gj Michelob -> RE: What's your opinion about bullfighting? (Apr. 20 2010 6:30:01)
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Saturday I took my aspiring-jokey daughter (10y) to the Santa Anita racetrack, where Seabiscuit became a legend, Giacomo (sic) was raised to upset the Kentucky Derby and it is now Zenyatta’s home. A friendly jockey sat with us and begged my girl to place her aspirations elsewhere, recounting stories of death and horrible injuries of those chasing the whims of fortune over 4 fast furlongs. The naturally nervous thoroughbreds are pharmaceutically stirred to the edge of nervous breakdowns to enhance their performance. Yet the most horrifying site is that of the zombie-like gamblers quietly depleting their welfare-checks on a “win” or “placed” which will most often betray them. There are deep wrinkles hidden under the humoring paint covering all clowns’ faces. From hunting to boxing, bullfighting or horse races, we have inherited barbarian traditions of violence and cruelty to entertain us. And yet again, Sports and Games hinge on “hostility” to provide entertainment, mimicking battlefield strategies or dueling confrontations, where the defeat of one is the victory of the other. La Corrida is a spectacular show of traditions and culture, just like fox-hunting is. Both are nearing their last show, as we find comfort in saving a bull, no matter how many hundreds of now jobless men will have to tell their families they lost their income.
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