Change is sometimes for the best

Ok, so this post although not completely about bull riding does have some connection. It has come to the point in my college career where I have to declare a minor. Seeing as I know very well I want to write for the PBR it was difficult for me to find a minor that would apply. My first instinct was that I wanted to do a sort of sports medicine program because that kind of applies to the career path that I want. When I discovered my school does not offer this a minor I was back to the drawing boards once again. Then When scrolling through a list of minors offered I saw sports psychology. Now ask any rider out there and they will say that bull riding is more of a mental sport than a physical sport; so I looked into the coursework for this degree. I noticed that a lot of classes sounded really applicable and interesting. A lot of the classes deal with what drives people to be competitive and other things of that nature. So tomorrow I go to the Psychology department and make it official. I hope that I am not wrong in thinking that this minor is one that I can actually apply while working for the PBR. I think that having the psychological advantage will help me in getting more in depth with the riders I am interviewing and therefore give me better stories. The reason I write this is because it shows how much bull riding has changed my life. Before that first event I was dead set on being a Political Science major and being a family court attorney and minoring in something fun to me like journalism. Now that doing Public Relations for the PBR has become my dream career every academic decision I make is based on one simple question: will it help me get a job with and be successful at the PBR? That has lead me to change my major of about oh 15 years and go on a totally unrelated career path. This is something to me that is more important than all those years of wanting to be a lawyer. I feel as if that time of wanting to be a lawyer was just there to keep me entertained with my schooling until I found my true passion and desire. 

Love, dedication and admiration.

So there is now a countdown on the PBR website counting down until next season's schedule is released. This made me wonder; how addicted to the sport are the fans? You go to the website of any major sporting organization pre season and there is not a clock announcing when the season schedule is being released. Bull riding fans are rare breed of fans. As far as us fans out concerned these men are celebrities and heroes. We admire them for what they do and who they are as well as who they aren't. Now if you are someone who is not a fan and look in on the fans of the sport you might think we are a little obsessive and crazy. The fact of the matter is we are just more passionate about the sport than other fans are about other sports. Bull riding is a sport based on emotion so obviously the emotion of the fans is going to be higher. Right before I met two very important riders, Justin McBride and JB Mauney I was in a state of pure elation. When those men walked in the door of the car dealership I seriously think my heart stopped beating for a little bit. These were two major men in the sport and they were here for me and all the rest of their fans. They went above and beyond their call of duty showing how much they care about all of us. Justin McBride talked to a fan on the phone as if they were old friends catching up.   No other celebrity or major league athlete is going to do something this nice for someone just because. When I was talking to JB Mauney and Brendon Clark they were actually listening to and caring about what I had to say. That in my opinion is why the fans of the PBR seem so much more intense than other fans because the riders are humans who don't try to be all high and mighty. 

Oh, how the mighty have fallen

This past weekend seemed to shock all JB Mauney fans after seeing his past two performances. The North Carolina cowboy went 1 for 3 and finished 15th this past weekend in Oakland, CA. That would be bad enough but sadly that is not the worst of it. His second biggest contender for the world title, Valdiron do Oliveira, finished second to no other than current world number one Guilherme Marchi. The ground that Mauney had worked 2 weeks to gain all of a sudden was cut by almost 800 points. With only three regular season events left before the finals Mauney can not afford to let this happen again. With a 3,000 point deficit Mauney needs to average at least 900 points per remaining event going into the finals. This is going to mean that Mauney will have to win almost every round and win at least one of the events. Even after achieving this Mauney will still only be at level with Marchi, meaning he will have to out ride Marchi in every round of the finals to have a chance at being this years world champion. Now, don't get me wrong this situation is completely plausible and may happen. The fact of the matter is Mauney will have to work hard and ride hard to do it and if any young rider on tour can do it, he can be that man. 

Opportunity Knocking

This weekend in San Antonio, TX one up and coming bull rider will get his chance at the big time in the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series. Cowboys Dancehall which normally hosts an amateur level event weekly will be host to a Discovery Tour event. What makes this event special compared to the rest of the minor league tour events is that the winner of this event will get an automatic bid to the BFTS event in Cincinnati, OH the following weekend. This opens the door for the winner to go to the event and possibly win enough money to stay on tour and make a shot at being a regular fixture on tour next season. This is the kind of opportunity that most cowboys can only dream of. The reality of it is that this is going to be a cut throat competition with the cowboys putting out 3rd, 4th and 5th efforts to make the whistle. This is the first time where an opportunity like this has been presented to the cowboys and I have no doubt in my mind that they will pull out all the stops to be the one to go to Cincinnati and go play with the big boys. Now I attend Cowboys weekly for their bull riding event so I will without a doubt be there cheering on one of the regulars because I know how much this opportunity means to them. 

The Cowboy Try

Tis the season highlight reels are made of. As the BFTS regular season comes down to the last 6 events the only thing that matters is the rides. No matter if  it is for points to win the world title, or just simply enough to make the trip to Vegas.  This was most well displayed this past weekend in Jacksonville. JB Mauney on a mission to gain as many points on Guilherme Marchi won his second event in a row and in doing that went 6 of his last 6 bulls. On the other end of the spectrum you have Harve Stewart who going in to this past weekend was the man on the bubble as far as qualifying is concerned earned enough money to move up ten spots on the list and finished 2nd. Another outstanding performance came from virtual unknown Clayton Foltyn who was attempting to earn enough money for Vegas finished 6th and earned $4,360.00 putting him in the race for the finals. Ask any rider how many points he has or where he stands in the qualifying standings the most common answer is "I don't pay attention to that stuff I ride one jump at a time and let it all line up." Now that the finals are on the mind every rider knows not only where he stands but the status of his competitors as well. And it seem that with their minds on what they need to do the riders are holding on just a little harder. I think the guys that are thinking this now need to apply that hold on or miss out on Vegas mentality to the whole season and see how beneficial that might be. 

Victory at long last

If any time is the best time to become a bull riding fan the time is now. As we grow within 6 events of the finals men start to worry about where they stand in qualifying money and points. This determination brings about a new level of determination and try among the riders to make it to the most prestigious event with the hopes of becoming the new world champion. Men who would normally just give up if a bull

So after waiting 27 events to make his mark JB Mauney said loud and confidently that he was not letting this year end without making a statement. The past two weeks Mauney has won both events and covered all 6 of his bulls. He is on a hot streak that not even world number 1 Guilherme Marchi can handle. Due to the wins these past two weeks Mauney has gained over 1,000 points on the current world leader. With 4 events left in the regular season it is legitimately possible that Mauney could become the world number 1 entering into the first weekend of the finals. This of course would have to mean Marchi bucks off every bull from here to the finals but that could happen if he continues to perform the way he has these last few events. And with 4,800 points realistically obtainable at the finals Marchi may just again become the bridesmaid for yet another year. Although this is possible it is hard to say what the outcome will be and we will all just have to wait for that final night in Vegas when that last bull is bucked. The next event is this weekend in Oakland, CA with 3 rounds of action and opportunity. We will without a doubt be in for non stop action from this point on so hold on tight and enjoy the ride. 

And the winner is...

So this past weekend was the PBR World Cup that I mentioned earlier. At the end of the first night team Canada was in the lead getting 5 of 6 scores one more than both USA and Brazil. As I had said before Canada was a longshot in this event and no one really saw them as an honest threat so this came as a shock to viewers. Then the second night of competition began and it was as if there was a whole different team Canada competing. They only managed to get 4 of their 6 scores leaving the door open for the competition. As I said before even though my favorite rider was competing for team USA I would have liked to see an upset from a team like Canada that people thought nothing of. In the end team USA did win getting all their scores in on the last night making them untouchable by any other team. Now team Canada did finish second but their performance the second night was less than stellar leaving them dissapointed. Canada team Captain former bull rider Cody Snyder said it best in a post event interview stating that they simply did not stay on enough bulls. In the end that is true if they had gotten all 6 possible scores they would have won the title because they were already ahead by one score. So what happened in that 24 hour time frame between night one and night two? Canada had something to prove and they were riding to win and had that chance but what went wrong? The first thing I think of is the pressue of being chased. Going into the event they had nothing to lose and everthing to gain, but after night one the tables turned and they were the ones to beat meaning they had everything to lose and nothing to gain. The pressure of the moment seemed to have gotten into their heads and things just simply began to crumble. Now team USA was chasing Canada all night one and gained the lead halfway through the second night of comptetition. Team USA was compised of 5 men used to be chased and who expected nothing less than their best so they when put in the lead thrived on setting the pace for the rest of the event. Most bull riders say that bull riding is a largly mental game and that is what the World Cup came down to. The fact of the matter is all those men on all the teams had the physical abilities to win so it was just going to come down to who had the drive and was not going to let the pressure get to their heads. This event was a perfect example of what the mind can do to a bull rider. Team Cananda proved on night one they had the physical and mentaly abilities when the pressure was off but when the pressue was turned on it was almost as if their physical abilities had been drained and they were amatures again. This is sad because Canada had the World Cup in their hands and they just let it go all because they let the pressure of the event get to them. All I can say is that in the end I am proud of the team USA captain JW Hart assembled because they were the strogest team there as well as the only team where everyone pulled their weight proving even more that USA is a force to be reckoned with so contgrats JW,Justin,Kody,JB,LJ and Sean. And a special congrats to JW for getting the team together and to Sean for shutting up all the doubters and proving he belonged on the team.

Why I talk endless about Bull Riding

Bull riding is a sport that I have only just discovered over the past year and a half. Although new I can not help but feel like I have been a fan forever. I try and absorb as much information as I can that involves the sport and the most important names behind it. So although I have not been following the sport around since its humble beginnings 15 years ago I would like to consider myself an authority on the sport. I know that it may seem crazy for some 19 year old from Connecticut to care so much about bull riding but it is something I am passionate about and want to make a career from. I want to work for the PBR and that involves knowing every stat that has affected the history of the sport. I must say as nice as it is to learn about the history that has already happened I get much more enjoyment out of watching history being made. I love being able to say that I was at Dallas when Justin McBride made his return from shoulder injury. I love to say that I remember watching the season as 2 time runner up to the world title Guilherme Marchi has an amazing season that is looking like it is going to end in a world title at long last. I love being able to say I remember all the awe of watching Mike White ride Troubaour in Tulsa and not forget it for weeks to come. It is so much better to be able to say I was there when that happened. I remember the feeling being in the crowd when Justin McBride was being introduced in the rider introductions the crowed was just filled with joy and when he was in the chute getting ready for his first ride in months everyone in the arena was either on the edge of their seat or standing because they understood what they were about to witness. Moments like that are what I love about the sport. These are the moments that you will never forget when looking back. I remember the first event I went to was San Antonio in 2007 where we were all under the impression that Mike Lee and Tyler Smith were co champions. Later it would be discovered there was an error in scoring and Mike Lee would have to settle for second. After the event the riders walked around signing autographs and Mike Lee was the first rider I met. This drunk old lady cuts in front of me and gets a picture with him and she tells him "wow you don't smell like bull shit". and Mike just Cooley replies "well I should cuz I got thrown around in some earlier" Now the reason I remember this is because it was just so cool that he was calm and respectful to the drunk lady who had just made a fool of herself. The little moments like that as well as the major ones that we witness on tv week in and week out that make bull riding the sport that I love and want to be a part of someday.

What does location have to do with it ?

So as most of the world is paying attention to the Olympics in Beijing the bull riding world is focusing on Chihuahua Mexico and the PBR World Cup. For those who don't know the world cup event is basically the Olympics of the PBR just on a way smaller scale. The only event is bull riding and only 5 countries are represented. But one similarity I am finding between the two events is the status that comes with being from a certain country. In swimming you have Australia, in gymnastics you have China and Japan and the US does well in pretty much everything. Well the world cup is the same way. When you look at the statistic of the bull riders competing in the world cup it seems the event is going to be won by either US or Brazil and the other countries are just kinda there. When you look at the top 5 competitors for the world title the top two will be representing Brazil and two will be competing for the US.So I wonder does where you come from really affect your athleticism? As wrong as it may seem my mom and I laugh about team Canada or team Mexico winning for one simple reason:experience. Now any bull rider fitting qualifications can hold a PBR membership card but only the elite 45 in the world can compete on the BFTS where the best bull riders around compete.Looking at the team rosters for the World Cup Canada and Mexico stand in the same position having only one member that has competed on a regular basis in the BFTS, and those two men both have had a hard time staying on the tour. So the reality of them being able to stand up and compete with the two teams consisting all of BFTS regulars are slim to none. Now the upset would be in the hands of team Australia. They only have two BFTS regulars competing and they are riding at a respectable level. But the fact of the matter is that these men all compete for this one organization so why do these two countries have what on paper appears to be the strongest and unbeatable teams? I think honestly it all comes down to opportunity. Look at the current status of Mexico. Although growing and improving most of the country still lives in poverty stricken and undeveloped areas. Bull riding is an expensive sport where the men have to pay for travel expenses and high entry fees to only get a pay check if they perform well. This makes it hard for a lot of Mexican citizens to make it on the expensive tour in the US. Now Canada I see the problem as interest. Canada is not a place you think of as being a breeding ground for cowboys. Kids in Canada generally who want to grow up to be athletes desire to be hockey stars. Now don't get me wrong there are great bull riders to come out of both countries but in general not so much. So does where you come from really stamp you for success in certain athletic endeavors? The fact of the matter is that the current world number 1 and 2 in the PBR do call Brazil home. But does that affect their skills? Would they still be where they are now in the sport if they were born and raised say in Canada or Mexico? Are we cursed to follow what is expected of the countries we are born in or can we change things and become defined by who we are as individuals and not what country we represent? Now I am going to say that even though my favorite rider will be on the US team in the World Cup I am pulling for the underdogs here and wishing that Canada or Mexico can pull it off and represent not only the country they come from but for all the cowboys in their countries waiting for the door to open for them.

How far will you go?

So since I currently have no job I have a lot of free time on my hand. That has lead to me to today. I was reading fan bulletins on the PBR website and some fans were saying that a rider has posted on his myspace page that Superbad is one of his favorite movies so she watched it. With nothing to do and not having seen it I too watched it. It was one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. I like dumb movies more than the next person but seriously oh my god! I came upon the realization the true hardcore fans will endure anything to feel a little bit closer to their favorite rider. I was also going to watch School for Scoundrels because one of my 4 favorites had to watch it in a van when he was stranded on the road in Wyoming going home from an event. After watching Superbad though I have grown fearful of these guys choice of movie. Now don't get me wrong as bull riders they are all fans of the movie 8 Seconds and that was an awesome movie. But as far as having any taste when it comes to movies I think they got hit in the head by a bull too many times. So as the movie finished I wondered what the point was. I just wasted two hours watching some movie that some guy I have met once likes and I have no reason why. It then hit me that I was not the only person who had done this. So I wonder how far will a fan go to try and understand the person they are a fan of. A movie tells you a lot about the person and what they are interested in so I can see that as a reasonable thing to do. But how much farther will people go to get to know someone they are a fan of. I maxed out my credit card and drove 4 hours in the middle of the night and stayed a crappy hotel just so that I could meet my favorite bull riders again. Now don't get my wrong I live with the philosophy that you only live once and they only come to Texas twice so splurge but is the cost really worth it all? I got to witness the return of the defending world champion a moment everyone was waiting for so I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Now some people would call me a crazy person for all this but I see myself as a fan that loves the sport. I hope to work the PBR someday so everything I do is to help me with my career. I want to get to know the riders and be able to write about them as if I were an old friend. I want to be able to look at the memorable moments these guys will recall and say I was there for that and it truly was amazing.I also am a relatively new fan so I feel that I have a lot to make up for because I did not grow up around the sport. I think people look at my generation and see a whole lot of lost potential and I want to prove all the doubters out there and prove I can make my dreams come true. So to all the people out there like me I ask how far will you go to make your dreams come true?

Respect

So as I have mentioned before I read a blog written by one of the guys on the PBR tour. Well he is rookie and is in the lead to win the Rookie of the Year title. He has been not riding to his standards and wrote about it in his most recent post. At first the comments he received on it were positive saying the common things like oh you are in a slump you will get through it and you are on the tour and would not be if you were not capable of winning and things like that. Then things got bad. People were telling him that he is not that good to think he is capable of greatness and not to compare himself to the most renowned world champions because he is not at their level. I think this is sad. He is writing this blog for his fans so that they can get a look inside life on the tour as bull rider. This to me is not an opportunity to down on him and hate on what he has achieved. What he has done is something that not everyone can do. I think that it is also rude to take him down when he is doing this for the fans. I am a journalist so of course I believe in free speech but I do not believe in saying things that are disrespectful. If you do not like what he has to say then guess what you do not have to read it. And if you feel that you must say something then at least say it in a respectful way. He could have just as easily said do not compare yourself to Justin McBride because he as been around a lot longer and has most likely overcome the same dilemmas so it is just a matter of overcoming obstacles. See the same point was made but it was made in a more respectful manner. I just needed to get that off my chest because it was bugging me in a bad way.

Haters

So at the end of last week there was a press release that top bull riders Guilherme Marchi and JB Mauney recently did a photo shoot on fashion for Playboy magazine. Now after the release of this news article PBR fans ran to the message boards to express their disbelief for the two fan favorites. Talk soon arose about how can these men could justify doing this. The main issues being how could Marchi's wife allow him to pose for such a magazine. He was soon excused because of his devoution to his religion. Now JB Mauney who wears a cross necklace he involves in his pre ride ritual was deemed hypocritical and immoral. The defense for this accusation being his family is liberal and his sister used to work for Hooters meaning they were a family with no morals. Now I have two really major issues with this accusation that was made. I come from the most liberal of families where religion was never mentioned. I have never read a single verse of the bible and the only time I have ever been in a Church is for weddings. I do not believe that the way I was raised makes me have no morals. Also Playboy is a respectable publication with great writing. Also hello this is a magazine for men so it is not like they were posing nude in order to be pin ups. Hello it was a fashion shoot and both men shot in their bull riding gear and then changed into shirts, sports coats, and jeans. I do not see anything wrong with that. Also there was a comment about how JB Mauney is a playboy so no wonder he would do that. To me that is ridiculous. I went to the afterparty that was held after the San Antonio and Dallas events and I saw JB there. In San Antonio he was talking to a group of friends the whole night while another rider was being a drunken idiot. Then after the Dallas event he was there signing autographs and talking with fans. So does that sound like a morally corrupt playboy to you. Fans should like him for his riding abilities and not care about his personal life. When it comes to him a lot of fans only care about him because he is one of the better looking riders. That is a sad situation that the 2006 Rookie of the Year who finished 3rd in the world the next year and is on pace to do the same or better this year is only admired by some for his looks. He became my favorite rider because I saw his short go ride last year during the first event I watched and I was amazed. I can say I am a true fan not based on looks because guess what he rides with a helmet on so I could not see how he looked. I was taken in by just the pure talent of this guy who rode so loose it was amazing that he was able to stay on.

Bored again

So I started my summer class on Monday and I thought that would help me fill the time until I got a job. I was sadly mistaken. I hate the fact that I am having a hard time finding a new job. I just do not understand what is wrong. I mean it worked out better for me when I was just out of high school and had never had a job and had no references. Now, I actually have a job history and references which to me would logically mean that my chances for getting a job would be better but I have been steadily looking now for almost a month. I am running on my last bit of money and my credit card bill is piling up so I am having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It makes me now wonder if there even is a light. Things are looking worse than they ever had before and I am running out of options. I worry because this is unfamiliar territory to me and I wonder if I will ever recover from this. Who knows tomorrow I might get a phone call from one of the places I applied to and I will get a job but I hate the feeling of not knowing. When I was working at Chuck E Cheese I may have gotten crappy pay and hours but at least it was a paycheck. The job was slowly eating away my soul but what exactly is the price of my soul? Would it have been better if I had stayed at the job that was killing me so I could live in misery but at least I could pay my bills. I don't know what the future will bring but I hope that this is all happening for some greater purpose.

Bored at Home

So I have been home since the end of last month without a job. I put in my two weeks and they only scheduled me one day in those coming weeks. I have been applying everywhere but nothing has been happening. Once place has actually contacted me and said that I have to wait a little over a week before they will have a decision. This is discouraging. I understand I am a 19 year old student and that does not make me the ideal employee but I have experience and was at my previous job for almost 2 years before getting pushed around to the point I had to quit. I don't understand how some people actually enjoy having no job and nothing to do. All I have to do is chores and watch tv. I know this is my summer vacation and I should be just having fun but I want to be working and making money. I want to have a place to go and something to do all the time. I like the feeling. I wonder why this had to happen to me. Was it punishment for quitting the job no one thought I had the guts to quit? I mean I know that I was right to quit because I was being treated poorly but does that mean I have to go all this time without a job. The plan was to put in my two weeks and by the end of that I would have found a new job. I guess letting me go a week early threw things off but I am trying to roll with the punches. The real problem is I am ready to start my career. I feel like right now I am just filling time until I can start my dream career. Why do we all get cought in this thing of wanting to get started as fast as we can. I understand that I am still working on my degree so I should be waiting until that is done before I go and worry about being a reporter for the PBR. The only problem is I want this so bad when things go baad here i try and make it an opportunity to make my dream come true. I subconsiously hope that a position in the PBR will open up so I can start my career seeing as this would be the perfect time. The fact of the matter is it will not happen until I get my degree and I need a job in order to get my degree. I just want my phone to ring with am awesome job offer so I can go back to the way things were when I did not have to worry about weither or not my dream was going to come true. So I guess for now I just sit here and brainstorm other ideas for a job so I can finish my degree and someday make my dream come true.

slow down to see your dreams.

I have been reading bull riding blogs from Reese Cates. Right now there is a break in the tour so he is doing a lot of minor league events and it made me wonder. I think it would be amazing getting to drive around the country getting to do what you love. We live in a time now where we need to get to places as fast as humanly possible and we miss so much. I live here in San Antonio Texas right now but I was born and raised in Waterford Connecticut. When I first moved down here I drove. We saw so many things and it was the best three days of my life. We got to take our time and see what so many people miss by flying. Yes it takes longer but it was amazing. I am a country girl stuck in a major city so I loved it when I had to make that long drive again because I got to see the countryside. If anyone has driven through Arkansas it is almost all trees and land surrounding the highway we took and it was so peaceful. Also further north we drove through the Poconos and there was snow on the mountains and all these wonderful memories came back. Growing up in New England you are accustomed to snow and you either love it or hate it and I loved it. Now this second trip was made 5 years after the initial so I was excited to see snow. I was taken back to a time where things were easy and if I wanted I could just pack up the car and travel the country doing what I love. For me that is reporting and I have a specific dream of what I want to write about. I want to travel the world and report on Bull Riding. I went to my first bull riding last year and it was the most amazing experience of my life. The atmosphere took me back to the time of when I was a child growing up in small town Connecticut. Now most people consider Connecticut to be snooty rich people living in mansions. I did not grow up in that part of Connecticut. Fact of the matter is most of Connecticut is Suburbs and Farmland. My sister lived across the street from a farm and I remember feeling that I wanted to live there. The owners of the farm did not raise bucking bulls but rather oxen. They traveled the tri state area going to state and county fairs with their ox to bring them to pulls. Now although I loved the whole raising livestock and traveling concept the whole animal pull thing was a slight bore to me. I had watched bull riding occasionally but it wasn't until April 2007 that it became a major factor in my life. Now I had always thought that I had been a sports fanatic but I do not remember any moment in another sport as I did this one ride. I was flipping through the channels and I came across bull riding. I thought to myself what the heck lets watch this. The they introduced the next rider as number 2 in the world and was keeping up with the number 1 and they challenged each other weekly if one rode so did the other. So then it was time to see the number 2 man ride, if he rode and got a certain score he was going to win the event and the number 1 had bucked off so this would help make major ground for this 19 year old to become the number 1. Now I was around that age and it just amazed me that someone my age could accomplish something of that caliber. So the chute opened and in what I would soon learn was typical fashion for him he loosely rode the bull as if it were nothing. When he got off the bull the camera went in on his face and he looked to the camera smiled and gave the hang loose symbol. I was fascinated. I had to know who he was. The scores came in and they said he did amazing and yes sure enough he had gained enough points to win the event and gain some ground on the world number 1. I was hooked. For those of you who know nothing about the sport I am talking about a guy named JB Mauney from North Carolina. He would end the year 3rd in the world but not without putting up a fight and the highest score of the finals(the Superbowl of bull riding.) So I had always known I wanted to be a writer but had been unsure of what I wanted to write about. After seeing that event and going to the live event in San Antonio as well as many amature events it was a no brainer that bull riding was what I wanted to write about. It seemed perfect, I loved the sport, the environment, and the bull riders. I actually got the chance once to interview some cowboys at the local rodeo for a college assignment and I felt a feeling of belonging I hadn't felt before. I considered doing the rodeo thing because it happened locally I most likely could have gotten a job right then and there, the only problem was I am not a fan of the rodeo. I am a fan of bull riding. The only reason I will go to the rodeo is because they have bull riding there. Being there live there is an adrenaline rush of emotion that I love when you see a great ride or see a cowboy walk away and tip his hat to the audience after a seemingly deadly wreck. I want to be the one who interviews the cowboys after these memorable moments and tell all who weren't there what they are missing. So after reading Reese Cates blog on how he loves to drive to events and I thought of a perfect article for me to do: On the road with a Bull Rider. An in depth piece about life on the road. It would be the perfect thing to make people slow down and see what they are passing by. These cowboys travel to these events spending tons of money and they so not get a weekly paycheck, they only get paid if they win. I think more people need to live that way. These men may not all be wealthy but they are doing what they love and that is the important thing. Watch out for it because some day I will be a writer for the PBR and I will share with everyone my passion.