Running with the Bulls: Rick Reilly Causing Uproar

So Rick Reilly went running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Good for him. He had an article about it (the one with the I Know What You Did Last Summer reference…Reilly sure has his finger on America’s pulse). Then he came out with some Blair Witch-y (see, I can do it, too! I hope you’re reading this, ESPN, so that I can get my own $10 mil. contract) video of the whole thing. It has caused a bit of an uproar. Here’s the “RILED UP” video. Fair warning: If you don’t think you can handle Reilly raising his eyebrows at you in a real creepy way or if you don’t take him shouting at you very well, you may want to steer clear. Not everyone can handle award-winning sports journalism.

Suffice it to say, Reilly is really proud of his accomplishments, which included two days of “running.” One day, he hid in a doorway as the bulls ran past. The other day, and here’s where the real controversy comes in, he swatted a bull with a newspaper.

Okay, lots of people carry newspapers with them while running, but they’re for throwing in front of the bulls to distract them if you get into a pickle. Reilly’s whole goal was actually a misunderstanding. He even endangered people’s lives to fulfill this misunderstanding as he knocks into people and diverts other runners off course as he timidly taps a bull with his newspaper.

In the end, he didn’t actually get anyone hurt or, worse, killed, but he easily could have. Hey, but at least, as he says, he did something Hemingway never did. Oh yeah, it’s because no one goes there to slap a bull with a newspaper.

Anyway, people are very mad at ESPN and Rick Reilly for this video…and understandably so. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports, among many on the Twitter Machine really lit into Reilly. Among several tweets on the subject, here is one:

“I’m done w/ the Rick Reilly rant. But people should know how dangerous his actions were. Shouldn’t B taken lightly. Piss poor journalism.”

Well said, Charles. We would like to extend to you a position on our honorary board. We’ll see what ESPN does with this piece that shows Reilly embodying the caricature of the stupid American getting people injured at the event.

I’ll leave you with some final words of wisdom courtesy of Robinson:

“I love that ESPN glorifies Reilly being a totally disrespectful ass. Do some research. He’s exactly why locals hate Americans at the event.”