Posted on 01/24/2010 6:59:24 AM PST by Libloather
Afghans love to get their goat in national sport of buzkashi
The sport, in which players on horseback vie for a headless goat carcass to much crowd enthusiasm, is back in force since the Taliban's overthrow. Some dream of it being in the Olympics.
January 03, 2010|By Tony Perry
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Leaning far off his horse like a polo player, amid a chaotic-looking scrum of other riders doing the same, the rider snatched the decapitated goat by a foreleg and galloped off.
He whipped his heavy-breathing horse for more speed while the others raced in pursuit. As they neared their rival, they whipped him and his horse and tried to grab the goat carcass before the rider could score.
A game of buzkashi, the national sport and passion of Afghanistan, was in full cry, watched by thousands of yelling, picture-taking fans, including hundreds of young men and boys who pushed so close to the field of play that they were repeatedly in danger of being trampled by the surging horses.
Safe from the fray, the local warlord had been given a place of prominence on a flatbed truck.
Lesser warlords, protected by guards with AK-47s, sat in their SUVs.
Banned during the Taliban's reign and resuscitated after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the ancient, archaic and only lightly regulated sport is bigger than ever, according to officials who organize weekly games in several locations in the capital and 17 outlying provinces.
**SNIP**
Haji Abdul Rashid, head of the government-sponsored Buzkashi Federation, has large dreams of leagues, corporate sponsorship, television and even acceptance for the Olympic Games.
"A buzkashi rider must be a real man," he said. "Not just in his body, but in his heart and his mind."
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.latimes.com ...
I seem to recall seeing a photo here shortly after our invasion of Afghanistan of an American Special Forces guy from Wyoming involved in a game of buzkashi.
On the Friday, the male-only crowd assembled hours before the official starting time. Some riders stuffed protective padding in the legs and crotches of their pants. (Headgear is considered unmanly.)
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Thanks Libloather. |
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It would be more appropriate to the Olympics than, say, ice dancing. The original Olympics showcased military sports, those skills useful in combat.
Like synchronized swimming? C'mon.
GROSS!!!
Good point- maybe they could start by adding the sport to the rodeo circuit.
They could play it with a pelosi skin instead of goat to please the animal rights crowd but then not even an Afghan warlord would want to touch it.
Could be a little problem finding other teams. Or maybe not - the Jamaican bobsled team made quite a stir. “You want me to do what wid de goat, mon?”
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