PBR After Parties - Good Idea or Not?

Imagine being a 22 year old male, encouraged to attend a party that will have alcohol, women, dancing and general partying. You have no curfew and if you stay up all night and party, there are no consequences. On top of that, the one that has set this up and encouraging you to go, is the entity that pays you a check to be a performer, and you have to perform again the next day. Now you might think that we are talking about a rock star, and you would be wrong. What we are talking about is the PBR (Professional Bull Riders).

The PBR has about 32 events per year throughout the country and the finals, in Las Vegas. At each event they have "after parties" which are parties, usually at bars, that are after the event that night. The bull riders are encouraged to attend the after parties and get to know the fans. This, on the surface, seems harmless and a great way for the fan to get to know the rider, and in some cases, it is. However, the set up is froth with problems. The PBR gives the fans opportunities to get signatures and autographs of the riders. Most of the riders come out after the event and come around the arena and sign and take pictures, if they do not come out, they are fined $500. There are "meet and greet" times at select events. A meet and greet is a time that most of the riders are together and the fans can get pictures and autographs. The fan has more access to the bull riders than many other sports. However, the PBR then adds the after parties.

There are riders that attend the after parties, for a short time, have a few beers and meet a few fans, then leave. There are those that don't drink and just have a fun time and leave. However, there are those that come to the after parties, get drunk, leave with women, and stay out or up all night. Now you might say, these are grown men, what is the problem? The problem is that these grown men participate in one of the most dangerous sports in the world and they have to get on a 2,000 pound bull the next day. In bull riding, you have to be at your best, mentally and physically, when it is time to climb on the back of the bull and "perform". Are you at your best when you have been up all night, you are still drunk, or at the very least hung over? You might say, well they are going to do this anyway. In some cases that is true. However, should the PBR be encouraging this by having the after parties during the event? Why not the night the event is over? Why would you encourage, by putting the temptations in front of these men, the bad behavior? Exploitation?

I personally know of a rider coming to an event, hung over from the previous night's partying, and get bucked off his bull and getting hurt. I have seen riders come to the fan signings that were still hung over and in one case, the rider was still drunk and left before the signings finished. I have heard of stories of the riders leaving the after parties with a woman, or in some cases women. I was told of one rider that was in a bar brawl and ended up in jail that night, and still had to ride the next night. One rider even bragged on a TV show that he rides better hung over. What does the PBR think about all this? Well, from what I have seen, it's a joke and it's accepted. I have been to drafts (where the riders pick their bulls) and the announcers are laughing about the fact that guys stayed up all night and had a "good time". There have been riders that were either late to the draft or they "slept in" because of the partying the night before.

The riders are not employees of the PBR and many will argue that the consequences that the riders may suffer will be their own doing. Such as falling off a bull, getting hurt, dealing with the effects of a hang over. This is all true, but the PBR, if it is serious about putting out the best product for the fans, should not encourage this behavior by having after parties that fuel the flames. I was told by a rider, some time ago, that there are guys that could have or should have been a World Champion, but due to the fact that alcohol and partying is more important, they are not. Is the PBR more interested in presenting the fans with riders, no matter how they act, or are they more interested in those riders performing at their best and putting the best product in the arena and the riders' safety? There are problems in the major sports with the athletes and them "misbehaving". So much so, that now many of the sports have had to develop a personal code of conduct policies. An athlete that does something wrong in his personal life is now being held accountable and will be fined and/or suspended.

I did not write this to condemn any rider or even the PBR. Also, by writing this I do not mean to insinuate that all riders, and fans, that attend the after parties are bad or act badly. I know that most fans are there to just have a good time and get to see and talk to the riders. I know that many of the riders are there to have a good time and promote themselves and the PBR and just get to know the fans. However, you just don't put the riders in a situation that bad things can and do happen. In my personal opinion, I do not want to see the PBR go the way of the other sports and have the personal problems of their athletes made into national news. With that said, I also don't think the PBR should be encouraging this behavior or turning a blind eye to it, just to promote themselves. I think we all could agree, as fans of the sport, you want and deserve the best product out in the arena and to avoid a rider being injured because they are not at their best.

Cord McCoy Invitational - Event Review, Part 2

When you combine staying up late, a cool room, warm covers, good bed and thick curtains, it makes for a perfect time to sleep in. On our second day in Ada, Oklahoma, that is exactly how we started our day. There was a small parade that morning, honoring Cord and Jet McCoy. We had planned to go to it, but with the late night before and the fact that we were going to have to get up early the next morning and head to a graduation for a family member, it just wasn't going to happen.

We finally got up, and did the usual morning things and since we had already gotten some signatures, there was no reason to go to the few signings that day. So, what to do with nine hours before the second and final night of bull riding? How about a movie? Ok. We went to see Robin Hood, with Russell Crowe. In my opinion, the movie was great. Tammie thought the movie was slow at first, then picked up and ended in a flurry. The sound in the theater was terrible, but you don't need great sound to see the arrows flying and swords clanging. After the movie, we went back to the Sante Fe restaurant. Again good food at a reasonable price. Then before the trip back to the hotel, we stopped at the best store that man has created, WalMart. We left our stadium chairs at home, and after sitting for several hours the night before on a dirty bleacher, our butts and backs were a little sore. The fix is a good padded stadium seat and WalMart provided the goods.

What do you do with a few more hours? Some time on the computer, TV watching, a short nap and ..... a two mile walk in 90+ degree heat. I took a walk around the neighborhood behind the hotel. It was hot, the neighborhood was not that great, but hey, I needed the exercise. Now it was time to get ready and head to the arena for some bull riding!

We got to the arena about 1 hour before the event started. The most notable names that were riding this night were; Ryan McConnel, Mike Lee, Pistol Robinson, Dusty Labeth, Travis Sellers, Pim Rosa, Clayton Baethge and of course Cord McCoy. There were only 32 riders and they separated them into 3 sections (or as the BFTS says, flights). They also had a Little Buckers competition with 9 youngsters from age 10-14 competing. The arena is inside, but it was hot and stuffy. There is no a/c, however there are big fans cooling off the fans in the main section, lucky them. We were not in the "main" section, we were sitting in the "Cord Zone", just as we did the first night. These are bleachers that are on the side, closer to the chutes, but no a/c and no fans. But hey, it's bull riding, not polo or cricket.

Section one: There were 10 riders in this section, with only 3 rides. Clayton Baethge 88.50, T.J. Pittman 85.00 and Pistol Robinson 78.00. Clayton's bull, Keep Wishin, came out bucking hard and spun into his hand and Clayton was spurring. On Pistol's ride, the bull spun, but did not buck at all, therefore he did not get a high score. Mike Lee was in this section. His bull came out out the chute, stumbled and was out of line and Mike could not hold on for the 8. I was surprised he stayed on as long as he did. Cord McCoy was in this section as well. When the gate opened, he slide to the side of the bull and just could not recover and came down.

Section two: There were 10 riders in this section, with only two getting scores. Pim Rosa 84.00 and Dusty LaBeth 82.50. Cord had five bulls of his own in this section, Bell Ringer, Kountry Store, JB, Electric Slide and Dry Heat. All of them looked good and did their job, because none of the guys riding these five got a score.

Section three: There were 12 riders in this section, with only two riders making the whistle. Matt Moore 88.00 and Dusty England 85.00. Matt was on Painted Kat and the bull bucked hard and Matt was able to get the second highest score in the long go. Ryan McConnel was in this section. He came out of the chutes, looked great, spurred, rode, then it fell apart. Ryan lost his rope and came up and off the bull around 7.5 to 7.8. I am only guessing on the time. There was not a visible 8 second clock, but when he came off the buzzer sounded. The judges said no score. They ran the replay of the ride on the screens and right as he was losing his rope, it looked like he might have touched the back of the bull with his free arm.

Before the short go and the break, there were nine Little Bucker rides. These were young guys that were riding mini bulls. The bulls are full grown, but just small or mini. There were two rides, Cody Dale Hodges, 13 years old, 86.00 and Colton Beatty, 14 years old, 74.00. Of note, Clancy Hart, JW Hart's nephew was the last rider. JW was there, helping pull his rope. Clancy came out, fell to the side of the bull and got hung up. As the bull was dragging him around, he was stepped on several times. After the ride, JW came into the arena and help Clancy out of the arena. He looked hurt, but you couldn't tell and there wasn't any announcements that he was seriously hurt, so I will assume that he was ok.

During the intermission, I got the chance to talk to Brandon Bates. His first commit was "This is rough going here tonight". It was a combination of not many rides, the heat and stuffiness of the arena, and in my opinion the crowd just did not seem that much into the event. The second night was better, but the first night the crowd seem to be lethargic and sit on their hands and not participate in the event. When there were great rides, there was some "polite" clapping and when one of the bull fighters did a great job of rescuing a rider or taking a hit from a bull there was either no clapping or very little. I will chalk this up to the heat and maybe the people were just drained.

On to the short go. There were 10 riders and since only 7 had gotten a score, three had to be called back. The three lucky riders were; Tuff Brumley, Steve Flitz and Cord McCoy. There was good bull power in the short go for the second night. Bulls such as; Buffalo Hump, Check Out, Mo Bandy, Sure Shot, Splat Kat, Hot Tamale and Marmaduke. The bulls proved their worth and the riders just could not keep up with such bull power. There was only one ride during the short go and a great ride it was. Dusty LaBeth score an 89.00 on Can Rock. Cord McCoy was on Buffalo Hump and Cord just couldn't keep up, or on. Pim Rosa was on Down Time and this bull made a huge buck coming out of the chute and blew Pim off in no time. Pistol Robinson was on Sure Shot and when he was bucked off, he did a complete 360 in the air and came down hard. Clayton Baethge, who came into the short go as the leader, was no match for Hot Tamale and came down before the 8.

The results for the second night: 1) Dusty LaBeth, 171.50 2) Clayton Baethge, 88.50 3) Matt Moore, 88.00 4) T.J. Pittman, 85.00 5) Dusty England, 85.00 6) Pim Rosa, 84.00 7) Pistol Robinson, 78.00

Since this was a two day event, the top 9 finish for the combined two days: 1) Trevor Kastner, 174.00 2) Reese Cates, 173.00 3) Nathan Schaper, 172.00 4) Dusty LaBeth, 171.50 5) Tanner Jones, 164.50 6/7) Clayton Baethge and Kasey Hayes, 88.50 8) Matt Moore, 88.00 9) Brant Atwood, 87.50

Note: As the event ended, Brandon Bates kept announcing that Kasey Hayes had won the event with a combined 2 bull score of 174.00. There were several of us that looked at each other and said "Kasey didn't win". I talked to Cord after the event and asked him about this. He told me that Kasey did not win the event, but since Brandon had already said three times that Kasey won, he didn't want to correct him in front of the crowd, so he went along with it.

A special shout out to Cord McCoy. Not only did Cord do everything to promote this event, including riding bulls, but he helped raise $30,000 for the Relay for Life.

Well, it was off to the Sante Fe restaurant one more time, then back to the hotel and the four trip back home the next morning and a graduation to attend. After an event is over, especially a BFTS event, you have this feeling like "what do I do now". Well, there are plenty of things to do during the summer and of course there is that thing called "WORK" (got to pay to go to the events, they're not free). The next BFTS event will be July 16-18 in Tusla, of which we will be going and of course I will do a blog on that event. In the meantime, I will have several other blogs to fill the time. I am working on getting rider, stock contractor and bull fighter interviews and hopefully I will have some posted before Tulsa.

Cord McCoy Invitational - Event Review, Part 1

This last weekend we took the 4 hour drive up to attend a PBR Touring Pro event, the Cord McCoy Invitational in Ada, Oklahoma. When we saw Cord in Cleburne, at another Touring Pro event last month, he told Tammie that he expected to see us at his event, no excuses. So ..... how can you turn down "Mr. Congeniality". Besides, this was a chance to get to see and meet the other half of "the cowboys" from The Amazing Race, Jet McCoy.

We left early, and headed to Tupelo, OK, where Cord and Jet were going to be signing autographs. Tupelo is Cord's hometown and is about 30 minutes south of Ada. We got to the Kountry Store, where the signing was (we passed the store at first, because it did not say Kountry Store, later I did notice a KS on the window, which was made with tape), and got to see and talk to Cord and some of the bull fighters. Jet had left earlier, so we missed him. Just so you know, Cord said that he lives about a mile and a half from the store, and when I asked if he gets bothered by fans at his home, he said no, he has some BIG dogs.

We made our way to Ada and checked in at the Holiday Inn and got something to eat. Ada seems like a nice town, there are rolling hills in the area and the town is growing. There is a WallMart, Home Depot, Chilis, a movie theater and other stores and restaurants that many would recognize.

When it was time, we headed to the arena and got there about 1 1/2 hours before the event started. The arena is a pretty old building, at least that is what it felt like. There were bleacher seats facing the chutes and bleacher seats on both left and right sides, no a/c. The bleachers on the sides were the "Cord Zone" seats. They were a few dollars more, and the main difference was that the bleachers that faced the chutes had poles that could obstruct your view, and the side bleachers did not. We saw a few riders, but with the set up, it was difficult to talk to them before and after the event.

The most notable riders that were at this event, the first night, were Ryan McConnel, Josh Koschel, Billy Robinson, Douglas Duncan, Stormy Wing, Travis Sellers, Reese Cates, Kolt Donaldson, Kasey Hayes, Jason O'Hearn, and of course Cord McCoy. It was time for the event to start and what a great opening it was. If you watched The Amazing Race, you know that they get clues to start off each leg of the race. They had both Cord and Jet on the screen and they were opening a clue and it said "make your way to Ada Oklahoma to the Cord McCoy Invitational" They looked at each other and said, "we know where that is", they had backpacks on and "raced" to the arena, when they got there on the screen, they put the spotlight to the side of the arena and out came Cord and Jet, with backpacks, "racing" to the center of the arena, where a waiting Brandon Bates (of course playing the part of Phil, the host of the show) was standing on a mat to greet them. Brandon said "Cord and Jet, welcome home". It was funny and they got a standing ovation. Then the national anthem was sung by Frank Newsome's wife, Dea. If you have never heard her sing, you have missed out. I have heard her sing several times at the Riding High Ministries Church during the BFTS events and she has a great voice and not only that, she is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet.

Now it was time for the bull riding!!! There was a total of 34 riders the first night. There was a long go and a short go, which was the top ten scores for the night. The long go was broke up into four sections. In the first section, there were nine riders, but only two got scores; Nathan Schaper 88.00 and Douglas Duncan 85.00. When Douglas made the whistle, he came off the front of the bull, but he was ok. Stormy Wing looked like he had the ride, but came down early and hit his shoulder hard. Travis Sellers, came down early, then got hit in the rear by the bull. Billy Robinson's bull, Last Resort, came out of the chutes like a mad bull, went crazy and was out of line and Billy just couldn't stay on.

In the second section, there were nine riders, and four scores; Brant Atwood 87.50, Trevor Kastner 86.50, Sevi Torturo 85.00 and Buddy Lusk 74.50. Sevi's bull, Keystone Kid, looked and bucked like a horse. Ryan McConnel looked like he was going to make the ride, but just slid off the back after about 7 seconds. Trevor's bull, Coyote Kat, was a good bull. He didn't buck hard, but spun fast enough to make anyone sick and Trevor stayed up with him.

In the third section, there were seven riders, and three scores; Reese Cates 85.50, Tanner Jones 80.00 and Danny McDowell 78.00. Josh Koschel had a tough, wild, out of line bull named Southern Style and was bucked off. Danny's bull, Pink Tie, was a fast spinner and Reese's bull, Sampson's Pride, was a good bucker.

In the fourth section, there were nine riders and three scores (also two low scores and reride options); Kasey Hayes 88.50 and round win, Buck Moon 81.50 and Jason O'Hearn 80.50. Kasey was on Two Creeks and the bull just didn't do anything. Kasey received a score of 69.00 and a reride option. Kasey got a good bull draw on his reride, Splat Kat. The ride looked good, but Kasey came down. There was a reride option given, because Splat Kat came out of the chute and during the ride, turned back towards the chutes and hooked a horn, during the ride, which caused Kasey to come down early. He was given another reride on Splat Kat and this time he made good and got the 88.50. Derek McCormick was on Bug Juice and this bull also just didn't do anything and Derek received a score of 67.00 and a reride option. However, his reride was not successful and he did not get a score. Two good bucking bulls in this section were Red Ears and Electric Slide, which threw off their riders. Cord McCoy was one of the last riders and looked good for most of the ride, but just could not make the 8.

On to the short go. There was some good bull power at this event, including the short go, with names like; Monty the Bull, The Bug and Stretch Armstrong. There were 10 riders in the short go, with four of them getting scores; Tanner Jones 84.50 on Double Dollar, Nathan Schaper 84.00 on Sharp Dressed Kid, Reese Cates 87.50 on Monty the Bull and Trevor Kastner 87.50 on Stretch Armstrong. Both Nathan and Tanner got their scores with a great effort of hanging on the bull, as they were falling off the side. Sevi Torturo got stepped on by his bull, Holly Roller, but he was ok.

The final results; 1) Trevor Kastner 174.00 2) Reese Cates 173.00 3) Nathan Schaper 172.00 4) Tanner Jones 164.50 5) Kasey Hayes 88.50 6) Brant Atwood 87.50 7) Sevi Torturo 85.00 8) Douglas Duncan 85.00 9) Buck Moon 81.50 10) Jason O'Hearn 80.50

I want to give a special mention to the bull fighters. During some of the Touring Pro events, the bull fighters have a competition with teams of two bull fighters. At this event, there were four teams of two. They take turns and each set of two are the bull fighters on a ride. Part of what they do, besides protecting the rider after the buck off, is to touch the bull after the ride. This can be done on the head of the bull or the back of the bull and they get points each time. This competition is done throughout the year and comes to a head during their finals, which is held in October, in Oklahoma. This makes for a fun and very interesting competition during the event.

Also, a shout out to Jet McCoy. He was the "horseman" or the pick up guy. He defiantly can rope and do it well. The first night, he had to rope about 1/3 of the bulls, to get them out of the arena. I think he only missed once or twice, on his first attempts. With that said, he still got some jokes thrown his way from Brandon Bates. If you watched The Amazing Race, in one of the first few shows, he had to "rope" a bale of hay with a bulls head on it, that was not moving. He missed the first time and he even said on the show that he was going to get some kidding because of missing the first time, and he has.

After the event they had some of the riders and the bull fighters come out and sign autographs. Got a chance to say hi to Jet and took a picture of Tammie with both Cord and Jet. Time to get something to eat, head back to the hotel and get some sleep. We did eat at a restaurant that I would recommend to anyone. The restaurant name was Sante Fe and they had a good selection of food, good prices and the food was delicious. I will have the blog up on the second day of the event on Thursday.