the ground sporting bandages

[GoodTaste]

Does "the ground sporting bandages" mean "the ground that was decorated with bandages"?

==================

One pioneering group, le Monde à bicyclette, became famous in the 1970s for organizing die-ins in the most inconvenient places: the Montréal Auto Show, or the middle of St. Catherine Street on a Saturday. The idea was to show just how murderous the automobile was, and participants really got into it, sprawling convincingly across the ground sporting bandages soaked in fake blood. There was even a fake ambulance service.


Source: Archive History
The Die-In: A Short History June 29, 2015
http://activehistory.ca/2015/06/the-die-in/

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

That's a tricky sentence!

Look again. The ground is not sporting bandages.

So who is sporting bandages? (Who is sprawling?)

 

[GoodTaste]

The participants.

Adding a comma after "the ground", it will be crystal clear.

"Ground" is usually associated with "sport", which leads to the problem of understanding.

 

[GoodTaste]

Isn't it better with a comma there？

 

[SoothingDave]

The participants.

Adding a comma after "the ground", it will be crystal clear.

"Ground" is usually associated with "sport", which leads to the problem of understanding.

"Ground" is usually associated with the surface of the earth, not with sport.

 

[probus]

"Ground" is usually associated with the surface of the earth, not with sport.

That's in AmE. In BrE, ground is often used for a sports playing field. E.g. football ground, cricket ground etc. (That's the first and only time I've ever disagreed with SoothingDave.)

 

[SoothingDave]

I know it's used for playing fields, but is that the main use? If you're out on the street and drop something, does it fall to the ground? Does the pilot of the airplane not say "we'll be on the ground shortly?"

If not, what word do you use?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The participants.

Adding a comma after "the ground", it will be crystal clear.

Yes, indeed!

"Ground" is usually associated with "sports",

Sometimes, not usually. Some places, not everywhere. I don't associate it with sports at all. It looks like the Brits here do. In the US, field, court, diamond, and gridiron have sports connotations.

which leads to the problem of understanding.

Youe first answer is more compelling. A comma or an and (but not both!) would have made it a stronger sentence.

 

[SoothingDave]

Reading this in context, is it reasonable to think that the middle of St Catherine Street in Montreal is a sporting ground?

 

[GoesStation]

Reading this in context, is it reasonable to think that the middle of St Catherine Street in Montreal is a sporting ground?

You may not have visited Montreal for a while.