JCC Gävle Goat Watch 2021

In a way, we're all winners, but in a different, more correct way, congratulations @Darth Smurf

 

YES YES YES I WON!!!!!!!!!!

 

Such sad/excellent news depending on your point of view.


Well done Darth Smurf.


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Well..from BBC

"A giant straw goat that has become an annual highlight in the Swedish city of Gavle has been burned by an arsonist.

A man in his 40s was arrested after the structure was set alight in the early hours of Friday.

The goat has been attacked many times before but survived every festive period since 2016 under 24-hour security.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Steiner said she was devastated by the attack on the seasonal institution.

"It's just a week before Christmas and I cannot understand how a person can carry out this kind of attack to a Christmas symbol known all over the world," she told the BBC.

The Gavlebocken (Gavle goat) has been put up in the city's central Castle Square every Christmas since 1966 and has become a regular target for arsonists and vandals.

It has survived an attempted kidnapping via helicopter and been rammed by a car, but it has mostly been targeted by fire. It was burned down at midnight on New Year's Eve in its very first year of existence in 1966.

The Gavlebocken has become something of an annual draw for visitors to Gavle, 158km (98 miles) north of Stockholm, going up on the first Sunday of Christian Advent. A big concert accompanied the goat's inauguration at the end of November.

It has its own social media account and perhaps tempted fate earlier this month, tweeting that it was still in place for the fifth year in a row.

A smaller straw goat dubbed "little brother" had already been set alight early on Sunday.

The fire brigade said the alarm was raised at 03:35 on Friday but unfortunately the goat went up in smoke so fast it was beyond saving.

Ms Steiner said tight security measures had been in place but the goat's builders and the city had a difficult balance to strike between protecting the structure and giving people the chance to come and see it up close.


A man was detained at the scene and Swedish reports said he was under investigation but denied arson."


Someone tried to kidnap it with a helicopter? And its like they like it to get torched or something like its a fun competition...the people who put it up I mean. Its like they welcome it and like the back and forth nature of it all

 

Will I now at least get a colorful font, a fancy banner or a title? How about "Goat Smurfer of the Year", or would that be too misleading.

 

Goat Smurfer sounds like a nickname for a new guy from the countryside brought up to the big leagues because he chews blue bubblegum with a country accent

 

Not what I pictured.

 

Okay, it sounds dirty. But I was trying to go another direction...

 

I'm actually kind of sad to see that the goat was burned. But even more sad that it didn't happen on the 29th.

 

If it had happened on the 26th, I would've pretended to be happy for you.

 

I seriously don't get how Community is just trucking along. In every thread I'm fighting the urge to post something like "SHUT UP THOUGH THE GOAT FINALLY BURNED DOWN"

 

I used my powers as a Minnesota sports fan to jinx the goat in the NFL thread, so I think I deserve some of the credit.

 

It’s going to be great telling people I think 2022 is going to be a good year because somebody in Sweden committed an arson.

 

But just imagine the joy if one of those people responds "... Gävlebocken?"

 

I just hope the arsonist wasn't celebrating the Chiefs win over the Chargers.

 

Damn, I didn't think to sign up this year. Oh well, there's always next year.

 

They were actually still mad about the crushing 4-2 AIK defeat of IK Sirius a few weeks ago and looking to take out their wrath on a straw goat 100 kilometers away with no affiliation to either club.