Stampede 2012

[The Goon]

Looks like there were a lot of fake tickets for Garth last night. You gotta be so careful.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...456/story.html

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by jhunt223

I wouldn't expose a family pet to a situation where it stood a decent chance of dying. The fact that we keep on with this hill billy rodeo crap year after year despite the fact that animals keep on dying makes me pretty ashamed to be Calgarian.

A serious question for you.

What is it that you think occurs when these animals are done with thoroughbred racing?

You can be ashamed all you like, but the FACT is that those horses would have been dead long ago if not for the chucks and a place to race afterwards, not to mention they are as well treated as any pet you or anyone else has ever seen.

The more you know....

As an aside to all this, one of Chad sponsors is a guy i interact with every single day and suffice to say, this thing has everyone involved, very upset and feeling horribly.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Flamesguy_SJ

So...I went to Garth Brooks tonight. I'm a lifelong Garth fan in town from Saint John, NB until tomorrow morning and couldn't find a single ticket on kijiji or stubhub leading up and had multiple offers/sellers fall through, so my buddy and I just headed down to the grounds this evening to try our luck. We ended up with Press Level seats....at $280 each, two sections apart. I didn't really care though, because I was in the same building as Garth Brooks, and you only experience your first Stampede once. So I was fine with the price.

Then, as I'm in line for beer at the small concession stand, my buddy and some girl come running up to me telling me they have a surprise for me. Apparently, Garth bought the first three rows of seats on the floor and assigned people to go up into the bleeds and give them away.

So I ended up with this view the entire night:



So I guess I wrote this to say: thank you, Garth Brooks; thank you, Calgary; and thank you, Stampede, for an amazing week. I'll definitely be back.

So Garth put a friend Ina low place?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Obviously no one likes to see this tragedy. And as long as it continues to happen, there's no way to avoid the VHS or PETA doing their thing. Over 50 horse deaths in 25 years suggests it basically will happen every year with a few exceptions, so they'll always have new material to run with. Realistically the only way they'll go away is if there is an extended run of years without a death (5-10 maybe).

Surprised so many people did end up getting scammed for Garth tickets. I mean this is why you use StubHub. Yes you'll have to pay the extra 20% fee just for them having the exchange and maybe more than people were asking for on Craigs or Kijiji, , but that's essentially insurance that your tickets are guarenteed legit. But truth be told they should have used better techniques to ensure the fans were at this show for the $65 and not $650.

[GGG]

What an amazing show. The crowd was the loudest crowd I have ever seen in Calgary. More sustained volume then the Playoffs. (I didn't get into the cup final in 04 so I can' compare it to that) Amazing, normally calgary concerts have terrible crowds that show up late and leave early. Not here. The place was rockin the whole night.

Garth was definately not in touring shape, he was out of breath and the sweat was pouring off him but it didn't matter. He put it all into the show and I don't think anyone left disappointed. I thought he was going to die during aint going down til the sun comes up.

If there was a concert that was worth paying $1000 a ticket for this may have been it. I'm not sure how you could top the energy in that building.

I will go back when he comes in two or three years but I don't think this show will ever be topped no matter what he does with pyro and lights. To be honest I think I perfer a stripped down concert with just lights and the band over the big production acts. It was all music tonight.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by GGG

Amazing, normally calgary concerts have terrible crowds that show up late and leave early. Not here. The place was rockin the whole night.

Hmmm, just out of curiousity why do you think this? Honestly most shows I've been to in Calgary have had awesome crowds, and having seen shows in Vancouver and Edmonton, I'd say Calgary has the best crowds of the three, followed by Edmonton and Vancouver.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Hmmm, just out of curiousity why do you think this? Honestly most shows I've been to in Calgary have had awesome crowds, and having seen shows in Vancouver and Edmonton, I'd say Calgary has the best crowds of the three, followed by Edmonton and Vancouver.

Being from Saskatoon I am comparing to the concerts that I went to there where I people were greatful for the artists showing up. You only got about half of the concerts calgary did so crowds were more excited and stayed longer. Also to Fargo and Edmonton. I thought Edmonton was superior to Calgary for the 2 shows I have been to there. Fargo may have just seemed better because it always took an epic road trip to get there. I think the biggest thing is that the wrong people get the best tickets with all of the reserved club seats. I will say that as more and more bands have gone to fan club based presales that crowds have improved as it puts dedicated fans closer.

Anyway, I was really just amazed at how great the crowd was from the beginning to the end the building was on its feet.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

f'n beerfest

Not too subtle, aint he?

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by transplant99

A serious question for you.

What is it that you think occurs when these animals are done with thoroughbred racing?

You can be ashamed all you like, but the FACT is that those horses would have been dead long ago if not for the chucks and a place to race afterwards, not to mention they are as well treated as any pet you or anyone else has ever seen.

The more you know....

As an aside to all this, one of Chad sponsors is a guy i interact with every single day and suffice to say, this thing has everyone involved, very upset and feeling horribly.

So maybe we should go rescue all animals that are about to be put down and abuse them since we "saved" their lives.

And I'm sure they do feel bad about the horses' deaths. Doesn't change the fact that they abuse horses to make a living, which is a disgrace.

[Ne7en]

People are upset and want answers when an animal dies at the Calgary Zoo, yet year after year it's ok for mutliple horses to die for a race? (This is comparing 10 days of stampede to an animal living 365 days in a zoo.)

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by Iginla

So maybe we should go rescue all animals that are about to be put down and abuse them since we "saved" their lives.

And I'm sure they do feel bad about the horses' deaths. Doesn't change the fact that they abuse horses to make a living, which is a disgrace.

How do you quantify letting the animals do what they were bred to do as 'abuse'? These are racehorses, bred with every intention of competition through running.

Have you been to the barns? Have you seen the horses? Seen their excitement and anticipation before being able to do what they love. I can't believe anyone who has been up close could seriously claim they are being abused.

Frankly, your claim that they should be euthanized at a younger age instead of letting them race is rather shocking.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Iginla

So maybe we should go rescue all animals that are about to be put down and abuse them since we "saved" their lives.

And I'm sure they do feel bad about the horses' deaths. Doesn't change the fact that they abuse horses to make a living, which is a disgrace.

I would say a better comparable is to say that they are in a high risk occupation rather than abused. And they are compensated greatly relative to other members of their species for taking that risk. So for 300 days a year they are some of the best treated livestock in the world, for 65 days a year they risk their lives for entertainment. The alternative is a trip to the glue factory.

Abuse to me implies an individual doing something unatural to intentionally cause harm. If you want to say the rodeo abuses animals becasue a strap a rope to the bulls balls to make him buck or that the calf gettng tossed around is abuse I would at least listen to your arguement. But to say Chuckwagons are abusive is false.

[Bigtime]

On a somewhat related note, the Cargolux 747 just arrived at YYC this morning, I wonder how much horse meat they are loading on to send over to Europe (and the quality of life those horses had)?

[Ne7en]

Human entertainment > Animal well-being. The hill billy mentality that the horses well-being is not being compromised while dragging a wagon around a track as fast as possible with a fairly good chance of colliding/being run over/etc. is inhumane. The stampede's record speaks for itself. If these horses were "bred" for this, then their hearts wouldnt be exploding in their chest (such as in previous years).

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by GGG

Being from Saskatoon I am comparing to the concerts that I went to there where I people were greatful for the artists showing up. You only got about half of the concerts calgary did so crowds were more excited and stayed longer. Also to Fargo and Edmonton. I thought Edmonton was superior to Calgary for the 2 shows I have been to there. Fargo may have just seemed better because it always took an epic road trip to get there. I think the biggest thing is that the wrong people get the best tickets with all of the reserved club seats. I will say that as more and more bands have gone to fan club based presales that crowds have improved as it puts dedicated fans closer.

Anyway, I was really just amazed at how great the crowd was from the beginning to the end the building was on its feet.

Yeah I bet you must have gotten some pretty crazy crowds in Saskatoon. As you mentioned big artists don't hit up Saskatoon too often, so when they do it really becomes an event show, just like last night was. I really should have seen Pearl Jam in Saskatoon last year, no doubt that was a crazy good crowd (since Pearl Jam crowds are always crazy good).

[Ne7en]

Originally Posted by GGG

Abuse to me implies an individual doing something unatural to intentionally cause harm.

Idividual - the driver.
Unatural - strapping a horse to a wagon, and forcing it to run as fast as i possibly can in a grandstand full of thousands of people with the noise of the announcer/music, I can't think of anything that is natural about it.
Intentional - well we all know this is simply for entertainment, and the previous history speaks for the risks involved.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Has anyone bought the Thunderhead shower head?



If so, how is it?

I've had one for a couple years.... it is amazing!

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Ne7en

Human entertainment > Animal well-being. The hill billy mentality that the horses well-being is not being compromised while dragging a wagon around a track as fast as possible with a fairly good chance of colliding/being run over/etc. is inhumane. The stampede's record speaks for itself. If these horses were "bred" for this, then their hearts wouldnt be exploding in their chest (such as in previous years).

Very true. The fact is the Stampede and everything associated with it is (rightly or wrongly) a huge part of Calgary's marketed "identity" and a huge business as well. Despite animal rights groups hyperbole and over the top ad styles, they are fundamentally correct: animals get hurt and die in the rodeo, and it happens fairly often. There is no doubt about that. People associated with the Stampede have too much to lose to admit that, or they don't care. I have no problem with them not caring -- but let's not pretend that the Stampede is some beacon of animal safety and respect to the lives of animals. Its entertainment.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by Ne7en

Idividual - the driver.
Unatural - strapping a horse to a wagon, and forcing it to run as fast as i possibly can in a grandstand full of thousands of people with the noise of the announcer/music, I can't think of anything that is natural about it.
Intentional - well we all know this is simply for entertainment, and the previous history speaks for the risks involved.

Individual - The glue factory operator
Unnatural - Bullet to the Brain
Intentional- We all know where dog food comes from.

You don't have any leg to stand on.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by crazy_eoj

Have you been to the barns? Have you seen the horses? Seen their excitement and anticipation before being able to do what they love. I can't believe anyone who has been up close could seriously claim they are being abused.

Having been around barns, I don't think I've ever seen a horse that preferred saddling up to grazing in the field. Do they like to run? I think so - sometimes they run playfully on their own. On a ride, horses move a lot faster on the way back, then on the way out, because they can't wait to get the saddle and rider off.

I don't think we could ever know for sure what a horse is thinking.