Professional Bull Riders

Last Friday evening, we went to the Professional Bull Rider (PBR) competition in downtown St. Louis. The event showcased the skills of bulls and bull-riders alike, but went off like the well-oiled corporate-sponsored event it was and not like a small town rodeo operation. That observation carries with it the weight of good and bad, but overall the event was most enjoyable. Of note, some of the evening's highlighted riders were also profiled in the documentary Rank, which we had watched a while back and found interesting.


The rules. Let's go ahead and get the 'book keeping' out of the way. Most everyone knows the rule is to stay on the bull for 8 seconds. More accurately, falling off the bull or touching the bull with your free hand (I didn't know that part) in under 8 seconds means no score is given. Also, if the judges think the bull's performance is not up to PBR standards (i.e., too easy for the rider), then the ride is disqualified and the rider is given another bull to ride later in the night. After these rules, I have no idea how the ride is scored, but the highest score wins.

The fanfare. Any good professional athletic event must start with a solid bit of fanfare and PBR stayed true to this standard. At the very beginning of the event the house lights were dimmed and colored light skimmed over the crowd and arena. A fog machine was working overtime to produce an unreal amount of low-lying fog...then a collection of pyrotechnic machines blasted small sprays of fire in the air and two enormous bull heads flanking the entrance snorted giant flames out of their nostrils. Not enough fire? I might mention, then, that the letters 'PBR' and the letter 'e' (for Enterprise) were aflame in the dirt. You know what these letters spell? "Hot damn!"


The sponsors. The big sponsors of the evening were Ford trucks (le duh), Copenhagen (no comment), Las Vegas Tourism Board (the Championships are held there each year) and Enterprise Rent-a-car (? and even more ?? is that they were the main sponsor of the St. Louis event). Another big sponsor of note was the U.S. Border Patrol. I think all in our party couldn't help but think the sponsorship exploited a stereotype (right or wrong) of the targeted demographic. Then again, we do need to prevent those Iowans from crossing into Missouri.

...2 surprises and 1 small injustice:
- The music selection surprised me - very few country songs were played. Instead, the DJ selected a playlist that was pulled from the Top 40 charts of the last few decades. Something surreal about watching a bullride to the tune of Franky Goes to Hollywood's Relax...but I liked it.

- Several of the riders were Australian. I found this interesting, but I am not sure why. I guess others took note, too, as the woman next to us shouted "he came all this way for that ride?" when one of the Aussie riders didn't turn out an particularly impressive (read: less than 8 sec ) ride.

-Now for the injustice: In the middle of the arena was a small cage - so small that anyone in the cage would be sitting cross legged on the ground so they didn't hit their head. In the middle of the event two young, attractive women were paraded into the arena and announced as the winners. The prize: getting to watch the rest of the event from said little cage for an up-close-and-personal view from the dirt. I might note that while walking on the dirt one woman walked on her tiptoes. These "random" winners were not worthy. PBR should have selected a kid or some superfan who would have really appreciated such a unique vantage point. Take note, PBR.