Man vs beast - Somebody really should do a bull riding thread
doubledragon
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in Sports Talk
It has been called one of the most dangerous sports, so let's just take a look at what goes on in the world of professional bull riding.
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If you wanted to see bull riding before 1992, you would have to go to individual rodeos throughout the country at various tomes of the year, but in 1992 that all changed when 20 bull riders got together in a hotel room in Scottsdale Arizona. Among those riders was a man by the name of Ty Murray, who some consider to be the GOAT bull rider. Here is a little information about how PBA formed.
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the United States, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the PBR and CBS signed a contract that extended CBS Sport's partnership with PBR, making them the primary sports broadcaster for PBR. More than 600 cowboys from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and other countries hold PBR memberships.
Professional Bull Riders
The organization began in 1992 through the efforts of 20 professional bull riders who gathered in a hotel room in Scottsdale, Arizona and each contributed $1,000. This group of riders were seeking to break away from traditional rodeo and gain better recognition for rodeo's most popular event. "We wanted to create a better product for the fans, so that when they tuned in they were seeing the best of the best every time," said PBR co-founder and nine-time World Champion Ty Murray. Murray later served as the president. In 2007, investment firm Spire Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in PBR and turned those founders’ $1,000 into millions. In April 2015, Endeavor (formerly WME | IMG), a global leader in several industries, bought the PBR.
Since the beginning of the first tour in 1994 with the Bud Light Cup Series (BLC), the organization has grown into three tours which stage over 300 events in the United States every year. Prize money had exploded from over $330,000 in 1994 to over $11 million in 2008.
The original CEO of the PBR was Sam Applebaum. Randy Bernard became CEO of the PBR in 1995, a position he held until he resigned in 2010 to become the CEO of INDYCAR. When Bernard took over the position of CEO in 1995, it was just after the conclusion of the first World Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time, the PBR's bank account held $8,000. It was $140,000 in debt. Bernard, a bold and wise businessman, quickly went to work. At the end of his first year, he turned things around. The World Finals paid out $1 million, and increased to $1.5 million in 1999. That same year, the World Finals were moved to the Thomas & Mack Center and the event grew to be the most famed one in bull riding. Then in 2016, the finals moved again when the new T-Mobile Arena was completed.
In 1996, the PBR made bull riding protective vests, which were introduced three years earlier, mandatory for all contestants at their events.
In 2003, the Bud Light Cup Series became the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS). Then the PBR started paying its world champions a $1 million bonus. Chris Shivers was the first world champion to claim that bonus.
In 2005, the PBR opened offices in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Australia to produce events in said countries starting the next year.
In 2007, the PBR had enough of its cramped office in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. They moved their headquarters to a new 4-story building just outside Pueblo, Colorado.
2009 was the first year in which the majority of contestants on the PBR’s televised premier series rode with helmets instead of cowboy hats.
On February 23, 2011, the PBR announced that Jim Haworth had become its new CEO.[19] Then on June 29, 2015, the PBR announced that Haworth was promoted to Chairman, while COO Sean Gleason had become the new CEO.
In 2013, the PBR made it mandatory that all contestants at their events who were born on or after October 15, 1994 ride with a full bull riding helmet. Those born before that date were grandfathered in and permitted to ride with a protective face mask underneath their cowboy hat or simply with their cowboy hat if so desired.
By 2018, the PBR had grown into a global organization which has awarded over $180 million in prize money. The PBR turned 25 in 2018 and awarded another $11 million in prize money which included the bonus to the World Champion Bull Rider of $1 million and the $20,000 gold belt buckle.[21] That same year, the PBR launched RidePass; its own subscription-based video on demand service that live-streams American and international PBR events.[22]
The PBR hosted its inaugural World Finals in 1994 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. They remained at the arena until 1998.[23] In 1999, the PBR moved their World Finals to the Thomas & Mack Center. The PBR was stretching its current arena's limits and really needed a bigger arena. They wanted to stay in Las Vegas, so the Thomas & Mack Center was the place to go. The PBR World Finals was held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1999 until 2015. The 2015 World Finals was the 17th and last time the event was hosted at the venue.[24] In 2016, the PBR moved their World Finals event from the Thomas & Mack Center to the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.[25][26] In 2020, as a result of COVID-19 and Nevada state restrictions on large events, the PBR World Finals were temporarily located at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas with a limited and socially distanced crowd for every day of competition.
This looks to be a fun thread. Thank you @Doublegragon !
Let me interject with some slightly off-topic cartoon humor. At the 1 minute mark Futurama and mechanical bull riding meet.
Bull riding is definitely a dangerous sport, the objective is to stay on the bull and ride him for 8 seconds, you have to hold into a rope tied around the bull and you can only use one hand, if your free hand touches the bull, you're disqualified. It's been called the most dangerous 8 seconds in sports.
Your favorite athlete is not nearly as tough as a bull rider
Chase Outlaw, shown in February, collided with a bull in July, breaking more than 30 bones in his face and requiring emergency reconstructive surgery.
Straddled atop a 2,000-pound, bucking bull is the ideal place to appreciate the danger of bull riding. A safer method is listening to Tandy Freeman, an orthopedic surgeon entering his 25th year as the onsite doctor for the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).
Freeman said he has seen one rider die, two riders suffer cervical spine injuries that rendered them quadriplegic and he expects the estimated rate of injury – one every 15 rides – will continue Friday in New York City when the PBR opens its 2019 season with a three-day event at Madison Square Garden.
“Bruises and abrasions and things like that don’t count,’’ Freeman told USA TODAY Sports. “But if I’ve got to sew you up, if you break a bone, if you’ve got a muscle injury that can affect your ability to compete, then we count that as an injury.
“We’re not trying to inflate the numbers. I don’t need to inflate the numbers. They’re big enough just looking at the things that are really, truly injuries.’’
Added Freeman of bull riding, “Bull riding isn't a contact sport. It’s a collision sport.’’
One of the most gruesome recent collisions took place in July at the Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo.. With Chase Outlaw atop a bull named War Cloud, the bull reared up, jerked forward violently and Outlaw’s face collided with the back of War Cloud’s head.
Outlaw, who was knocked unconscious, said he broke more than 30 bones in his face.
During emergency reconstructive surgery, doctors inserted 68 screws and 11 titanium plates in his face and used bone from his skull to repair his nose, according to Outlaw, who provided USA TODAY with X-rays of his injuries.
He returned to action two months later and will compete in New York with only one concession: He will ride with a helmet. About half of the PBR riders compete with a cowboy hat, taking advantage of a grandfather clause after the PBR mandated in 2013 that riders wear helmets.
“Each and every time, there’s a little bit of fear,’’ Outlaw said of the feeling as his next bull ride approaches. “But that’s why we ride at the top level, that’s why we’re riding at Madison Square Garden, is ‘cause we can handle that fear and conquer it.
“We’re frickin’ warriors. I mean, you have to be to survive in this sport.’’
But Outlaw’s use of a helmet underscores a heightened awareness of injuries — especially head injuries — since Ty Pozzobon, a Canadian rider, committed suicide in 2017.
Tanner Byrne, another Canadian rider, is among Pozzobon’s friends and family members who contend that a series of concussions that Pozzobon suffered riding bulls resulted in brain trauma and depression and ultimately led to Pozzobon’s death.
“I’ve been completely knocked unconscious in the arena one time, and I know that because there’s video evidence,’’ said Byrne, who co-founded the Ty Pozzobon Foundation that supports the well being of rodeo athletes. “But the amount of times that a guy gets hit or is dazed and you get that weird feeling and you get sick later on, it’s ridiculous, especially in the past.
“I didn’t know all the affects it would take until 2016 when Ty started to have issues.’’
Sean Gleason, CEO of the PBR, said the PBR donated more than $2 million to the Western Sports Foundation after the foundation that supports injured bull riders pledged to focus more on concussion research.
“We take injuries serious,’’ Gleason said. “It’s not like we’re out there just promoting the sport on the basis of these guys get hurt, come watch.
“But injury is a realistic part of the sport of bull riding, and that isn’t ever going to change."
Nicely done, I have a little cartoon humor of my own later in the thread.
I pull for the bulls.....Bodacious is a legend.
I would say so, he is the most feared bull in history, he had a nasty habit of throwing his head back and smashed riders in the face, he was just a mean bull with a nasty attitude, he is the one bull that riders truly feared.
This thread is Bull!
I'd be careful Steve, the bull is worshipped by many civilizations and they're always listening. I would hate to see a curse placed on the Eagles this season. All they have to do is a curse dance and the Cowboys beat the Eagles. You've been warned!
Bodacious really was the most feared bull in history, I believe after a while he had to be removed from the curcuit because he was just so vicious. Tuff Hedeman is one of the all time great bull riders and Bodacious broke his face.
Yes, Bodacious had to eventually be removed from the circuit because he was just too dangerous to ride. He even has his own Sports Kings card.
The Eagles may be so bad this season, a curse dance of sorts might actually help them.
A sort of reversal, yes, I didn't think about that. 🤔
There is a thing on Sports Talk, but also any sports forum, about a jinx. In theory, you would never have to work again, just look at the predictions on any sports talk forum, and if they are overwhelmingly for one team, that team almost never wins. Just bet on the other team, and it equates to a license to print money.
The problem is when ya do start betting on it, then it somehow reverses the jinx, and then overall ya lose money. 😉
Ok, the next story up is the story of one of the all time great bulls, Red Rock. During his prime, Red Rock was never ridden, period, he was that hard to ride. In his prime Red Rock had 309 trips out of the chute and he threw 309 riders off of him. The owner of Red Rock retired him for a while, and then decided to bring him back for sort of publicity and they unretired Red Rock for a special showdown, the owners were going to give Lane Frost, one of the all time great bull riders, six chances to ride him.
One on One: Lane Frost vs. Red Rock
The “unrideable” bucking bull, Red Rock, was finally ridden.
By DARRELL ARNOLD, originally published in the August 1988 issue of Western Horseman.
Red Rock, many of you will recall, is the famed 1987 PRCA bull of the year who was retired from regular rodeo competition after the 1987 NFR. At that time, he had a career record of 309 times out of the chute without a qualified ride; that after four years of PRCA competition and four times at the NFR. Last February, we reported that Red Rock’s owners, John Growney and Don Kish, of the Growney Brothers Rodeo Company of Red Bluff, Calif., were ready to retire the bull to herd sire.
Lane Frost and Red Rock.
Well, after they thought it over for a while, the owners decided Red Rock was too good a bull to just fade away into history, so they devised a plan to get the great bull a little more publicity. They temporarily un-retired the brindle brute and established a series of six one-on-one matches between Red Rock and Lane Frost, the 1987 PRCA world champion bull rider.
The series started at Red Bluff, Calif., where Lane found himself eating dirt after a two-second ride. Then, a week later at Clovis, Calif., déjà vu two seconds and off. That attempt was Frost’s fourth try at the bull. He had drawn Red Rock at two NFRs, in ’85 and ’86.
Lane was beginning to understand the bull a bit, and since the series didn’t count toward the 1988 PRCA standings, he decided he could afford to gamble. When he climbed down on Red Rock for their fifth meeting, at the Redding Rodeo at Redding, Calif., last May 20th, Frost took a seat about a foot off-center to the right. The maneuver paid off. Red Rock was never able to get ahead of Frost, and he rode him the full eight seconds.
The unrideable bull was “rode” after 311 previous attempts had failed. Rodeo history was made that day, and, ironically, being ridden probably made Red Rock more famous than he would have been if he’d stayed in the pasture, undefeated.
Jinx's are a nasty thing, that's why every summer I can be found in the yard plucking four leaf clovers for protection, and if you get lucky, you'll find the occasional FIVE leaf clover. If you find a rare five leafer, jinx's become a joke. No jinx would dare screw with a five leaf clover!
Bruiser was Bull of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018....nasty.
I have found a few four leaf clovers when i was a kid looking for them. Even found a five leaf clover.
I actually dug up the five leaf clover plant, and potted it in my room. Bingo, four leaf clovers and some more five leaf clovers.
Then i got tired of it, replanted it back outside, and chose to instead spend my time searching for frogs and salamanders at the local pond.
I hear you, these days I spend most of my time confronting the roaches in my kitchen, they're very feisty and they can can usually be found eating breakfast at their little table on the kitchen floor, and they have a nasty attitude.
Yes, Bruiser is a beast, just look at that photo of him vertical and airborn!
Here is another photo of the great Lane Frost with Red Rock, tragically Lane Frost was killed by a bull years later when the bull he was riding charged him and gored him in the back.
Lane Frost actually had 7 showdowns with Red Rock and managed to ride him 4 times. Here is a more detailed account of Lane Frost vs Red Rock dubbed the challenge of champions."
Challenge of Champions
Lane Frost stands alongside the bull Red Rock. Docile in the pen, Red Rocks was one of the gnarliest bulls of Frost's era.
Longtime stock contractor John Growney has a theory about the late world champion bull rider Lane Frost.
"This guy, maybe he was already an angel," Growney said this week from his home in Red Bluff, Calif. "Maybe he was sent here to write this story."
It has been more than 20 years since Frost, Growney and his legendary bull Red Rock teamed up to write one of the great stories in rodeo history, but Growney remembers it like it was yesterday.
It was an idea that came courtesy of the late rodeo legend Jim Shoulders, who suggested to Growney at a rodeo in Poway, Calif., in 1987 that Growney pit Red Rock, the newly-named Bucking Bull of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, in a series of match-ups with a top bull rider.
When Frost, of Lane, Okla., won the 1987 world championship later that year, it was "a no-brainer" who Red Rock's opponent should be, Growney said.
Frost, who died at 25 in 1989 at Cheyenne Frontier Days after taking a horn in the back, was as popular a cowboy as Growney had ever met.
Two of the greatest bull riders of all time, Lane Frost and Freckles Brown, are buried next to each other in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Hugo, Okla. Paul Ridenour
"People just gravitated to him," Growney said. "Everywhere he went, he had this contagious smile and personality and he had time for everybody."
Growney and Frost talked and the Challenge of Champions was born a best-of-seven match-up between the two champions that would play out over several weeks at seven different rodeos in the spring and summer of 1988.
The story of the match-up, which Frost ultimately won 4-3, is the subject of a new documentary: "The Challenge of Champions: The Story of Lane Frost and Red Rock," which will premiere on Oct. 24 the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The world premiere of the documentary kicks off a weekend of public activities, including the induction of Frost and eight others into the Rodeo Hall of Fame on Oct. 26.
The 80-minute film by Lighthouse Productions is the work of award-winning film maker David Wittkower, who interviewed numerous key players in the "Challenge of Champions" duel, including Growney; Frost's parents, Clyde and Elsie; Frost's traveling partners Tuff Hedeman and Cody Lambert; sportscaster George Michael and several others.
Reliving the scene from 20 years ago was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching for Growney.
Red Rock was the bull that helped establish Growney Brothers Rodeo Company.
"We didn't really have a bull program then," Growney said, who along with partner Don Kish, is now known for the quality bulls they produce.
This monument is located at the Frontier Days Museum and stands in honor of Lane Frost who was killed at the Frontier Days Rodeo in 1989. Courtesy flickr.com
In 1984, Growney was approached by Mert Hunking of Sombrero Rodeo Company in Oregon, who offered to sell him Red Rock, a red brindle bull that had become a local legend bucking in rodeos around his birthplace in Sisters, Ore.
"He said 'I like the way you take care of your animals,' and he wanted to sell him for $10,000. At the time, $10,000 was the most ever paid for a bull."
Growney asked if he could make payments through the summer and Hunking agreed.
At the time, Growney was amazed at how gentle the bull was outside the bucking chutes. The story he was told is that Red Rock's mother died when he was born and the family raised the bull on a milk cow, with the children often feeding him by hand.
Outside the bucking chutes, people could pet the bull, sit on him and pose for photos.
Inside the arena was another matter entirely. In 309 career outs, Red Rock was never successfully ridden. In 1987, he was honored as the PRCA's Bucking Bull of the Year.
"We bucked Red Rock 50 times the year he won it, 1987," Growney said. "A lot of guys had a lot of shots at him. Every performance, somebody that was getting on him was a pretty good bull rider."
In his career, Red Rock bucked off a who's who of professional bull riding, including world champions Tuff Hedeman, Cody Snyder, Ted Nuce, Charlie Sampson, Cody Custer and Frost (twice). In fact, Frost would have won his first world championship and been the first to ride all 10 of his bulls at the NFR in 1986, but he drew Red Rock in the 10th round and was bucked off. Frost wound up third in the world behind Hedeman and Nuce.
The "Challenge of Champions" started at the Red Bluff Roundup and Red Rock continued his dominance, bucking off Frost in two seconds. A week later in Clovis, Calif., the result was the same, a quick victory for the bull.
The match-up, however, was starting to get national attention. Sportscaster George Michael was promoting it on his weekly show "Sports Machine," and USA Today also began covering the series.
"I remember picking up USA Today and opening the sports page and seeing the headline, Lane Frost 0, Red Rock 2," Growney said. "I just thought, this is amazing."
Then on May 20, 1988, Frost became the first cowboy to ever successfully ride Red Rock, doing so in front of a sold-out crowd in Redding, Calif., on a Friday night.
"Redding had never sold out their Friday night, but on this night, they packed the place," Growney said. "When Lane rode him, they just went nuts. They just roared. It made history right there and everybody knew they were witnessing history. For them, they were elated."
For Growney, though, it was bittersweet.
"I felt like I'd done something wrong to this bull," he said. "He'd gone his whole life without being ridden."
Frost rode the bull again a few weeks later in Livermore, Calif., and for a third time in Red Rock's hometown of Sisters, Ore., to take a 3-2 lead in their challenge.
On the Fourth of July, Red Rock returned to form and bucked Frost off in St. Paul, Ore., to square the match at 3-3.
The final battle was July 25, 1988 in Spanish Fork, Utah. Frost stayed on for the full eight seconds to win the Challenge of Champions 4-3.
Looking back on it 20 years later, Growney believes everything that happened was pre-determined.
In 1989, both Red Rock and Frost, who had died the year before, were inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"It was almost like it was written in heaven," Growney said.
Red Rock lived until he was 18. He died on June 8, 1994 and is buried on Growney's ranch in Red Bluff.
Wasn't there a B movie made in the 1950's about giant roaches that ate New York City?
Or was that a historical fact - I can't recall which?
Giant roaches? Stop it Steve, you're scaring me!
A little cartoon humor, Peter Griffin rides a mechanical bull.
Bushwacker is another beast of a bull, he has been called the Muhammad Ali of bulls. Just look at how wild he is, he gets airborn and vertical and will go crazy trying to throw a rider off his back.
Bushwacker has been called the greatest bull of all time, he once threw off 42 straight riders. I still remember when he was finally conquered by bull rider J.B. Mauney. They had faced eachother 9 times and Bushwacker had thrown Mauney off 9 straight times, but on the tenth attempt, Mauney became the first man to ever ride Bushwacker.
As some of you might know, my wife is from Brazil. And she has told me in the past that some members of her extended family are really into/involved with this and other Rodeo activities in Brazil. I didn't know much about this other than what I see on TV , but thanks to this thread I have learned some more. Thanks @doubledragon
I once saw my Dad get run over by a 1200 lb. cow. That cow was pissed.
Sale time and it did not want to load up. Luckily he was okay.
I had a really good horse once, when a feeder calf or cow wouldn't go through
a gate, would lay its ears back, get on its tail and force it though the gate,
even would bite the cow sometimes.
I'm glad you're enjoying it, I have learned a lot as well, I didn't realize bull riding is such a brutal sport, these bulls really are powerful beasts, and they can do some serious damage and even kill.
This thread is bull!
Sorry, i had to say it again. I just couldn't help myself.
The pigeons, they're waiting!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
You want a taste of what it's like, watch Chase Outlaw get slung like a frisbee when he attempted to ride Night Sweats. You have to watch this.
blob:
https://www.youtube.com/0f95943c-fcbb-4d60-a174-ed521204d4f7
😂😂😂😂😂😂 I love that scene!
I knew this video was coming. LOL
Heck, Letterman rode one of these puppies back in 1980.
These bull rides are a fast and violent situation to be in, check out Tyler Harr when he rode Rebelution, the bull actually stomped on him.
And then there's this, when a bull throws a rider off, but the riders hand gets caught up in the holding rope and all hell breaks loose. Taylor Toves got his hand stuck and the bull whipped him around and knocked him out cold.
And then there's the glory, like when Ty Murray rode one of the all time great bulls, Little Yellow Jacket, hee haw, ride em' cowboy!!
And now a word from our sponsors:
This thread has been brought to you by Stetson cologne, live the legend.
Another one of the all time great bulls was Tornado.
One of the first truly legendary bulls in rodeo, in six years and 220 outs Tornado threw every single rider who attempted to last eight seconds. In many cases, riders who drew his name opted out. It wasn’t that he was particularly nasty or ill tempered — in fact, his owner Jim Shoulders reportedly said he was incredibly docile out of the arena grazing in the field. The 1,600-pound bull’s strengths were his muscularity, agility and ability to spin quickly and change direction at the drop of a hat. When Tornado was finally ridden in 1968 by the late, great Warren Granger “Freckles” Brown, the rafters shook.
Oscar was a beast bull as well.
Though most wouldn’t consider Oscar petite, at 1,300 pounds he was considerably smaller than most bulls who have competed in rodeo. In the first five years of his career, Oscar was ridden by 100 cowboys and not a single one could stay on. While he was small, he could still make trouble for his riders, usually with a fast, violent spin to the left. By the end of his career, Oscar would be ridden eight times in 300 outs, by just a handful of riders. Shortly after his retirement he was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, in 1979.
But, the most feared bull of all time is without a doubt Bodacious. He's the one bull that everyone feared, he eventually had to be removed from the circuit because he was so dangerous.
Few bulls were as feared as Bodacious. The 1,900-pound charbray was such a nasty son of a bitch that he terrified even the most seasoned of rodeo’s riders. Bodacious had two signature moves that earned him his hellacious reputation: he would explode out of the chute at an impressive speed and — more sinisterly — would throw back his head using his skull and horns as weapons. It was the latter move that would send famed rider Tuff Hedeman to the hospital with every bone in his face below the eyes broken. Because he was so dangerous, success on Bodacious was nigh impossible to achieve, and thus in 135 outs, Bodacious bucked off 127 riders.
pbr for the pbr. tied in the ufo thread:
Starting them early.
😂😂😂😂 That is awesome!