Is It Just Me.....?

At this point of the PBR season, too many of the Cowboys are hurt...too many of the bulls are tired of being on the trailer...and the events just seem a little flat.  Is it just me thinking that?

Going back to the "Cooper Tires Presents: Des Moines Invitational" (yes, I'm behind again....yes, I was traveling) the bulls who really stood out were the line-up in the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

JACK DANIEL'S TENNESSEE HONEY started the 15/15 off right with an outstanding out, bucking off Emilio Resende in just 2.24 seconds and earning a bull score of 46 points!

 BUCK DYNASTY who is 37-0 in all divisions, now 38-0 has uneven timing when bucking and great power.  He has lots of head movement which keeps things uneven.  He has been bucking 4 years now, and is described as a "mean" bull.  BIG TEX "ROCKS" has bucked off 28 riders in a row, in all divisions, 6 on the BFTS.  I'm liking this bull more and more.  WESTERN WAY is a bull I don't know much about, but he's a good one! He's got a 10-0 buck off streak going, 5 straight on the BFTS.  KING LOPEZ dismissed Shane Proctor in 2.74 seconds.  Lopez usually goes right as he leaves the chute, last week he went left.  Such a smart bull!

ASTEROID was outstanding, putting up a 47 point score.  Dare I say he had Bushwacker-esque moves?  He had huge kick and went vertical bucking off Doug Duncan in 4.44 seconds.  I love to see Asteroid take his victory laps around the arena!

 Overall, the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Des Moines gave us just 3 rides and many powerful statements that these big bulls mean business!  But the thing most curious to me is that just 3 bulls were scored 45 points or higher.  Is it just me or do bull scores seem to get lower and lower?

LIGHTMAKER'S RANGO bucked off JB Mauney in Des Moines in 5.36 seconds and received an average 43.5 point score.  In Boise, this Saturday past, RANGO bucked off Brant Atwood and was scored 45.5 points.  This bull could not have bucked harder, yet he rarely is scored higher than 45...why?

 The "Dewalt Guaranteed Tough Invitational" in Boise, Idaho this past weekend produced more horrifying wrecks than tremendous rides...unfortunately!  The second round started off with BELLAGIO bucking wild, stumbling over Brendan Clark, and landing flat on his side.  For as hard as this bull was bucking, I don't think a score of 40.75 was justified because he fell down once Brendan was on the dirt.  BUCK FEVER, a son of the great bull BUCKEY had huge jumps - rank - and mean, and was scored 37.25 points.  UGH!  WOODY lunged up in the chute, landed in a good position and once the gate opened had a couple of huge jumps before bucking off Stormy Wing, 42.5 point score.

CHARLIE BULLWARE, the elder statesman of the bull pen, is still rocking, spinning, kicking and bucking off cowboys!  Charlie made 3 direction changes, along with great kick and spin to buck off Mike Lee.  Charlie was given a way too low score of 42.5 points.

Charlie Bullware's ranch-mate MR. BULL is a really strong bull, with good spin and kick.  He was fussy in the chutes and received a respectable 43.5 points.  MERLOT MAN was DQ'd in the chutes for leaning against the back of the chute.  Why? Because Renato Nunes took way too long in the chute, fussing with his rope and not taking the bull when he should of the first time.  This annoys me to no end...and since this is my blog, I'm going to complain about it!  I have nothing against Renato or any of the cowboys, but I do not like these guys who take too long that the bulls start reacting to being in the chutes so long.  Wrap your rope, slide and ride...quickly!  It's bad for the cowboy to be too long in the chute and bad for the bull.  I don't want to see injury on either part because of this!  Time for the judges to not only put riders "on the clock" but DQ them...not the bulls!  The cowboys get a reride...the stock contractor gets nothing!

The great CARRILLO CARTEL is being retired at the end of this season, but he still is a terrific bucking bull.  He produced the event winning ride of 88.5 points.

Wentz Bucking Bull's BUCKEY had a terrific out, only scored 43 points by the judges, but combined with Silvano Alves for an 87.5 point ride.  Buckey's son, BUCK OFF, also produced a great ride with Cody Nance for 88.5 points.  BUCKEY has proven to be a great sire of the Wentz herd, with three of his sons at the Boise event.

I was happy to see the Wolf Creek Cattle Company bulls at Boise.  We'd not seen them on the BFTS for a spell.  Bad Blake, MVP, and Dark Shadow had been missed!  A new bull, LITTLE STICK, was rank as he bucked off Aaron Roy in round 2 for 43.25 points. 

I was also thrilled to see LOVE DOCTOR and GET SMACKED in the Championship Round.  I wrote a blog piece on these two bulls in February 2012 ("Love and Smacks All Around") when they were coming on the BFTS scene.  How exciting to see the bulls now in championship rounds!  Melissa Katich must be so proud of her bulls! :)

But the two bulls who impressed me most were I'M A GANGSTER TOO and HANG TIME.  HANG TIME is a new bull to the BFTS, who has been bred to buck like he did Saturday night!  His mom is a Mossy Oak Mudslinger daughter and his sire is Hotel California.  He was incredible! His score was 46.25 points and he earned every bit of it!  I'M A GANGSTER TOO is the son of one of my favorites, I'm a Gangster, and he had the event high bull score for the weekend of 46.5 points.  Outstanding bull and he should be up there in the discussion for "Bucking Bull of the Year" this year!

So, maybe it's time for the bulls to head out to pasture, the cowboys to rest a bit and the judges go back to school and learn how to score the bulls correctly!  It's just my opinion...but is it just me...?




Photographs by Susan Hanrahan