What is a Torero?

UConn received the 4th seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. They have a pretty tough opening round game, playing the 13th seeded University of San Diego.

Earlier this year, I saw UConn lose to Gonzaga at the TDBANKNORTH Boston Garden. Where am I going with this? The answer, somewhere. Gonzaga lost to San Diego in the West Coast Conference Championship game. The win over Gonzaga gave the San Diego Toreros an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Trust me, this is the only way the Toreros would get invited to the 'Big Dance.'

Also, if you feel stupid because you do not know what a Torero is, you are not alone. I also have no clue what a Torero is? Is it a newly discovered species that lives in the Amazon? Is it a car made by Isuzu?

All my assumptions are apparently wrong as I just looked Torero up and found that it is a bull fighter (bull handler). Apparently there are three types of Toreros: Matador, Picador and Banderillero.
-A matador, lit. killer, (from late Latin "matare," to subdue or kill) is considered to be both an artist and an athlete; possessing great agility, grace, and coordination (from wikipedia.org).
-A picador is a bullfighter who uses a lance while on horseback to test the bull's strength and to provide clues to the matador on which side the bull is favoring.
-The banderillero is a torero who sets the banderillas. These are colorful sticks with a barbed point which are placed in the top of the bull's shoulder.

The best movie ever made about Torero's, that would have to be Matador starring Greg Kinear and Pierce Brosnan. I am not being sarcastic when I say Matador is one of my favorite movies. I really enjoyed the humor and dynamic betweek Kinear's character and Brosnan's character.

Well, at the very least I learned something new today.