Tug of war to compete sporadically starting in the 1960s and would become regular participants as sorority teams in the mid-1980s. The Hope College Pull is an annual tug-of-war contest held across the Black River in Holland, Michigan on the fourth Saturday after Labor Day. Competitors are 40 members of the freshman and sophomore classes. Two teams of eight, whose total mass must not exceed a maximum weight as determined for the class, align themselves at the end of a rope approximately in circumference. The rope is marked with a "centre line" and two markings to either side of the centre line. The
Tug O'Neale "BIG!'s" Lisa Anthony that filming the embrace proved "quite nerve-racking" due to an entire "circle of school kids" surrounding them. Already feeling nervous, an audience made the actors feel worse during the shoot. It was a "nightmare situation" for Bancks who had found it strange to kiss in front of "seven hundred thousand people". Tug fans were already hassling Bancks having sensed a kiss with Sarah was imminent. Tug and Sarah get engaged but after an argument, Sarah hands Tug the engagement ring back. Vasquez felt that it happened because Tug did not have a good upbringing and as a