Early Summer Snot

It's been a while since I've sat at my computer to write a blog.  Haven't much felt like it...or wondered if my opinion really mattered?  Well, this morning I am digging myself out of my hole, and getting back in to game...or should I say, back in to the arena?

This past Saturday was the highly publicized event in Decauter, Texas "PBR Ring of Honor, Legends Unfinished Business" along with the JW Hart Touring Pro event.  It was available on pay per view for $30.  I was undecided until a few days before the event, if I was even going to order it.  Was it worth that much money?  Would it live up to the hype?  Finally, I decided to go ahead and order it.  And, in my humble opinion, it was worth every single penny!  I thoroughly enjoyed it and yes, I believe it lived up to the hype!

The Touring Pro event was also an ABBI Classic competition, for the 3-4 year old bulls.  Always fun watching because you just never know what those young bulls will do...or not do.  Some were hard to get out of the chute on.  Some ran free in the arena, and were hard to get back to the out gate.  And some, bucked crazy good!  In the end, BRUISER, from D&H Cattle Co and Buck Cattle. won the ABBI competition with a score of 92.5 points.  BRUISER has a 90% buck off rate in 2015, and was quite impressive and totally dominate in his out.  I love me some BRUISER...let me tell you...but, I'm going out on a limb here and say that I thought RED MOON, who finished second to BRUISER, was just a bit better Saturday night.  RED MOON, from Hurst Rodeo Ranch/Holmes/Jackson finished second, with a score of 90 points.  He has a 100% buck off rate in 9 outs.  RED MOON was totally dominate and went vertical as he dumped his rider.  Now, I'm no judge, but he just seemed a bit more explosive.  Another bull who caught my attention was REBELUTION from Ravenscroft Bucking Bulls.  He finished fourth in the ABBI competition with an 89 1/2 point score.  BRUTUS and WIRED CHILD rounded out the top 5 bulls.  These bulls are going to be fun to watch, as they compete over the next few years.

Mike Lee won the Decauter Touring Pro event with two solid rides.  Only five cowboys entered the championship round with a qualified ride.  Mike Lee solidified his win with an 87.25 point ride on ROUGH 'EM UP TUCK (42.5 pt bull score).

Next up was the "Champions Challenge" in which 9 current cowboys faced off for a chance at $20,000.

Renato Nunes claimed the $20,000 by putting up an 89.5 point score on Jared Allen's Pro Bull Team's DAKOTA STYLE'S HY TEST.  Renato had to be put on the clock for his usual chute antics, but thankfully HY TEST had a good out and was scored 43.5 points.    Three other rides were scored in this round: Shane Proctor rode KISS ANIMALIZE for 87.25 points; Reese Cates rode EARL SPORTS for 86.75 points; and Matt Triplett rode DELCO for 85 points.  Renato then had a chance for another $20,000 by attempting to ride D&H Cattle's SWEET PRO LONG JOHN, as a bonus bull.  It was obvious from an interview with Renato before the ride that he wanted no part of getting on Long John!  Renato only lasted 3.19 seconds, as LONG JOHN had huge kick and high kick!!!  His bull score of 43.75 points had the BS flag flying and me asking the judges if they actually watched the bull buck???

But the whole reason me and a lot of others I know, paid our $30 to the cable companies, was to see the Legends return in "Unfinished Business"!  Somehow JW Hart, who is the host of this event, convinced Ross Coleman, Michael Gaffney, Justin McBride, Tater Porter, Chris Shivers, Mike White and Cody Custer to enter this event and get on one more bull!  From the interviews shown on the broadcast, it sounds like JW Hart did some fast talking to get these guys to agree to ride.  The thing that impressed me the most was that all eight guys took this extremely serious, and wanted to do their best.  As they were each interviewed after their attempts, each one seemed truly disappointed or upset when they bucked off.  Chris Shivers rode BLACK CAT for 8 seconds and an 88.5 point score.  JW Hart rode KING BUCK for 8 seconds and an 88.5 point score.  These two tied for the win of "Unfinished Business", and split the $160,000 prize money.  But in an instant, we were all reminded of how dangerous this sport is, as JW Hart was knocked out at the end of his ride.  From posts on Facebook and Twitter, JW is fine, suffering only a concussion.  Pictures were posted afterwards and the next day of him smiling, laughing and hanging out with friends and family.  Thank God!

I have tremendous respect for these past champions, and the amount of effort, passion, professionalism and attitude they showed.  I believe they schooled all of the young guys on tour right now in how to be a bull rider!  We loved them then...and we still love them now!  What an awesome experience to witness.  So grateful that I decided to buy the pay per view.  What a terrific night of bull riding and feel good stories!  Thank you to JW Hart, his partners and sponsors, the PBR and all who worked so hard to bring the event to us all.



Photo property of and by Susan Hanrahan