One of the "sports" that I abhor the most is bullfighting. To me, it's no sport but rather a glorified torture-fest with onlookers who must have at least some sort of bloodlust to be able to enjoy such a monstrous spectacle. While bullfights still occur in Ecuador during the "Fiestas de Quito," it's wonderful to see an increasing amount of people support animal rights and join the marches and protests every year in favor of abolishing the backwards tradition. While Ecuador may be moving ahead in its conscientiousness, the fact remains that bullfighting still exists there. That's without even mentioning places like Mexico, and above all Spain, where the tradition was born. It appears that it will take a lot of baby steps before people begin to break with tradition, think for themselves, and refuse to commit or participate in such abominations.
One "sport" that had not really claimed much of my attention until now is horse racing. Again, to me it's not really a sport, but that's beside the point. While horses may live a grand lifestyle while they're in their prime, only a tiny percentage are actually living like kings or queens because only the smallest fraction of thoroughbred racehorses compete on the biggest stages and win the most illustrious prizes. The rest of them? They have their time in the spotlight, some of them for practically a millisecond, and then what happens to them is anyone's guess. I certainly had my suspicions about what happens to racehorses after they have been "retired," but I was not necessarily prepared for what I was presented with after reading a 5-page article about it in the Washington Post.
One of the conclusions, among several, that I came to is that bullfighting is still alive because of people's attraction to the dramatic, dangerous, and bloody with costumes and flair. People are attracted to horse racing because of money, and dare I say it, greed. And people involved in both activities are influenced by the "society" of the whole event, partaking in the stands, the whole act of "seeing and being seen." Like many people, I would much rather opt for not being seen and being able to sleep at night with a clean conscience and and a mind free of even more ghastly images than already exist in the world.
For anyone curious as to the story of thoroughbred horses after the racetrack, here is the link to the Post article, which is actually quite well written by a freelance writer and horse lover.
Beasts of Burden: What happens to thoroughbred racehorses after retirement
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