WTF? Spain-inspired Great Bull Run coming to U.S. Cities

[cali]

Watch out! The Great Bull Run is coming to the U.S.

Organizers of the Pamplona-inspired event plan for several U.S. cities to unleash bulls to sprint through fenced-in courses as daredevils sprint to avoid being trampled.

The inaugural run is set for Aug. 24 in Richmond, Va. More events are planned for Georgia, Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Bull runs — when the animals are released to run alongside participants as spectators cheer — are common in Spain and have proved to be dangerous. Dozens of people are injured each year in the San Fermin festival at Pamplona, most by tripping and falling. Bulls have killed 15 people since record keeping began in 1924.

"By participating in the run, you accept the risk that you might be trampled, gored, rammed or tossed in the air by a bull, or bumped, jostled, tripped or trampled by your fellow runners," the event website states. "We do what we can to minimize those risks by using less-aggressive bulls than those used in Spain and allowing runners to hide in nooks and climb over the track fence if necessary, but make no mistake: You could get seriously injured in this event."

<snip>

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/03/inspired-by-pamplona-great-bull-run-coming-to-us/2614749/

[Harmony Blue]

1. Screw this tradition

they can keep it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. What if only Congress members had to participate???

Wouldn't that be a grand tradition to start?
Or even just candidates...

[BuelahWitch]

17. And bankers

And hedge fund managers...

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. I know *I'D* be there cheering...

...for the bulls.

[JanMichael]

56. I would pay to see that. nt.

[CTyankee]

74. oh, god, me too. The Dem senators could just goad the pukes by challenging their "manhood."

Now THAT would be worthy of payperview and would I pay to see it!

[Katashi_itto]

75. Here in New Orleans We have our own version of Running Of the Bulls

The "Bulls," in case you're wondering, are the young ladies from the New Orleans-based all-female flat-track derby team, the Big Easy Rollergirls! These "RollerBulls" skate behind the runners and, as they catch up with the slowest runners along the 12-block French Quarter route, they are allowed to "gore" them by whacking them with soft foam-core wiffle ball bats. Some participants consider it an honor to be "gored" by the "bulls." They allow themselves to get whacked several times and no one has ever been hospitalized. It's all in good fun, taking the famous New Orleans saying "Let the good times roll" to its literal extreme. And, in typical New Orleans fashion, it begins with a party and ends with a party!

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/festivals/multiculturalfestivals/runningofthebulls.html

[Politicalboi]

77. I like that

I can see Boner and McTurtle out there getting stomped on.

[CTyankee]

46. But why would the U.S. do it? Isn't bull fighting illegal in the US?

These bulls are run on a direct route to their almost certain deaths in the bull ring for the next bullfight in Pamplona...in case anyone wants to know why they run where they do in the first place...

[brooklynite]

55. So, we don't have a bullfight.

[dballance]

2. Thinning the gene pool some more.

Why am I not at all surprised that most of the places these are going to be held are Southern red states?

[wtmusic]

6. +1

[Sissyk]

16. Who knew The Mason Dixon line had moved so much?

Who knew California, Minnesota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania were red southern states.

[dballance]

37. Apparently you need reading comprehension lessons.

I did not say all of the places were Southern red staes. My geography skills are much better than your reading comprehension since I fully understand that CA, MN, IL, and PA are not Southern states.

[TorchTheWitch]

41. looks like you could use a dose of comprehension - several actually

Since half does not mean most, it's not someone else's reading comprehension that's the problem. Eight states are listed, and 4 of them are Southern red states. I never was all that good at math, but I can do simple calculations like 4+4=8, therefore half - NOT most - are Southern red states. In your zeal to bash the South you not only dropped the ball on your own math skills and cognitive comprehension you also took a swing at another poster for their reading comprehension which they clearly do not have a problem with. But now your can boast that you have a whole list of comprehension issues in your one post compared to the other poster's non-existent one you accused them of:

Calculation comprehension problem,
Linguistic comprehension problem (half does not mean most),
Bigotry comprehension problem (couldn't wait to get in there with some South bashing even though only half the states listed are Southern),
Stupidity comprehension problem (telling someone else they have a reading comprehension problem when they don't and that the real problem is a number of your own comprehension issues is just really barking stupid).

Clearly you need to brush up on some far more important comprehension skills than your supposedly superior geography.

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. LOL! ^^^^This^^^^

[dballance]

53. Well, you didn't quite get it either.

Sissyk implied I said that CA, MN, IL and PA are southern red states. I did not and most people would realize that given I didn't say "all" in there anywhere. So yes, Sissyk does still have a reading comprehension problem. It's nice of you to come to their defense though. No matter that your post does nothing to clear up the core issue I stated with Sissk's reading comprehension problem.

My zeal to bash the South is my prerogative. I grew up in the South and escaped there to a place where people are, arguably, more progressive. No, I do not like the laws and attitudes that come from my birthplace. I am free to bash as much as I wish.

If you don't like southern bashing that's fine. Make that the point of your argument and post.

Next time, and there will be a next time, I promise to phrase it something like "as usual, (a lot/several) of these places are Southern red states."

By the way, linguistics is the study of language. Having taken advanced courses in both linguistics and etymology I think I have a decent command of language. With occasional slips when typing too fast on DU. Usage would be what you thought you were correcting me about when I used "most" rather than "many," "several" or "a lot."

I'm glad you can do simple math. Perhaps it will make up for your lack of language (not linguistic) skills.

[cherokeeprogressive]

65. You're trying way too hard there, turbo.

4 out of 8 does not constitute "most".

[cordelia]

80. You sure use a lot of words to prove that you're a South bashing bigot.

Doubt you've impressed anyone much. Except yourself.

Congrats!

[cordelia]

78. ^^^ THIS ^^^ is delicious!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[hfojvt]

30. that's what I thought too

but how do we know that many people doing the running - don't already have kids?

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Chicago traffic is bad enough without a bunch of enraged bulls chasing people!

Think I'll stay home that day.

[newfie11]

4. Lol Spain has national health care

Awe hell just let them run in front of the longhorns during our Oregon Trail Days or for even more fun ahead of the buffalo round up at Custer.

[CTyankee]

66. there was a funny but scary pic of some stupid American kid being gored by a bull in Pamplona

recently, noticeably clutching his cell phone at the moment he was being gored. I horrified myself by laughing over it...I shudda felt more compassion...

[newfie11]

68. I can't imagine running with the bulls

Last edited Sun Aug 4, 2013, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe he was calling a taxie

[CTyankee]

73. prolly texting "I'm going in with the bulls!" or some such nonsense...

getting in the way of a herd of onrushing bulls is about the stupidest thing anybody can do...just sayin'...

[newfie11]

81. +1

Certainly could have been texting lol.
Shouldn't do that when driving OR running from the bulls

[hobbit709]

7. The number of Darwins will increase greatly.

[DirkGently]

8. A new height (depth?) of Idiocracy. This is legal ... how?

Seems like the bulls are being abused, and the runners are being put into a life-threatening situation for the general amusement.

Don't we ... discourage that sort of thing? Here in the "first world?"

[bunnies]

11. The runners arent "being put" in that situation.

They're putting themselves there. Hey, if people want to be gored, trampled, or killed... thats their stupid choice to make. Bull riding is legal. I dont see how this is really any different.

[DirkGently]

18. The promotion is putting them there for profit. The fact people would sign up makes it

Last edited Sat Aug 3, 2013, 03:47 PM - Edit history (1)

better how? If there was a cable show offering cash prizes for people willing to stick sharp objects in their eyes, someone would likewise sign up.

Bullriding is a pretty sad pursuit as well, but at least it's some kind of contest of skill. The whole drama of the event doesn't come from the possibility of the rider being killed.

I get the cold chuckles about natural selection -- we had a few of those in this house over this as well.

But in the end it's more sad and disgusting than hilarious.

We can do better.

[bunnies]

22. It IS sad and disgusting.

And I dont know why anyone would want to do it. Unfortunately there just isnt any way to keep stupid people from being, well, stupid. I dont know anything about who'll be making money or how, so I wont comment on that. But if someone signs up for something so idiotic, they deserve whatever they get. Being used for promotion should be the least of their worries.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Their choice.

[DirkGently]

25. I think there's a public interest in preventing

both animal abuse -- and if this doesn't qualify it's close enough -- and "entertainments" comprised mainly of the possibility that someone might be gruesomely injured.

I'd hope public outcries of disgust might be enough, but I'd support regulating human vs. animal bloodsports out of existence.

[hfojvt]

32. we should be able to do better

but why do we need a law to do better. IF we really were better, then people would not be able to make a profit on this crap.

[JanMichael]

57. Using animals to get your jollies off sucks. Period.

The "people" who are stupid don't bother me. So be it. The bulls are not toys though. I would suggest they run from Nascar, or monster trucks, vehicles instead.

Oh what fun!

[bunnies]

60. I agree with you.

I dont even eat animals because of the way theyre treated. And I think monster trucks is a brilliant idea.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. Spain isn't "the first world"?

[RedCappedBandit]

9. Animal Abuse

Should not be legal.

[Dash87]

62. Agreed. Wtf?

[undeterred]

10. lets adopt the stupid things other countries do

instead of the smart things like single payer health care

[ConcernedCanuk]

43. Your gubment's been doing it for decades

.
.
.

don't encourage them . . .

CC

[spanone]

12. possibly one of the dumbest 'traditions' in human history

[cali]

14. I wouldn't go that far but it's pretty dumb. Here's a rather sweet adaptation though

The Strolling of the Heifers

“Orly, you have to do something about this,” Dwight Miller told his neighbor, Orly Munzing, back in 2001 as they strolled through Miller’s Dummerston, Vermont orchard.“Farmers are slowly going out of business. People don’t know where there food comes from. If they knew how hard farming is, they’d support their local farmers.”

Munzing took Miller’s words to heart, and then she had an inspiration. She had recently visited Pamplona, Spain, site of the famous Running of the Bulls. As a way of honoring and supporting local farmers, she envisioned a slower, friendlier, female version of the Running of the Bulls — the Strolling of the Heifers. Farmers would bring their heifer calves, lead them up the historic Main Street of nearby Brattleboro, and afterward, there would be a festival where people could meet the farmers and learn about local foods.

Munzing went to work with a team of volunteers, and the first Strolling of the Heifers parade and festival took place in 2002. The word “locavore” had not yet been invented (it came along in 2005). But from the beginning, the point of Strolling of the Heifers was to support and sustain family farms by connecting people with healthy local food, and by showcasing the farmers and food producers who bring it to them.

Now in its second decade, Strolling of the Heifers has grown from a small-town parade into a regional movement with year-round programs and events. In recent years, “the Stroll” has expanded its horizon to include not only sustainable agriculture and food systems, but many other aspects of local economic sustainability.

http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/

[DirkGently]

34. Wait. When do the heifers get to kill the people?

Doesn't make any sense at all.

[dixiegrrrrl]

85. that is marvelous!

So glad you shared this.

[Posteritatis]

13. I always root for the bulls in things like that.

The number of people killed is astonishingly - indeed, suspiciously - low, given how long they've been keeping records.

[DirkGently]

20. I think in Spain, the bulls always lose, though.

Aren't they "running" on their way to the bullring?

The whole idea of putting the animal in an impossible situation, and then claiming "victory" when it's finally killed is quite pathetic.

The idea that we'd even echo something so depraved here is even more so.

[Posteritatis]

21. Yeah, I assumed they're all killed in the end anyway

With that in mind I'm okay with them taking out as many human participants as they can on the way out.

[DirkGently]

26. Well, sure, with a few modifications it'd make more sense.

In bullfights, they stab the bull in the neck with spears to weaken it and make it lower its head.

If the runners in these American events were, say, hobbled and stabbed and THEN set in front of the panicked, stampeding bulls, I could better see the public benefit.

[CTyankee]

47. Yes, they are being run on a direct route to the bullring. It is almost certain death and they must

sense it.

There is, mercifully, an anti-bullfight effort going on in Spain now. Portugal already has non-lethal bull fights. I think this is going to change. It sure should.

BTW, Pamplona is a very genteel, affluent town with a lovely Plaza. the people there are genteel and well dressed, quite the opposite of what I was expecting when I visited there in 2008...

[steve2470]

15. Trial lawyers and injury lawyers rejoice across America !!!!!

INJURYAPALOOZA COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU lmao


But seriously, I feel really bad for the bulls. Animal abuse.

[Blue_In_AK]

23. Even Alaska gets in on the action.

http://www.adn.com/2013/08/02/3005807/weekend-picks-august-opens-with.html

See next to last item, "jogging with the oxen," I.e., musk ox. Apparently, this is an annual event that I hadn't noticed until now. It seems like nobody, including the musk ox, gets hurt, though. News report from previous year. http://www.adn.com/2011/08/07/2004492/running-with-the-bulls-at-the.html. We also have running with the reindeer in February during Fur Rendezvous. I don't really get the appeal myself.

[Arctic Dave]

29. I love running with the reindeer.

It gives me reason to dress up in a costume and walk around town all day.

1st year: aqua teen hunger force
2nd year: Austin Powers
3rd year: Star Wars
4th year: Sock monkeys.

[Blue_In_AK]

39. You guys were pretty cute last year.

I saw pictures.

Isn't that held on Sunday? I think I was up in Willow for the Iditarod start.

[Arctic Dave]

40. It's usually right after the Iditarod start.

They use the same snow.

[NightWatcher]

27. I hope there's an open bar prior, and its televised

Go bulls go.

[nolabear]

28. They should do it NOLA style.

The Big Easy Roller Girls put on Valkyrie horned helmets and chase men through the quarter with Wiffle Bats. More fun and better cocktails!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. Yet another opportunity for testosterone-poisoned, beer-fueled young guys

to be stupid. Though I suppose some equally foolish young women might participate as well. I looked at the web site for the "Great Bull Run," and they advertise it as follows: "Face the adrenaline rush of a lifetime as you’re pursued by 1,000-pound bulls stampeding down a quarter-mile course, then celebrate with thousands of thrill-seekers in a massive, day-long festival that also features our insane tomato food fight, Tomato Royale!" It sounds like one of those events you would expect to attract the guys who say "Hold my beer and watch this," then proceed to do something monumentally dumb.

I submit that bulls are too tame and safe; I think they should use grizzly bears or leopards or Cape buffaloes. Then Mr. Darwin can hand out even more awards.

[DirkGently]

35. "Grapple with the Grizzlies?" "Chum with the sharks?"

"Rassel with the Rabid Wolverine?"

If we're going to have animal / human bloodsports, let's stop kidding around. Put a family of angry badgers in your sweatpants and run an obstacle course and THEN tell us what a wild time you had on vacation.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. "Trotting with the Tigers."

"Jogging with the Jaguars."

Or, you could gather together a variety of large animals (preferably with fangs) and call it "Cavorting with the Carnivores."

[csziggy]

63. Just go for ferret legging - a classic English sport

They may not be badgers, but they can be nasty little creatures:

Basically, the contest involves the tying of a competitor's trousers at the ankles and the subsequent insertion into those trousers of a couple of peculiarly vicious fur-coated, footlong carnivores called ferrets. The brave contestant's belt is then pulled tight, and he proceeds to stand there in front of the judges as long as he can, while animals with claws like hypodermic needles and teeth like number 16 carpet tacks try their damnedest to get out.

<SNIP>

Loyal to nothing that lives, the ferret has only one characteristic that might be deemed positive — a tenacious, single-minded belief in finishing whatever it starts. That usually entails biting off whatever it bites. The rules of ferret legging do allow the leggers to try to knock the ferret off a spot it's biting (from outside the trousers only), but that is no small matter, as ferrets never let go. No less a source than the Encyclopaedia Britannica suggests that you can get a ferret to let go by pressing a certain spot over its eye, but Reg Mellor and the other ferret specialists I talked to all say that is absurd. Reg favors a large screwdriver to get a ferret off his finger. Another ferret legger told me that a ferret that had almost dislodged his left thumb let go only after the ferret and the man's thumb were held under scalding tap water — for ten minutes.

Mr. Graham Wellstead, the head of the British Ferret and Ferreting Society, says that little is known of the diseases carried by the ferret because veterinarians are afraid to touch them.

Reg Mellor, a man who has been more intimate with ferrets than many men have been with their wives, calls ferrets "cannibals, things that live only to kill, that'll eat your eyes out to get at your brain" at their worst, and "untrustworthy" at their very best.
http://deadspin.com/5546844/the-king-of-the-ferret-leggers-the-classic-tale-of-the-sportsmen-who-put-carnivores-down-their-pants

[DirkGently]

70. Holy crap. And I thought I was kidding. n/t

[backscatter712]

38. GO BULLS!

Am I the only one who roots for the bulls?

[Kaleva]

42. Why not just let people run on the tracks during NASCAR races?

[CTyankee]

44. Hey, I was in Pamplona (not during a run) but these bulls are being run to their deaths in the

bullfight arena. They must be terrified animals and they are very strong.

Pamplona was not the town I thought it would be, BTW. It was genteel, very affluent, with very well dressed people, and had a stately Plaza Mayor.

Man, did I have a distorted image of Pamplona...

[RebelOne]

48. That is totally a stupid and sick sport if you want to call it a sport. n/t

[LWolf]

49. WTF is right.

Taking advantage of extreme adrenaline addiction and stupidity to create opportunities to cash in.

[cynatnite]

50. So, they're bringing the stupid closer to the stupids who want to do this. n/t

[darkangel218]

51. WTF??

This is the reason I have never visited Spain. How the hell could they possibly bring that animal abuse into our country!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

52. These bulls aren't used for bullfighting and won't be killed or injured. Even so,

it's a really, really stupid thing, and I hope that at least a few of the knuckleheads who sign up for this manage to get their dumb asses trampled a bit.

[DirkGently]

71. Seems like they could be injured.

Depends on the conditions I guess. But they're going to do what -- get them to "stampede" or run down an enclosed track? If they're packed too tight, if they get tangled up, panicked? They're going have to be in some kind of a state to continue to perform for the thrillseekers. Surely they won't be permitted to wander around lowing quietly.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

72. That's possible, and of course the whole thing is ridiculous

both with respect to the sheer stupidity of the participants and the possibility the animals could be injured. I'm willing to bet, though, that the "bulls" will turn out to be tame, elderly steers who will just trot along fairly harmlessly, and afterwards the silly drunk fools can go home and tell their friends they ran with the bulls.

[brooklynite]

54. Look at the GOOD news...

There isn't a bullfight at the end of the run.

[hay rick]

59. We already have that in Florida.

You buy a bag of skittles, pull up your hoodie, and try to make it home alive.

[WinkyDink]

61. At least Spain has a cultural tradition and a saint's day as excuses.

[Aristus]

64. Well, that should rid the gene pool of some defective DNA...

Release the bulls!

[darkangel218]

83. lol!!!

[Life Long Dem]

67. Nothing can go wrong with this one

[IDemo]

69. The bulls will be festooned with corporate logos

and there will be a group of "expert" commentators to pontificate on the strengths and weaknesses of individual bulls and runners. Brought to you by Ford Trucks, "bull tough".

[MADem]

76. Stupid. You also accept the risk that you could be KILLED. nt

[Bennyboy]

79. Folsom CA has a similar event

every year and has for decades, the running of the bulls in old town Folsom in conjunction with the rodeo that starts the next day. And yes there are people that think running with the bulls (instead of watching the bulls run, as the event is billed) is fun to do..... those people are idiots.

[brewens]

82. Have one of those parades with people whipping themselves along with

it while were at it. If they were to accidently turn the bull lose a little too early.... natural Selection!

[TexasTowelie]

84. It looks like the two events mentioned in Texas

are at Baytown and Ennis.

I have relatives in Baytown and my college roommate's parents live in Ennis. Decisions, decisions...