LINCOLN, Neb. — We’re not joshing you: A 4-year-old won the inaugural Battle of the Joshes on Saturday.
Wielding pool noodles, hundreds of people named Josh -- some traveling from New Jersey and Washington state -- battled for a Burger King crown and notoriety as the top Josh, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.
When the dust settled, 4-year-old Josh Vinson Jr. -- dubbed “Little Josh” by the crowd of onlookers -- took the crown after a spirited battle in Lincoln, Nebraska, the newspaper reported. The newly crowned Josh was unable to keep the crown on his head, as it dropped to his shoulders, but he proudly wore his championship belt, the newspaper reported.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Josh Vinson Sr. told the Journal Star.
The idea for the ultimate Josh contest came from Josh Swain, a college student from Tucson, Arizona, according to The Associated Press. Swain sent the following Facebook message to a group of people with his name in 2020, according to KLKN: “We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”
It was a pandemic joke, but Swain soon found that there was some serious competition.
Swain picked random coordinates, which placed him in Lincoln, and Joshes nationwide flocked to Air Park and swung pool noodles to determine the champion, the Journal Star reported.
A Josh Swain from Omaha showed up, but lost a game of rock-paper-scissors to the event’s organizer, the newspaper reported.
The pool noodle event followed and was open to all people whose first name was Josh.
In addition to the activities, people donated nearly 300 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Lincoln and raised more than $8,000 for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation in Omaha, the Journal Star reported.
The turnout stunned the event’s originator.
“I am having, like, an out-of-body experience,” Swain told the newspaper. “I’m sitting in my hotel room alone, just trying to act like I wasn’t with 2,000 people just fighting for their name. It’s incredible.”