Daily Distraction: Marvel at the tension created by filling a cup with water

Earlier this month, NFL player JuJu Smith-Schuster was recorded taking part in the “water cup challenge” on TikTok.

In this game (and it is very much a game, complete with opponent taunting, moments of knee-buckling tension and, for all but one, a degree of glory), participants take turns pouring water into a plastic cup, with the loser being whoever causes the cup to overflow. Think Jenga minus the satisfying crash of wood and a far easier reset.

It sounds simple. And it is. But it still makes for weirdly riveting theater, the water steadily growing to a dome above the cup before giving up and dribbling over the edge. 

Watch Smith-Schuster and Co. play a round below, and then see the loser get tossed in the swimming pool for good measure.