cricket fighting: shut the hell up, russell!
cricket fighting — yes, cricket fighting — has been a popular activity in china for thousands of years. they are the roy jones juniors of the insect world: they sing … and they kick ass!
cricket fighting still draws big crowds in modern china. lots of people get arrested each year for gambling on the “sport.” this photo was taken last weekend in shanghai’s ti lan qiao area in the hangkou district. you might be able to see that the proper uniform for a “cricket trainer” is a pair of common pajamas.
you might also see that sometimes the crowd has a hard time concentrating on the cricket fights … like when a 6-foot-3 white guy puts his cricket named russell into the ring.
the cricket was a gift from my student anya, who served as guide for my descent into the world of bug boxing. (she called him gladiator, but i have taken to calling him russell. he seems to answer to that. actually, during nighttime, he seems to answer to almost anything. really, he’s driving me f*cking crazy. excuse me … “russell, i just fed you. shut up!” … i don’t know, maybe he’s telling me that he doesn’t like grape nuts.)
i suppose he can do whatever he wants, though. he kicked some major insect ass on saturday. fought twice. won twice. made me proud.
but i’m not quite sure what to do with him now. he was a gift, so i feel obligated to take care of him. maybe i’ll take him to fight again. but by next weekend, he may be past his prime. crickets only live 100 days, you know. so, i guess i’ll probably set him free soon, put him out to pasture, turn him stud. he’s approaching middle age. i suppose he should be able to sow his wild oats for a while. you know, go out and create some baby bug boxers of his own. that would be best for russell, i believe. that would be best for the sport.
and that would be best for my f*cking sanity. this thing never shuts up. it’s like an alarm clock with no off button. not even a snooze.
i really need some sleep.
i will write more about cricket fighting — and add more photos — soon. probably after i kick out my roommate. i’m having trouble concentrating.
UPDATE: here are the photos.
09.22.2003, 11:35 PM · Observations, Sports
10 Comments
My friend was lumbered with a cricket when I was in Shanghai. It drove her equally as mad. She tried shutting it in a cupboard and she could still hear it. Oh, and I love the pyjamas thing. In Tianjin they just don’t wear pyjamas all the time like the Shanghainese do.
lil’ russell is free man! set him free last week. he actually was a bit hesitant to take that first big jump out of the pot. but soon after he was back to his old tricks: i heard the other crickets scream. aw, i get teary eyed right now just thinking of the little fighter.
Er,if it is such an execllent fighter as you mentioned that someone may be willing to buy it, I guess.You know,there are some people who make a living(some lucky professional guys even can make a fortune) on cricket exchange.After all,they don’t have to jump from bed with a torch at midnight.Hoho, it is really a demanding job!
why are there no photoes of ladies watching the cricket fights are ladies into watching cricket fighting
what crickets fight, like do only one kind of crickets fight or do all crickets fight and how do u get them to …?
can any cricket fight..like a house cricket. i wanna try
can a house cricket fight? how do u make them fight? how do u make ur cricket fight?
what would have been better is if you had been forced into an underground fighting syndicate and made to do battle. Id love to see photo’s of you getting booted into unconsciouness and bought around with smelling salts and then kicked to death! Now thats what i call sport!
Only a pathetic bitch like you would be into a so-called “sport” like cricket fighting. I’ll go in a ring with you any day and beat the living shit out of you cocksucker.
Pussy.