Thanks to his experience researching and running with the bulls at Pamplona, Spain, award-winning NFL reporter Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports was appalled at an ESPN-TV piece on the subject by Rick Reilly aired today on the network.
Robinson made the following observations about Reilly’s piece on Twitter:
Rick Reilly is a jackass. Saw his piece w/ the running of the bulls. His swatting bulls w/ a newspaper is dangerous & disrespectful. Moron.
Rick Reilly and ESPN are lucky he didn’t get someone killed. Do some research before you endanger other people’s lives. Reckless & terrible.
I love that ESPN glorifies Reilly being a totally disrespectful ass. Do some research. He’s exactly why locals hate Americans at the event.
Friends who I met when I ran w/ the bull can’t believe the Rick Reilly video piece, either. Dangerous self-aggrandizing garbage. Shameful.
5 minutes of research tells you the rolled newspapers R to distract bulls if they get disoriented & charge. Not 2 recklessly hit them. Idiot
I am beyond pissed about this Rick Reilly running with the bulls piece. He endangered other runners. He’s why people die. Total idiot.
The running of the bulls is an extremely dangerous endeavor, so it’s surprising that Reilly took such a lighthearted approach - especially when lives of people around him are literally at stake.
Also worrisome is the apparent endorsement of Reilly’s wrongheaded approach to the activity by ESPN, which could lead to viewers adopting similar tactics if they choose to run with the bulls in the future.
It’s to ESPN’s credit that it has become such a powerful force in affecting the habits of its viewers - just ask the network’s advertisers. But that influence cuts both ways.
ESPN should consider stopping the airing of such an ignorant perspective on a life-and-death endeavor and remove the piece from its website.
Nothing personal against Reilly or ESPN, but as journalist Robinson rightfully observed, the information contained in the piece is downright dangerous to anyone who views it and doesn’t follow up with his or her own research.
4:25 pm on July 25th, 2010
Seriously - who gives a shit about anyone dumb enough to do this….
7:00 pm on July 25th, 2010
NO! NO! NO! the reason “why people die” is because they’re running with F*cking BULLS. People died way before Rick Reilly swatted at that damn bull.
9:00 pm on July 25th, 2010
This is why people hate Europeans. He sound like Rennisance (sp) guy…just takin’ some dumb shit a little too seriously.
10:46 pm on July 25th, 2010
Too bad Reilly wasn’t gored.
11:32 pm on July 25th, 2010
Reilly is a hack. He’s overrated garbage. He and ESPN deserve each other.
11:42 pm on July 25th, 2010
10 years ago Reilly did some good writing occasionally but somehow parlayed it into overexposure and predictable so called insights and conclusions one could read anywhere. He is a also known to be cheap to staff and service people despite the strangely high salary he shovels in each year. So the question really is…how old and phony are those sickly bulls and why didn’t one al gore him
5:58 am on July 26th, 2010
I ran with the bulls in 2006, twice, and it was amazing and uh, terrifying. You’re supposed to swat the bulls with the newspapers if you have the cajones to get it done without being killed - it’s their country and their tradition - not ours. If more yanks would pull their arrogant heads out of their asses when they travel we would all be more liked overseas.
10:38 am on July 26th, 2010
Totally agree with Sluggo. I am Canadian, and every time I have visited the States (about 30 times, including Hawaii and Alaska) 99% of the people are friendly and helpful. It makes my visits extremely pleasant.
Americans are very proud of their country, mostly with good reason. However, when they go overseas they want everything to be just like they are in the US (so why travel?) and/or spend a lot of time telling everyone how much better things are in the US. It upsets the locals and makes the Americans look like poor guests, which they really are not.
If they took some of their good manners overseas, they would be more welcome.
11:23 am on July 26th, 2010
Seriously, it’s time we turned the tables. What a bunch of dumb Europeans. Reilly’s the jackass for hitting a bull with a newspaper? How about Europeans are the jackasses for running with F$@#*!& Bulls every year!
To blame anything on Reilly is the most liberal attitude and viewpoint ever taken.
4:59 pm on July 26th, 2010
Seriously, this is a huge overreaction. I don’t like Reilly’s writing any more than the next guy, but I went to read his article and every other sentence mentioned how stupid he was to run, how dangerous the whole thing is, etc. Saying “he endangered other runners” is like blaming another skydiver because you don’t know how to open your parachute.
7:44 pm on July 26th, 2010
Reilly is a dumbass for doing many things. Anyone who runs with the bulls is just as dumb.
11:33 pm on July 26th, 2010
I have run with the bulls 5 times. It was the time of a lifetime. I highly suggest it if you have the means. As for that wimp Reilly, by crossing paths of other runners to touch a Steer with a newspaper, he did endanger other runners.
He should stick to American sports and go out to some NASCAR event and try and touch one of those cars with a newspaper. Then write about that, if not stay home…..
4:31 pm on July 27th, 2010
Reilly is as fake and contrived as John Kerry.
10:57 am on July 28th, 2010
I have run dozens of times in Pamplona. The run is about joining the herd, not smacking it or calling attention to yourself. ESPN is barred from getting media credentials in the city, because they covered the event like an episode of Jackass in the past. His report makes significant misstatements of fact, and his actions endangered the lives of 1000’s of people. My fear is that someone will read his column, consider it accurate, and get someone killed, all because he cannot meet the most minor requirements of journalism. With his stupid head-cam, and his smacking the bull, he violated the law, and hundreds of years of gentleman’s decorum and respect. It makes me wonder what else ESPN falsely covers.
11:12 am on July 28th, 2010
As someone who has been to San FermÃn for the past 11 years, Reilly (O’ Reilly, whatever) is the typical American that everyone hates.
1. You don’t use the paper to hit the bull, you use it to distract them is necessary. It is for safety, NOT to provoke them.
2. You don’t run towards them, you run in front of them.
3. From where he were standing on the street the first time, he showed how little he knows. Did he not contact anyone who actually knew what to do? Or did he just turn up with the usual “Where the bulls at?” attitude?
4. Middle ages? What?
5. Hemmingway wannabes? Hemmingway never ran with the bulls.
6. No drunks are allowed in the running.
He doing everything in his power to stay away is a *very* good thing.
And finally - what he did wasn’t dangerous for him, it was dangerous for the people who got in his way. If I was running that day I would have ran over him.
9:09 am on October 10th, 2010
Ive always hated rick in fact i pretty much hate anyone associated with espn theyre all sensational self aggrandizing jackasses