifics about World Liberty Financial or how it would work, pivoting from questions about cryptocurrency to talking about artificial intelligence or other topics. Instead, he recounted his experience Sunday, saying he and a friend playing golf “heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five.”

“I would have loved to have sank that last putt,” Trump said. He credited the Secret Service agent who spotted the barrel of a rifle and began firing toward it as well as law enforcement and a civilian who he said helped track down the suspect.

World Liberty Financial is expected to be a borrowing and lending service used to trade cryptocurrencies, which are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawals of Bitcoin and other currencies.

Other speakers after Trump, including his eldest son, Don Jr., talked about embracing cryptocurrency as an alternative to what they allege is a banking system tilted against conservatives.

Experts have said a presidential candidate launching a business venture in the midst of a campaign could create ethical conflicts.

“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said earlier this month.

During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and tweeted in 2019, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity." However, during this election cycle, he has reversed himself and taken on a favorable view of cryptocurrencies.

He announced in May that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build what it calls a “crypto army” leading up to Election Day. He attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds.

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who has done research on cryptocurrencies, said she was skeptical of Trump's change of heart on crypto.

“I think it’s fair to say that that reversal has been motivated in part by financial interests,” she said.

Crypto enthusiasts welcomed the shift, viewing the launch as a positive sign for investors if Trump retakes the White House.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has not offered policy proposals on how it would regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies.

In an effort to appeal to crypto investors, a group of Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, participated in an online “Crypto 4 Harris” event in August.

Neither Harris nor members of her campaign staff attended the event.

Gomez Licon contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)