Sunday, May 23, 2004

An Ear For The Game

         I read about a popular sport in Afghanistan while studying for a military history class I was in.

    Two villagers would tether a goat in a valley between a pair of mountain ridges. They would each scale one of the ridges. They would then take turns shooting at each other. The object was to be the guy who came closest to the other guy's ear with a shot. Eventually, one guy would chicken out, wave off the other, and a goat dinner would be won.

    Very few contests are won by having one's opponent lack faith in one's skill at the primary objective of the game. The author noted that the village he learned this sport in had a disproportionate amount of people who were missing ears- sort of an Asiatic Van Goghsville. A good goat dinner may be worth a lobe or two, especially when the Russians occupy your capital.

 

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