Flint Rasmussen - Entertainer

If you have ever been to a rodeo, you will see some guy in makeup, in the middle of the arena making jokes and sometimes jumping in the barrel. This guy is known to many as "the rodeo clown". Well, I'm here to tell you, the PBR is not a rodeo and Flint Rasmussen is no rodeo clown. What Flint is, is an "entertainer". Yes, he does have the clown makeup, but other than that, he is totally different than what any definition of the rodeo clown that many are use to.

The first time I saw Flint, was in Dallas, at the PBR event in January 2009. After the event, I told my wife that I enjoyed the bull riding, the pyrotechnics, the music, but the thing I enjoyed the most, was the entertainment provided by Flint. He is now 42 years old, but has moves that would make a man half his age jealous. There are dance moves from Michael Jackson to Beyonce, from hip hop to swing music and just about everything in between. There is the back and forth banter between the arena announcers and fan interaction. The whole night of "entertainment" is different than anything I had ever seen. The next two events we went to, were Tulsa and Springfield. I sat next to people that had never been to a live PBR event. I got so much enjoyment watching them jump when the fireworks go off, moving to the music, sitting in awe of the bull riding and of course laughing when Flint would dance, do jokes and interact with the fans.

In between the Dallas and Tulsa events, Flint had had a heart attack at the age of 41. He was in great shape, which just tells us that life can throw all of us curves and we just have to get back up, dust ourselves off and get back out there. That is exactly what Flint did. He came back with a monitor for awhile, to make sure that his heart rate stayed below a certain level. Fortunately, he has been able to ditch the monitor and is back at full tilt (as full tilt as you can be after such an incident).

I will be honest, after awhile I started to get the impression that Flint was aloof and not fan friendly. He was not out meeting the fans, like the riders do. But I noticed that neither were the bull fighters. But as Flint has explained, the PBR is about bull riding and the bull riders. With that said, I know from personal experience, I want to get to know all of the people that make the show happen, including Flint. All of this changed, for me, in February of this year.

During a meet and greet of the riders, at an event before the Iron Cowboy, Flint made a joke about some of the people that make comments on the PBR website, I was one of the people that he made a joke about (webpbr). I think he was kind of surprised that I was there, but then we started to have a good back and forth banter and both of us had fun with it. He had an impression of me and I had one of him. I think both of us changed the others mind of those impressions. The next week, we went to St. Louis for the PBR event there. During the last day, Flint saw me in the stands, while he was on the "shark cage". He gave me a nod, pointed to me and started moving his fingers, as though he was typing on the computer. Some might say he was making fun of me, but I know he was simply giving a non verbal playful banter, that we started the week before. My wife saw it as well, and thought it was pretty cool that Flint, out of the thousands that were in the stands, did something that only him, myself and my wife knew what he was doing.

The last event we were at, New Orleans, we were at the back talking to riders as they were leaving, the last night. Flint was leaving as well and as he was approaching, he looked up and said "so whatcha writing about today". We talked for a few minutes and I told him that he was "on" the whole weekend and that was surprising, due to the small crowd that weekend. We talked for a few more minutes and he was on his way.

This last week there was a little dust up on the comment section and some things were said about Flint, that he took offense to. A fan was not pleased that Flint was not part of the show as he had been in the past. Some things were said and although I think they could have been said differently, I did not think they were meant to be mean or hurtful to Flint. As a matter of fact, I think the comments were out of frustration that Flint was not as much a part of the show, as the fan wanted him to be. That is how much Flint is liked and admired for his ability. When he is not in the show or not in the show as much as people have become accustomed to, they are upset. THEY WANT FLINT, just as much as they want all of the things that come with a PBR event. The PBR and Flint are one. My advice to Flint, not that my advice matters, is to relax, have fun, don't worry about the comment section and just go out and do what you do best: ENTERTAIN.