
The Greatest Bullfight Ever (1948) - samclemens
http://classics.esquire.com/conrad-bullfight/
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galfarragem
There are a lot of variants of bullfighting. My favourite is typically
Portuguese and probably the most 'fair': an organized group of men trying to
catch the bull with bare hands.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forcado](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forcado)

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t8_iDGChs8U](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t8_iDGChs8U)

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ableal
Many moons ago, in an SF anthology such as I used to consume in those days,
there was this little story about these three astronauts who travelled for 500
years in a sub-lightspeed ship.

They arrived at an inhabited star system - which had been populated by humans
departed from Earth a little after them, but on faster-than-light vessels. All
was well, except for one detail. Human metabolism had changed, and the three
travellers now stank abominably to the evolved humans.

(In the story, they made it back to our time thanks to some worm-hole
handwaving.)

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georgeglue1
More on Arruza:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Arruza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Arruza)

and one of his rivals mentioned in the article:
[http://www.britannica.com/biography/Manolete](http://www.britannica.com/biography/Manolete)

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discardorama
I don't know how a culture like Spain's can call this a "sport". The whole
game is rigged against the bull; if the bull does get an upper hand, he is
quickly shooed away and the matador saved. And I also can't understand how the
matadors can act all macho and stuff, when they have the whole cavalry behind
them, so to speak.

It'd be closer to being a 'sport' if it was just the matador against the bull,
mano a mano.

I'm very glad that Catalonia has banned bullfighting:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/world/europe/adeu-to-
catal...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/world/europe/adeu-to-catalonias-
matadors.html)

~~~
jaimebuelta
Spaniard here (I don't like bullfighting AT ALL, I despise it, but just for
the sake of explanation)

Bullfight is not considered a "sport" in any way. There is no competition, and
their supporters calls it "an art" (which it's too big a word for what it is
IMHO).

It is closer to a "performance", a daredevil act where the bullfighter
performs calculated dangerous acts aiming to create something exciting and
aesthetically pleasant for the public. Instead of a big ramp, there is a
dangerous living animal, adding risk and unpredictability to the mix. Since
the discovery of antibiotics and modern medicine, is not as dangerous as it
used to be (there is an sculpture devoted to Fleming on the most important
bullring in Madrid), but it's still quite a risky activity.

It is also banned on the Canary Islands (since 1991). I'd say that most of
spaniards oppose it (especially younger people), but there is a significant
group of supporters, and given that's it's a tradition that has hundreds of
years, it's difficult to ban.

Again, I don't like it AT ALL. It is disgusting. But it's also not well
understood outside of Spain, so I'm trying to give some clarification. Please
feel free to AMA.

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asciimo
I will always empathize with the bull more than I do the bullfighter.
Heartbreaking.

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Mithaldu
I don't think an act of non-consensual torture for nothing but sheer
entertainment of a large audience deserves to be associated with any positive
adjectives in this time and age.

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psychometry
We're certainly a delightful species.

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robocaptain
Regardless of how you feel about the sport itself, it is a great piece of
writing. Keep posting more like it.

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bdavisx
What a sick fucking "sport".

