I found out that the

I found out that the bullfights happened last week in spite of the rain. It wasn't so rainy in the valley, so I missed Monday night for no reason. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Sunday afternoon is the opening of the downtown bullring in Tijuana. Eloy Cavasos is the star, but he bores me. I have heard that he can be good, in fact, so good as to bring tears to hardened aficionados, but that is not what I saw. I saw an over-the-hill matador torear mediocre bulls, knowing that he was such a legend that the crowd just wanted to see their hero, and the bullfighting was secondary.

He did have a certain style and grace that comes from years of experience (as well as innate ability). It called to mind seeing Nuryev at the end of his life. Nothing he did was spectacular, but what he did he did with such style and presence that it was still worth it. I still prefered seeing Baryshnikov, however, and that is the same with the bullfighters. I might admire a has-been like Cavasos, but I would much rather see Ponce or El Juli, both of whom are in their primes (although El Juli might even get better). I fell in love with bullfighting at the age of 12 when I saw Espartaco in Barcelona when he was in his prime, and would not trade that in for anything.