Farmers like this one in canton Valais often put two young Val d'Herens cows in a field to "teach" them to be friends: he intervenes when their tempers rise (click on image to view larger)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – She’s called Manhattan and she’s Switzerland’s newest beauty, although in this case beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, for she won her title in an arena for being the country’s toughest fighting cow. Switzerland’s fighting cows are short and dark, from the Val d’Herens breed, the traditional mountain cows. They fight naturally in spring, in fields, to determine which cow will lead the herd to the best pastures over the summer in the high alps.
Manhattan also won the title in 2009, but this is the first of the regularly organized, popular arena fights to be given the label “national” by the breed’s association.
Some 10 percent of the cows are outside their native canton Valais, where the arena fights traditionally take place on weekends from March to May. The cows entered must be pregnant.
This year’s final, with several thousand spectators, took place in Aproz, near Sion, with a farmers’ market with animals Saturday, followed by the fight on Sunday.
Related story: TSR (Fr)
Improved seats should help boost finances and set up in time for 23 December match
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva-Servette Hockey Club (GSHC) has a new VIP area, one of its requests to the city and canton in order to boost revenues and provide some fans with a better seating option. The 180 new seats are in place in time for tonight’s match against HC Davos, ranked number two. They provide a complete view of the playing area and of the large screen as well as of the rest of the club, and the VIP seats are closer to the ice.
This is the final game before the mid-season break for the holidays. GSHC in January will be on the ice again, but will also start to work with Geneva authorities on details for the improvements to the Vernet arena, for September 2011, and the completely new rink that is scheduled for September 2015.
Background, GenevaLunch interview with coach Chris McSorley and 2010 profile of the GSHC team
Two new additions after Lausanne-Basel match set early-season example, say Vaud police
(video) Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The hooligans cell of the Vaud Police Department has issued a “perimeters” ban against two Lausanne Hockey Club (LHC) fans, following an ice rink ban issued by the Hockey Club Bienne (HCB) against the two after they caused post-match damage in April in Bienne.
The new ban brings to 49 the number of hooligans given perimeter bans by Vaud authorities since 1 July 2010, when the bans became cross-sport: the two cannot approach any football stadiums or hockey rinks in Vaud.
Cantonal bans can be enforced country-wide, effectively banning the two from all hockey and football arenas throughout Switzerland, for an indefinite period.
“We’re sending out a message at the start of the hockey season,” Vaud police spokesperson Jean-Christophe Sauteral told GenevaLunch. “There are no borders. We want to make it clear that we’re working with other cantons, that we’re all working together.”
Vaud has a relatively small population of hooligans, who cluster around Swiss National League A teams in Zurich, Zug, Basel, Fribourg and Geneva, for example. But the problem, says Sauteral, is Swiss-wide and police are working more closely together than in the past.
Sports clubs can ban hooligans from their own stadiums or rinks, with a national extension for their sport, but the bans don’t carry the weight of law. Seventeen Vaud hooligans have been banned from stadiums and ice rinks in Vaud since July. The sports clubs share the information with police, who can take a ban to the next level: breaking a perimeters ban is a criminal offense under Swiss law.
The two LHC fans were tracked and investigated by the Bienne police hooligans cell, which transmitted information to Lausanne. The two are men, age 20, Swiss and members of the “Ultras” fan club Section Ouest 93. They explained their actions by saying they were down about their team’s loss to Bienne 24 April, and they were provoked by Bienne fans.
They have each been issued a two-year ban.
Swiss Hockey is launching a “respect” campaign for the start of the season to encourage better behaviour on and off the ice:
Title: Cirque du Soleil, “Saltimbanco”
Location: Geneva, arena
Link out: Click here
Description: Several performances by the famed Canadian circus, with tickets available at FNAC and Ticket Corner
Start Date: 2009-12-18
End Date: 2009-12-27
