Bull-riding on TV!

[Brown Eyes]

Hey there Buckaroos,

I just sat down to flip through the TV channels and stumbled across professional bull-riding on NBC!  It's some big tournament in Atlanta.  So, instead of watching the Food Network I've found myself hooked on watching this.  It's amazing how something like this has taken on deep levels of meaning and significance for me following Brokeback (before Brokeback I probably wouldn't have stopped to watch something like this... I'm sure I would have kept flipping).  It seems like I'm finding more and more rodeo events on TV lately (I don't know what's up with that, I've stumbled across two or three bull-riding events on TV- on different channels- over the last few months).  Other than Brokeback I'm a complete novice when it comes to subjects like this.  So, I'm a bit in awe of what I'm seeing.

Some poor guy just got his hand caught in the rope and was dragged all over the ring.  Very, very scary.  The rodeo clowns couldn't pull him free.  He only broke free after the bull slammed him into the fence.  Talk about drama.
  

Anyway, it's unavoidable to see all the guys who chose to wear black hats (which seems to be most of them) as multiple Jack Twists.  And now all those rodeo clowns will forever be Jimbo to me. 

I love that Wrangler is one of the big corporate sponsors.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I love that Wrangler is one of the big corporate sponsors.

Yup, Wrangler makes a BIG DEAL outta that in its advertising. 

[fernly]

Wish I hadn't been at work.
Have you seen Rank, Amanda? Very good documentary. Jeff posted about it some months back. 
http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,5007.0html
One advantage of a DVD is watching the rides in slow motion. Hard to believe the punishment the riders and clowns take and keep going. And this is the era of protective vests, collars, helmets (for some of the riders), medical help on the spot...not like in Jack's day.
The interviews are interesting, and moving. Especially the one with Justin McBride's grandmother, the wife of the bullrider who was killed. Complicated emotions.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Rank is out on DVD? 

I hadn't heard!

[fernly]

Yep, it's for rent from Netflix, and it'll be for sale on Amazon April 3.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Yep, it's for rent from Netflix, and it'll be for sale on Amazon April 3.

Good to know! Thanks!

[injest]

*snip*
I love that Wrangler is one of the big corporate sponsors.

I love the way Wranglers fit them cowboys....

oughta be a law that everybody got to wear them...

[Jeff Wrangler]

I love the way Wranglers fit them cowboys....

oughta be a law that everybody got to wear them...

You bet! 

Levis don't look right. ... 

[injest]

You bet! 

Levis don't look right. ... 

yep....form themselves to that behiney and leaves enough room 'up front' for ....well I don't know a ladylike way to say it....but YOU know what I am talking about.

(the boys need a little room)

[Jeff Wrangler]

yep....form themselves to that behiney and leaves enough room 'up front' for ....well I don't know a ladylike way to say it....but YOU know what I am talking about.

(the boys need a little room)

Levi's used to do that. Used to be practically required to wear Levi's button-fly 501s if you were a self-respecting gay male. Now them damn jeans don't fit for sh*t. 

I used to complain that was because Levi's took its manufacturing "off shore," but then I noticed my newest pair of Wranglers have a tag that says "Made in Mexico." 

[Brown Eyes]

Maybe one of you can answer a question I had after watching this tournament.  I watched for an hour (the last qualifying round before the championship round and then the championship round itself- some kid from Kansas won... and thank god he was wearing a black hat  ). 

Being a complete novice about this sport I was sort of trying to figure some things out through context.  Everything else that I know about bull riding I learned from Brokeback (I mean I learned the term "rodeo clown" for the first time from Brokeback... and I have the 8 second rule down).  But, I couldn't figure out what they meant by a "qualified ride"?  They would say things (usually in reference to the quality of the bull) like 'this bull only had 8 *qualified rides* tonight out of 40.'  Or statements of that nature.  What does that mean?  It was clear that all the guys who advanced did not always hit 8 seconds, so it can't be the 8 second thing. 

Just curious.  Thanks in advance.
 

[injest]

you misheard them. A bull is not run through but once a night. sometimes once a entire rodeo (which usually runs several days)

When they say he had "8 qualified rides out of 40" they are saying that the bull has been drawn 40 times in his bucking career and he has only been ridden to the 8 second time limit 8 times. Which is pretty good but not spectacular.

Drawn...that means they put all the names of the bulls available in a hat and the cowboys draw out one and that is the bull they have to ride.

hope this is clear

oops...went back and reread your question...A "qualified' ride IS a full eight seconds...but they also have a certain number of entries in the final round. Usually ten. they add up the rides for the whole rodeo to get the top ten. So someone may not have made the full 8 seconds the night you watched but DID the previous night...and if his score was high enough he got to go to the finals...

Say the rodeo is a two night affair. If you ride (qualified) BOTH your bulls, your score is added together...say you got 75 on one and 80 on the other...your score would be 155.

but say only seven rode BOTH of their bulls ...then they go to the riders that made qualified rides on ONE bull and the three highest scores there got to go to the final round.

[Sheriff Roland]

It was clear that all the guys who advanced did not always hit 8 seconds, so it can't be the 8 second thing. 

That's not quite true either (got ta the point that bull ridin became the only thing I would watch on TV)

the PBR competitions are almost always held over a 2 or 3 day period. the 45 top rated riders are invited ta participate. They get ta try & ride the lower rated bulls on the first night (so the points awarded on the first night aren't usually very high). The second (and if there's a 3rd night) the bulls are tougher ta ride - have a higher riding rating, so sometimes there are not 15 riders who successfully ride a bull on any given night, but all "final qualifyin riders" have had at least one 8 second ride during the 2 or 3 day event.

Not gettin any a my bull ridin fixes of late, cause I cancelled my cable services. not worth 30$ a month ta watch a few events ... 

[delalluvia]

I love watching bull riding, but it seems to me that the guys have gotten so good at it - it ain't like it was in my daddy's day  - that they're trying to make it harder.  Like in gymnastics when the competitors got so much better than the judging, they started scoring perfect 10s one after the other, so they had to push back the goalposts.

Now, not only does the bullrider have to hangon for the 8 seconds, his style while he's riding is being judged AND how the bull bucks also counts.  If the bull doesn't buck worth a darn, doesn't show some variety, they take off points!!

 

That seems like a pie-in-the-sky kind of judging criteria.  How can the bullriders ever possibly control how the bull bucks?

[injest]

I thought they has always graded the bull riding that way??

On one hand it is good...I mean if you ride one that jumps and circles and kicks hard...you SHOULD get more points than some guy that rode a bull that just strolled out and stood around waiting for the bell...LOL!!

by grading the bull too, they encourage the stock contractor to have bulls that WILL buck good...

[delalluvia]

I thought they has always graded the bull riding that way??

On one hand it is good...I mean if you ride one that jumps and circles and kicks hard...you SHOULD get more points than some guy that rode a bull that just strolled out and stood around waiting for the bell...LOL!!

by grading the bull too, they encourage the stock contractor to have bulls that WILL buck good...

Yes, how the cowboy rides the bull, his style, has always been scored, but how the bull bucks??!?!?  What makes the bull buck is that belt tied around his groin area.  Tie it tight enough and he'll buck.  Now, how they would breed for a bull that bucks and changes direction and bucks up and town and kicks up when a belt is tied around his sensitive parts?   

[2robots4u]

Just to add a note...if the bull does not perform up to par, the rider can ask for a re-ride, or the judges can decide the bull was sub-par and award the re-ride.  In the PBR the absolutely best bulls are held for the final 15 qualifiers....Doug

[injest]

Yes, how the cowboy rides the bull, his style, has always been scored, but how the bull bucks??!?!?  What makes the bull buck is that belt tied around his groin area.  Tie it tight enough and he'll buck.  Now, how they would breed for a bull that bucks and changes direction and bucks up and town and kicks up when a belt is tied around his sensitive parts?   

I do believe it has always been scored like that, Del.

but the belt does not make him buck...he is bucking to get the man off his back...the back strap is to encourage him to KICK...

and you breed for a bucking bull just like for anything else. You pick out the bull that shows the characteristic you want...(in this case bucking)  and breed him to a cow whose father shows the same characteristics..

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,

So, I'm watching bull riding on TV again.  And, I think I'm understanding what I'm watching a little bit better!  Thanks to all the info here.

I have a new question.  How did 8 seconds become the standard?  Is there a story behind that?  Why not a nice round 10 seconds... or 7 seconds, etc., etc.?

[injest]

Heya,

So, I'm watching bull riding on TV again.  And, I think I'm understanding what I'm watching a little bit better!  Thanks to all the info here.

I have a new question.  How did 8 seconds become the standard?  Is there a story behind that?  Why not a nice round 10 seconds... or 7 seconds, etc., etc.?

 

got me stumped...don't know why!!