I watched two soccer games! ..... and Pamplona is ticking me off

Well well, I guess miracles will never cease, I actually watched two soccer games in their entirety. 

So on Saturday, after I got home from work, I was too beat to do any yard work. Plus it was just too damn hot. So I plopped myself on the couch in front of the tv, not to watch soccer, or bullfights, but to watch a movie. Nothing in particular, just a movie. So I went to Netflix, I went to Prime, I went to Disney, I even went as so far to go to Tubi. What the hell is Tubi?

Anyway, I found a couple of movies and started to watch them but within 10 minutes I turned them both off, they were lame. Both of them were horror films but lost my interest quickly. It is hard to find a good horror film these days.

So, I wandered over to the World Cup. Why am I doing this I asked myself. Because there is absolutely nothing else to do I responded.

So I did, I watch all of England vs Norway, and then I watched all of Argentina vs Switzerland. And both games went into extra time so it was a hell of a lot of soccer to sit through!

First, why are they playing games in Miami? Humidity people, the humidity!

Anyway, England vs Argentina is going to be a game for the ages. Spain vs France will be good too. Did this bring me back into the soccer ranks? No, no it didn't. But whatever, I'll watch it when I have to I guess. But never MLS, never. 

On to Pamplona. Pamplona is kind of ticking me off I need to say. 

There are so many damn people trying to run with the bulls it is insane. There are always a lot of people but every year it seems to get worse. And these damn people that don't follow the rules and giving mostly Americans a bad name, as if we didn't already have a bad name. 

First off, I said I would post a YouTube link to the channel that shows the bullruns the most. That is RTVE Play. They do two videos a day of note, one that is the run as it happens, and the other is a highlight video a few hours later. The highlight video is fun to watch because you can see all the runners fighting each other, not to get away from the bulls but trying to somehow get in front of the bulls, (which is the idea after all.) But the runners grab each other, push each other, tug on each other's shirts, push and shove. I would be mad as hell if I were running with the bulls only to have some jerk off come out of nowhere and shove me to the side. Madness.

Here are some links from the first day, if you watch one then it is easy to start finding the videos from the other days in your feed. They just start coming up naturally.

Live video from Day 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TutmbSQi19c

Highlight video from Day 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcDSeBnS15M

Anyway, back to me being ticked off. 

First, way too many people. Look at this photo.

The sea of people on the left of the photo aren't even runners, they are just trying to catch a glimpse. Most of them aren't even going to be able to see anything! Go have breakfast, what the hell are you doing? Then of course the runners on the right, how can you even hope to run next to a bull with that many people? Huh, how!? 

They need to start limiting how many people can run, seriously.

Anyway, on to Americans making fools of themselves. Check this guy out.

This dumb ass painted his face like the Joker and ran with the bulls. Now, some people might say "how awesome, good for him. He's having fun!"

No, not good for him. It is strictly against the rules to run in any type of costume. Also, 100% no recording devises, no phones, no cameras, no headsets, nothing. It is too dangerous being out there with the bulls and you need to be completely focused on the bulls, not on your camera. 

Don't believe me? Check this photo out, (warning, kind of graphic image)

So this guy was just minding his own business, ended up on the ground with some other runners, now he has a bull's horn buried deep within his arm. Yikes. This is serious stuff people.

So, back to the Joker. He got away with running his first day, but got carried away by the police after the run and while he was hanging around in the plaza de toros with others. I'm sure he was given a fine and told he could not run anymore.

Well, the next day, he was back again, just this time without the face paint but still with the green hair. The police nabbed him quickly and escorted him off of the course. They may have fined him again. According to this photo it says he can be fined up to 6000 Euros.

I hope they do fine him, I hope they make him very unwelcome in Pamplona.

See, the problem is with people like this is they make it about themselves. They want to be the center of attention however when it comes to the bulls and the fairs in Spain, the bulls are the center of attention. They are the ones that are going to be put to death in the plaza that afternoon. Why make it about yourself? The world of the bulls is about the bulls, its not about you Ugly American.

And lastly, there is a girl that is lucky to be alive today. I don't know if she is American or not, but I wouldn't doubt it. Here is a link to today's highlight video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGAzV9Ygm6o

At the 5:00 mark, the video starts to show runners and bulls in the dreaded "callejon" that leads into the bullring. This is a very dangerous part of the course because it narrows and becomes somewhat of a bottleneck. 

Today's bulls were from the dreaded Miura ranch. They are very big, and with huge horns. 

So this girl ends up on the ground in the callejon along with a bunch of other runners. At the 5:08 mark, she starts to do something you should never do, start to get up. At the 5:13 mark she is getting up and has a bull running at full force right next to her. She is damn lucky nothing happened, she escaped death. Oh, and the worst part of it, she had a phone in her hand. What is it with these damn kids and their phones? She was clearly breaking the rules and almost paid with her life.

One of the main rules you have to follow, and anyone that has done any reading on how to run with the bulls would know this, is you never get up if you fall down. Stay on the ground and wait for other runners to tell you it is ok to get up.

Why?

Because if you get up while a bull is coming you are a sitting duck.

That is how the American Matthew Peter Tassio got killed on July 13th, 1995, 31 years ago today.

For more information on that sad day please see this post from my bullfight blog where I talk about it a little bit and provide two photos from that day.

http://blogplazadetoros.blogspot.com/2022/03/my-review-of-book-bulls-before.html

So, Pamplona has just one more day to go, and the World Cup has just a few more games to go. Let's get this all over with so I can get on with my life.

World Cup comes to an end ..... Pamplona begins

Well, that's enough of that. The World Cup has come to an end, time to move on to more important things,  the running of the bulls in Pamplona! The first run will be tomorrow morning with bulls from the Fuente Ymbro ranch.

But before we talk bulls, a couple of thoughts about the games.

Yesterday for awhile I thought I was doing pretty good, I predicted Brazil would get beat and I was correct. One thing I noticed about Brazil was their lack of flair, they just didn't play that old style of Brazilian football, you know, "Joga Bonito". 

Remember this commercial?

I definitely did not get this feeling at all from this year's Brazil team. This year's team was boring I thought, lacking any creativity, oh well.

Next, Mexico.

Boy was I wrong. I thought maybe they would go all the way. Nope, England took care of them pretty handily last night. Maybe I did jinx them, or maybe I just don't know what I am talking about.

Finally, USA.

Ugh.... I watched most of today's game, boy did the US fall apart. Too many mistakes and Belgium made them pay for those mistakes. It was almost like a high school team playing a college team, there was a clear difference.

For that I blame the closed league of MLS. We just are not on par at all with the European leagues and hence we put out sub par players. When are we going to learn? Probably never. 

I can't and won't support MLS as long as the league stays the way it is. It just sucks. That is why I will start following USL once they start up their pro/rel system. I think it is still a year or two away, I haven't really read up on it lately. I'll get around to it.

Now, the bulls.

Pamplona has begun! Tomorrow will be the first running of the bulls. I will post a link tomorrow to whatever Spanish tv channel will be posting the action. It usually is RTE.

There was one bullfight today, a corrida de rejoneo. They traditionally do a horseback bullfight to start the festival which they did today, and tomorrow will be the regular bullfights using the bulls that have run through the streets of the city the morning of.

OneToro TV is carrying I think 4 or the 8 bullfights, which of course I will be watching live when I can. If I can't watch them live then I will watch them later at night once I am tucked comfortably in my bed.

The bull runs I will watch during the day when I have a moment, they only take a few minutes to watch.

This year is a special year, it is the 100 anniversary of the publishing of Hemingway's book "The Sun Also Rises" which basically put Pamplona on the worldwide map. 

(from Google)

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway's first major novel (1926), follows a group of disillusioned American and British expatriates in post-World War I Europe, chronicling their travels from Paris to Spain for the Pamplona bullfights. Narrated by the war-wounded journalist Jake Barnes, the story explores themes of love, loss, and disillusionment through his hopeless love for the independent Lady Brett Ashley, a relationship complicated by his impotence and her promiscuity, all while capturing the "Lost Generation's" search for meaning through drinking, partying, and bullfighting. The novel is famous for its terse, minimalist prose style and its poignant portrayal of a generation scarred by war.

Hemingway made Pamplona's fiesta famous worldwide, before his novel the fiesta was only a regional one. Now maybe only Rio's Carnival is more famous. 

Anyway, all is right with the world when the bulls stampede through the streets. 

Here is a video I posted 14 years ago to YouTube from ESPN2's coverage of the running of the bulls. It is from sometime in the early 2000's if I remember right. It was almost impossible to find videos of the runs back then, thankfully ESPN2 for a few years did some broadcasts from there.

(why it is age restricted I have no idea, just click on the link and you can watch it on YouTube.)

 

World Cup update - some quick thoughts

Well, the World Cup is in full force right now, we are in the thick of it I guess you could say.

I suppose it is a good time to give some quick thoughts, nothing too in depth or people might think I care. 

I was pretty much done with the tournament after a few days, it was annoying seeing my Instagram feed full of people "discovering America" and all the wonderful things we have here. The food, the free refills on the drinks, the natural beauty, the rodeos and baseball games, the beer up in Boston being consumed till there was no more by the Scots. Whatever, give me a break, this stuff has always been here. You only discover it now thanks to the World Cup? Lame.

Also, people saying that they love soccer now, and they never thought it could be so much fun to watch. Mmm... ok. In an earlier post I mentioned how one of the things I hated most about being a soccer fan was how people will watch soccer once every four years when the World Cup is played but then they can't be bothered to go see a MLS game in their backyard. I can't deal with it, I'm sorry, I just can't deal with it.

Biggest annoyance, all these damn people in the stands where their phones in the air filming themselves watching the games so they can put it up on TikTok as soon as their team scores a goal. A$$ holes. Who gives a damn about you in the stands celebrating a goal? It reminds me of my cousin who I loathe, when she took her daughters to a Taylor Swift concert and all they did was put up videos of themselves singing along to her songs. It was all I could do to not punch her in the face the next time I saw her. Just watch the damn game! With your own eyes, not through your phone! The action is right in front of you, enjoy it, take it in, you don't need to record it. Godfrey, these people.

Now, a few quick thoughts on the three teams I was following.

I was sad to see Panama exit the tournament without scoring a goal. I was pulling for them, they were my underdog team.

Mexico! They are killing it, no one has scored on them yet. They look very strong.

Brazil, they are doing well but I don't see them going much farther in the tournament. They haven't looked that great. And I have some Brazilian coworkers who are super annoying so to see Brazil get beat would secretly make me happy.

Uniforms, or "kits" if you want to Euro-pose.

The uniform I liked the best was by far the light blue kit of the DR Congo. It looked so good on the pitch. I was sad to see the Congo exit the tournament but they have given the world a wake up call.

Also, an honorable mention to Colombia. I love their traditional colored uniform.

Goal of the tournament? 

Well, I haven't seen all the goals but of the tournament but of the ones I have seen this stunner by Cape Verde's Lopes Cabral is the goal of the tournament. A work of art.

Finally, to wrap it up for now. Who do I think is going to win the tournament?

I hope I don't jinx them, I make so many bad decisions in my life I am like George Costanza where I just need to do the opposite since every decision I make is the incorrect one, but I am going to go with .... drum roll please ....

Mexico! 

They seem unstoppable at the moment, I would love to see them win it all. 

I know we are rivals, but I like Mexico. I want Mexico to win.