Swirling Snow & Slinging Snot!

Just in case you have not heard, there was a monster blizzard last weekend, here in New England.  The worst hit town was Hamden, CT with 40 inches of snow.  Somehow, I felt fortunate to only have 30 inches fall in my town.  The reason I am mentioning this is that the blizzard seriously messed up my plans to attend the PBR Touring Pro Division event in Worcester, MA February 9-10.  I had tickets for both days, and unfortunately I could not get there on Saturday, due to really bad plowing or should I say no plowing in my developement...but that's for another day.

On Sunday, my husband and our next door neighbor were outside at 7:30 AM digging out a path so we could "escape" being housebound again, and get up to Worcester for the bull riding event.

Seeing the big, beautiful bovines was truly a sight for these sore eyes!  The bulls put on a show and had me forgetting about blizzard!

Of course, with the terrible forecast, I was extremely worried about the stock contractors hauling bulls on icy and snowy highways.  Thankfully, all four stock contractors arrived safely.  Mark Reed hauled bulls down from Canada, Sonny Williams from Maryland, Jeff Robinson's team from North Carolina and Mike Miller from Pennsylvania.

The first order of duty was to check in on the bulls.  I couldn't get too close but I spent some time looking over the back pens.  This bull caught my eye with his huge hump and interesting coloring.  Plus, he was just adorable resting his head on his penmate's butt!

After the cowboy introductions, the most important introduction was made and that was Jeff Robinson's JAGERMEISTER'S POWERLINE.  This bull has been to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas, and overall has a 90% buck-off rate.

Cowboy Jarrod Craig kicked off the event with his first of four attempts.  This one ended in a buck-off.

As usual, the best part of the day is when the bulls decide to run free!  This big boy did just that. I wish I could identify him but without a Day Sheet it was hard to figure out who the bulls were.  The Day Sheets were not printed because of complications with the snow storm.  The arena announcer often mentioned the stock contractor but not the bull.

This beautiful boy was quite funny!  He wanted no part of exiting the arena.  The safety man made a few attempts to get him out and the bull wanted none of it! (see below)

And as you can see, this bull just about was dragged out of the arena!  The crowd was loving it!

North Carolina bull rider Josh Faircloth scores 83.5 points on this ride.

Can't you just imagine the bull saying, "Hey, cowboy-man, I'm gonna run you over! Haha!"

Ryan McConnel rides CANDY MAN from Mark Reed for 84.5 points.

Josh Faircloth didn't fare so well on this bull.  It ended in a buck off.  Thankfully the bull moved out of the chute, eventually.

Again, due to no day sheet, I can not identify this cowboy or bull.  The bull spun tight in the corner of the arena before bucking off the rider.

JAGERMEISTER'S POWERLINE continued his buck off streak!

Another bull showing off some snotitude!  The safety man had a few go rounds with him before.....(see below)

The lasso'd bull kept tugging and jumping!  Didn't know if the horse could actually pull him out of the arena!

Jarrod Craig rode TITANIUM TOUGH for 87 points, to win the day in Worcester!  Titanium Tough bucked really well and it was a great ride to end the event!

One final check on the bulls before I left the arena.  They were lined up and ready to go!  Beautiful boys!

A video was played as the second half of the event was about to get under way.  It was all about the bulls, the animal athletes.  It was a great video and it show lots of big wrecks and awesome bucking bulls.  I wish the bulls got more attention like this, because without them, there'd be no sport!

I have to give a shout-out to bull riders Austin Meier and Ryan Dirteater.  These two guys were at a Touring Pro Event in Toledo, Ohio Saturday night, and drove all night to get to Worcester for Sunday's event.  That is a tough life, especially in winter!  As a fan, I sure appreciated seeing these guys make the effort and see them ride!  Austin rode his two bulls, scoring 81.5 pts and 82.5 pts.  Unfortunately, Ryan went 0-2 in Worcester.

Because of the snowstorm several cowboys did not make it to Worcester, so each cowboy rode twice.  Mick Ford from New South Wales, Australia got on 3 bulls, riding one for 84.5 points.  Jarrod Craig got on 4 bulls Sunday, going 2-4, 84.5 and 87 points to win the event.  Other notable cowboys: Joseph McConnel 1-2 for 85 pts; Pistol Robinson 1-2 for 84 pts; Markus Mariluch 1-2 for 87.5 pts; and Kasey Hayes 1-2 for 83.5 pts.

So despite all of the effort to get to Worcester, it was well worth it just to see some great rides and great bulls.  I thought there was a good crowd considering the weather, and I sure hope the PBR will consider bring more bull riding back to the Northeast in 2014!





All photographs by Susan Hanrahan