Should buzkashi be an Olympic sport?
http://www.afghanembassy.net/buz.php
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M$6 Answers
Although the sport name literally translates to goat dragging it would be a nice way to show the world that their country is ready to evolve into the 21st century on some level. I know in Canada and the USA you would never be able to sell a sport that involves dragging a dead goat around, little girls would scream, politicians would condemn it and farmers would complain about the sportsmen being savages.
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M$
Come to think of it, then it might fit better in the Special Olympics.
Either way, it should help establish the Afghans as premier exponents of reviving the Middle Ages.
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M$
Those would be some pretty fundamental changes to the game.. would these changes effect how the overall game is played? I'm still laughing as I type this. .. picturing goats riding horses dragging decapitated Afghan paraplegics around yelling in an Asian goat language. Sounds interesting.
When you read the rules and history of this game, you can't help but want to watch the utter chaos that appears only to the typical spectator.
We need to incorporate more ethnic and historic games like this into the Olympics. This would be a fantastic way for people to learn about other cultures and countries.
If this were to become an Olympic game, I'm sure the Afghan people would corner the market on gold metals... for the first few decades at least!
Since the name Buzkashi translates into 'goat dragging', the only loser in this game is the goat.
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M$
@bunnyphuphu ... fair enough argument in favor of it. :-) But i do think a few things would ideally change: 1) If they would PLEASE use something besides a real beheaded carcass, and 2) get rid of the general idea that anything goes, with no safety rules or safety gear worn by players. These revisions might kill some of the high-spirited fun of the game in the eyes of the purist, but ...acceptable compromise, I think.
I agree too.
What better way to drag this fledgling democracy into the first world than to invite them to the Olympics with a sport they and other lesser known regions of Asia would win and dominate in for years to come.
@bunnyphuphu ... wow!
Now I imagine this sport televised in the US ... wonder what Big Pharma products would rush to buy the first ad slots :-)
Aw... @balinesecat -
If you took away the goat and implemented 'safety' into the game... you take away all the fun. I found this descriptive quote about the game that says it all!
~quote~
The first thing you need for Buzkashi, besides a warrior soul prepared for death, is the game ball or "boz." To prepare it, find a goat. Now chop off its head and most of its legs. This probably won't finish it off... Afghani goats are raised on soil composed of 80 percent land mine and require either intense persistence or voodoo to kill.
~end quote~
http://www.seanbaby.com/news/buzkashi.htm
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M$
LOL I guess that my mind is in the gutters.
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@balinesecat - from my experience living in the Middle East, when a goat is slaughtered... nothing goes to waste.
I remember helping out with the cooking of the feast at the end of Ramadan. The older women would argue over who got to eat the eyes of the goat.
I clearly remember myself not being in that argument! :)
@jeffhoard: I can imagine the true players of this game laughing at the idea of dragging a large ball.
Where's your spirit?
re: replacing the goat carcass ... maybe a life-sized rubber goat (beheaded, of course) could find it's way into the realm of desirable sports gear? :-)
speaking of the beheaded part ... any idea what they do with the head? do they set it aside and give it to the winner or something?
Very true. The sport would certainly need some cleaning up.
The name Buzkashi is an inspiring name and I feel even a cleaned up version using a dummy or a ball would still have that marketable edge as if Buzkashi were to become mainstream the history of the name and the sport itself would certainly be brought to light and examined. I think it would have the edge the X-Games or snowboarding had 15 years ago.
Hey I'm a farmer and the way I feel about goats.. well there wouldn't be any complaining from me.