The Madrid Corrida is Sadistic and Depraved

Time to go slightly Gonzo again... it´s a twisted world.
I had bought the tickets to Sunday night´s corrida with an ethical dillemma on my mind. Am I condoning this activity by purchasing tickets or is the event so popular with the locals that my being there won´t make a lickin´difference? I had decided that I wasn´t really supporting this by buying tickets, and that this was to be some sort of investigation on the nature of the event.
I refuse to call it a sport because frankly, the fight isn´t very sportsman-like. Images of ancient Rome came to mind as I entered the Plaza de Toros coliseum. I imagined surly-looking gladiators locked in bloody to-the-death combat on sand of just about the same color as the sand filling the arena. The Gladiator is not there by choice... neither is the Bull. Both have to fight for the enjoyment of sick bloodlusted crowds. But the resemblances ended there. The Gladiator can win his freedom. The Bull dies eventually. This is a garentee. The tour guide at the Sevilla Plaza de Toros explained that when a bull actually succeeds in killing the matador (i.e: defending itself) the bull is executed, along with it´s descendants and closest relatives. What kind of a chance does THAT give the bull?
To be fair, the second bull to enter the arena managed to "win", but I´m not sure exactly how. The bullfighters just stopped taunting it and everyone hid. Then, a herd of bulls came out into the ring and escorted the bull out again, to the cheers of the crowd. Sure he got to live another day, but how many more before he is forced into the ring again?
The Corrida is a series of fights featuring different matadors facing off against different bulls. Each fight is broken down into four parts.

In part one, the bull is simply annoyed by a bunch of guys in bright tights waving capes at it. It charges them and they hide behind barriers at the last second. This is designed to make it lose it´s breath and stamina. The fact that the bull already has a dart spiked into his shoulder only makes it more pissed.
In part two, two horsemen with lances come out and try to spear the bull between the shoulderblades. When the bull has been hit twice, the horsemen leave to make way for the jerks in part three.
In part three, 3 guys in tights come out again, but instead of capes, they each have two colourful short lances they try to spike between the bull´s shoulderblades. By now, blood is visible on the bull and he´s no doubt in a lot of pain and wondering what the hell he did wrong to deserve all this crap.
In part four, with the bull properly weakened, the arrogant machismo that is the matador can safely face off with the bull. He toys around with it, tiring it out some more before he decides to pull out his sword. By now, the bull just doesn´t give two shits about this whole thing anymore and just stares blankly at the cape with it´s tongue wagging while the matador plunges the sword between the shoulderblades (AGAIN!) in the hopes of piercing the heart. If this happens, the bull dies instantly (or almost)... but this rarely happens in a textbook fashion. Finally, if the bull is still conscious after having majestically fallen to the ground, one of the lesser clowns from the start comes over and punches a dagger through it´s skull to finish it.

But killing animals isn´t what made me sick. I have to condone the killing of innocent animals. I enjoy meat as much as the next non-vegetarian, and there´s no sugar coating the fact that these animals are killed against their will (I would assume). No. What made me sick was the way the matadors played with the bulls. It reminded me a lot of a high school jock poking the hell out of the fat geek and feeling all proud of himself for doing so. At some times, the matadors had this kind of move that just screamed "Ha! You are not WORTHY of being killed by me!". Bravo, big man... you´re "fighting" a weakened beast. This is worthy of honour??? Sadistic is what it is... and depraved of any kind of honour whatsoever. The crowds really get into it too. I suppose it´s a bit like people wanting to watch gory movies. Why? Whether it´s a real bull you´re watching die, or special effects on the television: WHY is this so fascinating? Sick in the head is what it is.

For the record, I was rooting for the underbull... I mean dog.