Motivational Bull Castration

Continuing the theme of odd ways coaches have motivated players (started with yesterday's post about the coach who bit the heads off live frogs) —

In 1992, Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill arranged for a bull to be castrated in front of his players before a game, as an "educational and motivational experience." Asked how it was motivational, Sherrill replied, "That's everybody's different perception."

His team did win the game.

The Tennessean - Sep 15, 1992

The Tennessean - Sep 18, 1992

Asbury Park Press - Sep 15, 1992

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Posted By: Alex - Tue May 24, 2016
Category: Sports | 1990s

Comments

Very motivational when used as a demonstration of what happens to losers.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/24/16 at 09:46 AM

A neutered bull can also be called an ox. That name was used when male bovines were used to pull wagons, logs and other heavy items. You might feel it was a better deal than the steers got, their destination being the dinner plate.

Posted by Phred22 on 05/24/16 at 12:28 PM

Luckily none of this behavior, as far as the reports indicate, was carried out during the actual game.

Posted by crc on 05/24/16 at 12:44 PM

The method used on our farm and most other ranchers in our area was use of a rubber band placed around the scrotum with a specialized tool. Use of cutting instruments introduced risk of injury to the wranglers and infection to the animal. The rubber band method took very little time to apply. When raising steers for money, you didn't want to lose any.

I'd bet the coach was a city boy.

Posted by KDP on 05/24/16 at 03:30 PM

Fresh from SoCal after 34 years, we moved to KS. Went to look at a used tiller from a coworker. When I pulled up to the farm, his wife was using the rubber bands mentioned by KDP on sheep (rams?). When I asked where my coworker was, she stopped, plugged one nostril, blew the snot out of her nose and pointed to the house. That's when I knew my life was never to be the same again.

Posted by GFinKS on 05/26/16 at 09:34 AM

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