What sporting activity requires endurance, stamina and an incredible amount of patience?

Running a marathon? Nope.

Competing in a triathlon? Not quite.

The 24 Hours of Daytona?Wrong again.

The answer:"The Deal or No Deal" Ordeal.

OK, it's not an official sporting event — actually, it's not a sporting event at all. But it does contain all of the pressure and anticipation of an intense competition.

I know, because I did it.

Representatives of the popular TV game show were in Robinson Township April 12, taking applications from people interested in being a contestant on the program.

The game show offers a one in 26 chance at selecting a case worth $1 million dollars and numerous contestants have accepted six-figure offers from the banker to sell their case.

A slim-to-none shot at winning tons of money was enough to attract thousands of people to this tryout. Waiting your turn meant weaving through 20 roped-off lines, each about 150 yards in length, just to get inside the mall where the tryouts were taking place.

My sister and I got in line at 10:50 a.m. By the time we entered the mall, it was 6:30 p.m. — and we had another hour of waiting inside.

As our lower backs got sore, we entertained ourselves by kicking an empty plastic pop bottle back and fourth — for four hours — before a gust of wind blew the bottle into the next line, where it was lost forever.

It was like losing a friend. It actually saddened me.

Scary stuff — almost like a marathon runner "hitting the wall."

People killed time in different ways. One woman was knitting. Others were reading. Some sat on the ground coloring. One guy was playing a guitar, a couple of kids had hula hoops.

We bumped into a Butler woman, Linda Neff, who was in line with her 13-year-old son, Austin.

"I'm here to win a million dollars,"Neff said.

Her son was there because his mother bribed him by offering to buy him a new game for his PlayStation if he came along.

When asked if that deal was worth it, Austin grumbled:"The price is going up."

A guy standing in line with us justified the daylong wait by saying "there's a better chance here than there is winning the lottery or playing Powerball."

Works for me.

A couple of fights broke out in line — almost like a hockey game — as people were accused of cutting in line. The police served as referees, breaking up the scuffles.

Litter was strewn all over the parking lot. Fast-food bags, pizza boxes, empty pop and booze bottles — almost like the aftermath of tailgating at a football game.

Ultimately, you were given 20 seconds to state why you should be on "Deal or No Deal."

Eight hours in line for 20 seconds of time. And I wasn't picked.

That's OK.

Thousands of people run the Boston Marathon. Only one guy wins it.

We were there. We didn't quit. We endured.

Good deal.