Ex-baseball player wins first Canadian cellphone throwing contest

What Makes Sammy Throw?

Jeremiah Sammy, 25, of Brampton, Ont., was crowned the winner Saturday after he chucked an old cellphone 78.88 metres across the football field at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre.

The competition, sponsored by cellphone provider Mobilicity, also rewarded Sammy and two runner-ups with Samsung Galaxy S III smartphones equipped with a year of unlimited phone services.

...Sammy said he had been practicing his throw with an old smartphone since hearing about the contest online.

The trick in getting the long distance, he said, is to make sure the cellphone is thrust high into the air and spins before landing.

“You just want to get it as high in the sky as you can so it starts spinning and goes,” he said.

The ex-pitcher said he plans on giving his brother $1,000 of the prize money as a wedding gift while using the rest of the cash to make a “money bed” that he could roll around in.