The Day The Bulls Won

I meant to mention this last month, and then things got out of hand.

So, you know the “running of the bulls” in Pamplona? I don’t get it, but then there’s a lot of that Hemmingwayesque butch stuff that I don’t get.

Knowing that “Injuries are common, both to the participants who may be gored or trampled, and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces” just makes it less understandable to me.

Well, this year there were some pretty good gorings–although no one was killed, unlike 1995–and apparently it’s being referred to as “the day the bulls won”.

7 gored at running of the bulls in Spain
Charging bulls gored seven people and seriously injured several others Thursday as this year’s San Fermin festival in Pamplona served up its longest and most dangerous run yet.

Thirteen people were hospitalized, seven for gorings and six for treatment of head and other injuries, the local government said in a statement. Three were reported to be in very serious condition after undergoing operations

…

You can see a slideshow with some choice images here. While a couple of them–one in particular–make me wince, I can’t help but feel like the guys are getting nothing more than they deserve. At least they had a choice about being there.

After the jump I’ll include my two “favourite” images, but since they’re a bit graphic I’ll put them behind the “more” link.

Ok, first there’s this one, which surely earns the bull a “mighty fine shooting, Tex” for hitting two simultaneous… um… bullseyes.

This is grossest one. It actually took me a second to realize what was going on in the picture.

All these guys were apparently more or less OK, and the photo gallery above includes pictures of them in hospital, one of them even holding up a newspaper with the picture of him getting gored. I really don’t understand macho. I really don’t.