Snotty in St. Louis

PRINCE ALBERT was the money bull in St. Louis!  Both Round 1 & Round 3 were won by Cowboys riding Prince Albert for 89 points each time.  The bull bucked consistently well, being scored 43.5 points each out.

 This weekend past, the PBR spent 3 days in St. Louis, MO. "The Gate Way to the West".  And in my opinion, things got western, all right!  The cowboys won the first night, as 20 scored rides were tallied.  A bull named HELL PONY put on a show as he stared down the shark cage and entertainer Flint, ran the arena, was roped and ultimately dragged through the out gate.  A beautiful new bull from K-C Bucking Bulls, HAPPY FEET, continued to impress with a 3.56 second buck off, earning him a 42.75 pt score.  The Bonus Bull for Night 1 was LUCKY  YOU, and lucky him, he charged out of the chute with big forward movement and body roll, and bucked off Ty Pozzobon in 2.8 seconds.

TV coverage Night 2 was the new "Pure PBR".  I am really liking this format, as different things are explained each week, and fans can Tweet their questions to the PBR, and some are answered on air.  Judges locations in the arena were explained Saturday night.  There are 2 judges who are positioned on the chute, one on each side.  They stand on the chute, looking over the Cowboy and Bull, as the Cowboy ties his rope.  This vantage point allows the judge to see if the bull is standing properly and if the cowboy is tying his rope in a timely fashion.  The other 2 judges are seated on opposite sides of the arena, approximately 35 feet from the chutes, floor level.  In the event of a tie, the Replay Judge's score is used to determine the outcome.

JW Hart, who was commentating from on the chutes, explained the philosophy of getting on practice bulls.  JW explained that practice bulls are not rank but cowboys can work on balance and timing, and any other issues to get their minds right.  It still is dangerous, so some cowboys choose not to get on practice bulls during the week, but sometimes that is the only way to fix a problem.

Lincoln Electric's BRING IT was ridden Saturday night for 85.5 points.  Up until that point, he was only ridden 5 times out of 40 attempts on the BFTS.   Bring It has always been difficult in the chutes, and Saturday was no exception.  He's getting to be an older bull, and JW explained that Bring It has some sons coming up in the Classic ranks, so we may soon see some sons of this great bull.

A few other stand-outs to me were GRAY SQUIRREL, who has only been ridden twice in 22 attempts.  A new bull from JK Rodeo, BALLISTIC, was rank!  He reminded me a bit of Charlie Bullware, with his golden color, smaller frame and strong use of his head and neck to spin.  Ballistic, who has been to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) was scored 43 points in a very solid outting Saturday night.  JOHNNY ROCKER from Jeff Robinson is a great young bull with big whip and a mean attitude!  44 points was awarded to Johnny Rocker after his buck-off.

The Bonus Bull Saturday night was PORCUPINE PUNCHER.  Bull fighter Shorty Gorham highlighted this bull for us TV viewers.  Shorty talked about how smart this bull is, and how he knows which hand the rider uses and will spin the opposite way.  He is an athletic, muscled up bull in great shape, and he is now 14-0 in his career!

D&H Cattle/Harrison's RED HOT was a stand-out on Sunday in Round 3.  He was awarded 43.5 points for bucking off Billy Robinson.

 The Championship Round featured 10 incredible bulls, and to show us just how awesome they are, the bulls "pitched" a shut-out by bucking off all 10 Cowboys.  I for one, was hootin' and hollerin'!  I love to see these rank bulls show the world why THEY are the real stars of the show!

However, I have one problem with the Championship Round format this year.  Up to 15 Cowboys can qualify for this round.  That means 15 bulls are set aside for the Championship Round.  With only 11 qualifying in St. Louis, and one cowboy not riding due to injury, only 10 bulls are used.  The problem is the bulls ranked 11-15 don't get used, so they are hauled to the event for nothing.  I know of a bull that this has happened twice, and he may not be the only one.  How are these bulls going to get enough outs to qualify for the Finals? How much expense and unnecessary mileage is going on these bulls?  I feel bad because some of these great bulls are not being seen and bucked regularly.  I hope the PBR can fix this problem and we fans can get to see all of the Championship Round bulls every week.

K-C Bucking Bulls, KING LOPEZ, was ridden the longest but still won the battle over Brendan Clark, bucking him off in 7 seconds!

SMACKDOWN continues to be a great bull, consistently whipping guys around and throwing them off before 8 seconds.  Smackdown dismissed Ty Pozzobon, who was riding well last weekend, in 3.11 seconds and was scored 45 points.

BUSHWACKER served notice this past weekend.  HE is the bull to beat in 2013!  He was stunning!  Luke Snyder was on the ground in 1.98 seconds and Bushwacker was top bull of the event with a score of 47 points!

It's 48+ hours since I've seen BUSHWACKER'S out and I'm still buzzing about it.  He looked fantastic!  Such high kick, with great extension.  Powerful first jump out of the chute and a regal trot in front of the crowd before he exited the arena.  There is truly something very special about this bull and he continues to amaze people.  As much as I love Asteroid, Smackdown, Rock & Roll, King Lopez and all the other rank bulls, Bushwacker just seems to be in a class by himself!  With this buck off of Luke Snyder, Bushwacker set a new PBR record with 37 consecutive buck-offs!

And, we get to see Bushwacker this weekend coming, in Kansas City, and the following weekend in Arlington, TX for the Iron Cowboy event.  The Iron Cowboy will be the first time in 2013 that Bushwacker and Asteroid will go head to head.  I can't wait to see it!




All photographs by Susan Hanrahan