Jesus - Is Using "His" Name Bad for Business?

In today's society political correctness seems to have gotten out of hand. A few examples: instead of "Merry Christmas", it's "happy holidays". Instead of "illegal alien", it's "undocumented worker". Instead of "terrorists", it's "insurgent". The list can stretch miles long of words or phases that have been changed. A few of these changes have been for the better, however, we have become so afraid of offending anyone, that things have gone too far from the intent. Say something, anything and you will offend someone, some group or some country. The PBR has been caught up in this trap of political correctness.

Through much research, I have found out that the PBR riders and personnel are instructed NOT TO USE THE NAME OF JESUS when addressing the public at the arena or on TV. Yes, you read that right. You can not say a prayer and say Jesus in the prayer. You can not say Jesus in an interview, if you do, it will not get on TV. Now, you can say God, because that is all encompassing. However, by using the name of Jesus, it narrows the definition and that may offend some in the audience. Political correctness run amuck. You say this can not be true. At first, I didn't think it was either. I didn't see how an organization that has roots in the small rodeos, where God and country are just as much part of the event as the bronc and bull riding.

I will give you three examples of exactly where this policy has taken place. The first is at the Iron Cowboy event, in February. Wiley Petersen (a PBR rider) was asked to say the opening prayer. At the close of the prayer, instead of saying "in Jesus name", he said "in His name". A lady on Wiley's fan page expressed her disappointment that he did not say Jesus. Wiley answered her and said that he was told not to say Jesus and if he was going to use Jesus' name, he could not say the prayer. The second example was in Des Moines. The PBR had given the fans the opportunity to hear the event on live audio. After Mike Lee won the event he was interviewed by Brandon Bates. His interview was never shown on TV. Why? During Mike's interview, he mentioned Jesus, twice, and made a reference to the cross. Now, the people in the arena could hear it, the people that listened to the live audio could hear it, but it never saw the light of day on TV. The third example is, we were at several Touring Pro events, Brandon Bates was the announcer. During the opening prayer, Brandon ended with "in Jesus name". However, at the BFTS events, Brandon says the prayer and ends the prayer with "in His name", he does not mention the name of Jesus.

Still not convinced that this is a policy by the PBR? I wasn't. After extensive research and talking to numerous sources, of which I will not name, I discovered this is indeed the PBR policy. I don't know if it is written, probably not, but it is a policy nonetheless. I guess we should not be surprised, considering all the political correctness that we see and hear everyday. With that said, I was still surprised. I have attended rodeos since I was a kid and the rodeos have always had the opening prayer and Jesus was a part of that prayer. However, money, politics and political correctness seem to be taking the place of Jesus himself.

I know why this is done, to "grow" the audience. Some might even say, what about the non-Christians? Well ..... according to polls taken in 2009, 76% of Americans consider themselves Christians. So, if you are just looking at the numbers, you are alienating more Christians than non-Christians. Some might say, well .... I am a Christian and I am offended by Jesus name being mentioned. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be a "follower of Christ". Who is Christ? Jesus. Why would you be offended if someone mentions the name of the one you follow? I wrote on my Facebook wall recently "some think the name of God/Jesus should be banned or censored, except when spoken in profanity". This is so true. Some people will go to the movies and hear God's name or Jesus' name taken in vain and think nothing of it, but you better not say it in a prayer, or it will offend them.

The PBR has bought into the idea that you can only expand your base, by taking away from your base. The PBR will only be successful as long as the base of fans believe in the PBR and what it stands for. Is it worth losing your base, to chase after some people that may or may not stay with you in the long run? We are fortunate to go to a number of live events. Two or three times during the event, a bunch of scantily clad girls, in high heals, come out and throw t-shirts into the crowd. Even being a man, I am offended by this, for several reasons. Does this matter to the PBR? Nope. In other words, you will do things that offend someone, anyone, at some point. Why alienate or offend a majority of the crowd, for only a few more fans in the seats? Is the PBR so desperate to expand the audience, that they are willing to risk losing the loyal fan base that built the PBR in the first place?

The PBR does allow the Riding High Ministries to use the arena to conduct a church service, usually on Sunday morning. There will be a special service after the event in San Antonio, this Sunday. I thank the PBR for giving the Riding High Ministries this opportunity. With that said, that should not and does not excuse the policy of silence when it comes to the mere mention of Jesus' name, at an event. I am not talking about the PBR allowing a rider or PBR personnel to take the microphone, during an event, and give a short sermon and alter call. Just simply allowing a rider to mention his Lord and Savior and it not get deleted from public knowledge.

I still enjoy the PBR and will continue to go to the events. However, just like in any family or business you will have disagreements. This is one of those times. Speaking as a fan that loves the PBR and is a Christian man who pays good money to go to many events, I find this policy by the PBR offensive and believe other Christians need to voice their opinion to the PBR to change the way they are conducting business.

PBR Tulsa - Event Review Part II

The sun rises early in Tulsa, or so it seemed. After getting to bed about 3:30 am, it was time to rise and shine for the last day of the PBR event in Tulsa, but first, it was time to go to cowboy church. We made our way over to the arena for the start of church, which is conducted by Riding High Ministries and Todd Pierce. We have not missed a service at any event, it is that good. Todd is the pastor for Riding High Ministries and is plain spoken and to the point, and as Tammie said recently, his voice is "soothing". LeAnn Hart led the music, including one inspiring song that she wrote. After the service, we had lunch with four young lads and Kay. Kay is a dear friend that we meet in Vegas at the finals. The young lads were all well behaved and their parents should be proud. One of the guys was a young and up and coming 15 year old bull rider, Samuel. The lunch went well, except for the fact that I launched my plate of pancakes and syrup into my lap and down my leg. Syrup on clothes, in the Tulsa muggy weather is not a good combination.

We headed back to the arena and went downstairs to the TeamPBR meet and greet area. JW Hart and Justin McKee were taping for a special recap that is going to be shown on Versus. While we were there JB Mauney came up and sat down and was interviewed. After a few minutes of being interviewed, JB stepped down and signed some autographs and took some pictures, but had to hurry to something else. One fan got on the directors chair next to Justin and pretended to talk to him and got a picture, that started the flood gate. Fan after fan, including Tammie got the chance to do the same, and have fun with it. Then the "fun" had to stop because Jody Newberry came to the seat to be interviewed. After Jody's interview, they shut it down and it was getting close to the start of the event.

We made our way to our seats after grabbing a drink and a snack. The usual (but yet still great) opening of the event and bull riding was about to start. One little rant here. If you are coming to your seats or getting up to get something to eat or go to the bathroom, please go in between rides, not during rides. Some people in the rows in front of us would get up and then everybody in the row has to stand up to let them by, when a ride is taking place. People, please have some consideration for others and do this between rides or better yet during the breaks between flights. There, that's my rant for the day. :)

The first two days belonged to the bulls, there were only 18 qualified rides. Will today be the same? In the first flight there were eight riders and only 2 rides. However, one of the rides was one of top scores for the event. Cody Nance scored a 90.00 on Lil' Red Kat. Also in the flight, Nathan Schapper scored a 79.50. Surprising buck offs were Jordan Hupp and Jody Newberry.

In the second flight, the tide turned for the riders. There were eight riders and four scores. Mike Lee 86.25, Cody Campbell 88.50, Dustin Elliott 87.50 and JB Mauney 84.25. On JB's ride, it looked pretty good for him, then he started to slide off around the 7 second mark, but was able to hang on for the 8. Shane Proctor was bucked off of Danger Zone in 2.5 seconds. He went 0 for 3 for the weekend and as I mentioned in the previous blog, was stomped on the night before.

In flight three, there were eight riders and only two scores. The tide went back to the bulls. However, again one of the best rides of the event in this flight. Renato Nunes, the current number one bull rider in the world, scored a 90.00 ride on Flirting with Disaster. This gave him a tie, with Cody Nance for the top score of the round. Also, Ross Coleman scored 85.75 on Evil Repeat. Ben Jones was on Bushwacker and only lasted 4.2 seconds. Actually, that is longer than many of the riders have stayed on him. Bushwacker is one serious bucking bull. McKennon Wimberly only lasted 2.3 seconds on Copp Hou. This was one of the most surprising, to me, early buck offs. Copp Hou is the bull the Kody Lostroh rode to a round win in the 2009 finals, when nobody knew anything about the bull.

In flight four, there were six riders ( Ned Cross was a scratch). Out of the six riders, there was only one ride. Silvano Alves (he sticks to bulls like white on rice) got an 84.75 score on The Grinch. Zack Brown, the event leader at the time, came down at the 3.0 mark on Power Line. Caleb Sanderson, who was on Hard Rock, looked good on his ride, but just couldn't quite make the whistle, coming down at 7.3. In flight five, the last flight before the short go, there were six riders and two scores. Valdiron de Oliveira got an 82.75 on Pro Bull Max and Kasey Hayes rode Pistolero for an 87.50. Pistol Robinson lasted 7.5 seconds on Congo, but you have to make 8 seconds to get a score. Close is not enough.

Going into the short go or the "Championship Round" the score of bulls and riders on this day was: Cowboys 11, Bulls 25. In the short go the bulls, with the exception of one ride, made the cowboys look like they were in the minor leagues. The only qualified ride of the short go was one of the most amazing rides I personally have seen. Not because of the score, but because of the effort put out by the rider. Renato Nunes was on Moebandy.com and the bull was all over the place and even fell at one point in the ride. It was amazing that Renato could even stay on the bull and the effort that was put out to stay on was rewarded with a score of 83.00 and a standing ovation from the crowd. The score propelled Renato to first place, with four riders to go. He was given a re ride option, but due to an injury (spurred himself in the buttocks, I feel like Forrest Gump every time I say buttocks), he declined. One by one the others riders came up and one by one they went down before the 8. Silvano Alves, who came into the short go in the number one position, came down at 3.3 on Flip Side and Renato Nunes was the winner of his third BFTS event in 2010. Renato stretched his overall lead in the standings and the only other rider, in the top ten, to make a move was Valdiron, moving from the eight spot to the fourth spot.

The final standings for the Tulsa event are: 1) Renato Nunes 259.75 2) Silvano Alves 258.75 3) Valdiron de Oliveira 252.75 4) Zack Brown 178.25 5) Cody Nance 176.75 6) Ross Coleman 171.75 7) Kasey Hayes 169.50 8) L.J. Jenkins 162.50 9) Cody Campbell 88.50 10/11) Harve Stewart 87.50 10/11) Dustin Elliott 87.50

After staying for about 30 minutes, so Tammie can get her rider autographs, we headed to dinner with sannpow and spouse and Twiggy and other half. We ate at the Cheescake Factory and I am telling you, they have great food and the prices are reasonable, for the amount of food you get. We ate, laughed, talked and planned our next BFTS event. I think we were there for about two hours and the other couples had to get on the road. Knowing that we got to Tulsa late on Friday and knowing we were going to stay up late on Saturday, we decided to stay on Sunday night and drive the five hours back home on Monday. So, back to the hotel and spend time on the computer and get to bed at a decent time. We are going to San Antonio for the next BFTS event and we will have our two adult kids with us, trying to convert both to become the PBR fanatics we have become.

PRB Tulsa - Event Review Part I

Dedication - The definition of driving 12 hours in one day, just so you can get to see the PBR draft. The Tulsa event was a three day event, Friday-Sunday. However, we were going to miss the first night. I had a seminar to conduct in San Antonio on Friday. I was in Austin Friday morning, drove to San Antonio did the seminar, headed back home to Tyler, change suitcases, then drove to Tulsa, arriving at 2:15 am on Saturday. A total of 12 hours driving in one day. Why would I do this? So Tammie and I could get up Saturday morning and get to the PBR draft and signings afterward. I know, I know, we are PBR nuts and proud of it.

We did get up on Saturday and headed to the draft. We also meet up with some of the usual PBR fans that we have become friends with and met some new ones. This is one of the great things about the PBR, their fans. I said it before and I will say it again, the PBR has some of the best and nicest fans of any sport. Among the fans (I will use their PBR sign on names) sannpow and spouse, Twiggy and other half, cdtucker1 and friend, daunab and spouse, txbsa35 and friend and petstylist and her dog (and walkamungus, which I met later) . They are all great fans and great people. Tammie of course was running around getting her pictures signed and then the draft started. Three of the riders had problems getting there and were moved down in the draft. The day was just like last year, HOT and not a cloud in the sky and the draft was outside, no cover for the fans. After 5 minutes I looked down at my arm and I looked like the vampires in the Twilight series, my skin was glistening. In other words, I was sweating like a pig.

After the draft, we moved quickly inside to the Pro Bass Shop. Tammie was in line for autographs, I was just interested in the a/c. I did get to the line when Tammie and cdtucker1 were approaching the riders. Tammie and cdtucker1 handed Cody Campbell some cookies and brownies that they made for his birthday, and the other riders beside him started to devour the snacks. I got the chance to talk to some of the riders and at the end was Cody Nance. I am just really impressed with Cody's maturity.

It was time for lunch, at least that was what my stomach was telling me. All of the PBR friends went to eat at Lonestar, a restaurant within eyesight of Pro Bass Shop. We were joined by most of the Brazilian riders and Ben Jones and a friend of his, Jason. I think there was 25-30 people there and it was loud and fun. The food was good as well. We stayed at the restaurant for about two hours and then all went our separate ways. We made our way to one other signing and then back to the hotel. I was planning on a short nap, but it was already late in the day and we had only an hour before heading to the arena. So, just spent time on the computer and watching a little TV. Time to get changed and head to the arena.

Tulsa has a beautiful arena called the BOK Center. We were there last year and approaching the arena from the highway, it looks like a spaceship. In the arena we made our way to the TeamPBR meet and greet. Talked to some of the riders and Tammie and the crew of PBR fans got some pictures. Also, Tammie got the chance to talk to Ryan Dirteater and Skeeter on the concourse. Both of these guys are about as nice as they come. I was able to contact and meet up with walkamungus. She comments on the PBR comment section and flew in from Connecticut, then going to Cheyenne. We talked for awhile, then it was getting close to the start of the event.

After all the pyrotechnics, loud music (sorry, I like it) and announcing the riders, it was time for some BULL RIDING! Several riders were all ready out hurt, but it was announced on Friday that Marchi and Ryan McConnel would not participate. On Saturday it was announced that Travis Briscoe would not be able to finish the weekend, due to a neck injury. On Friday, shockingly, there were only nine rides, so the night started out looking good when the first two riders Kasey Hayes (81.75) and Silvano Alves (86.50) got scores. However, the next five bucked off. The last was Stormy Wing on Ricky Bobby. It looked like he had him, but he came down just before the buzzer and after review, it was determined that he slapped the bull at 7.3 seconds.

In Flight 2, Cody Nance got a score of 86.75 and Wiley Peterson also an 86.75. Then the next five bucked off. In Flight 3 the first two, for the third flight in a row, got scores. Zack Brown had the best ride of the night on RMEF Bugle and got a score of 89.75. Chris Shivers also got a ride for 86.50. The next four in the flight bucked off. So far, cowboys 6 and bulls 14. The rest of the night would prove the bulls are the clear winners. In Flight 4 out of six riders, no scores and many were coming off quick. In Flight 5, the first rider, L.J. Jenkins got a score of 81.75, but then there were six straight buck offs. The scariest buck off was Shane Proctor. He got hung up and was being drug around and stomped on at least once. He ended up being ok and did get on a bull on Sunday. In Flight 6, the last and final round, there were four riders and two of them got scores, Valdiron de Oliveira 88.50 (second best ride of the night) and Renato Nunes 86.75.

Final scoring for round 2: Zack Brown 89.75, Valdiron de Oliveira 88.50, Cody Nance 86.75, Renato Nunes 86.75, Wiley Peterson 86.75, Silvano Alves 86.50, Chris Shivers 86.50, L.J. Jenkins 81.75, Kasey Hayes 81.75.

Couple of notes: Flint was great as usual. Even though there were only nine rides, there was some great rides, and some great bull power. Glad to see Zack looking like himself from last year and Cody Nance getting a ride.

Well, after staying and getting riders autographs, we made our way to the host hotel to a birthday party. This was a party for Marchi, even if he wasn't there. Also it was Twiggy's birthday. There were a number of riders and most of the PBR fans mentioned before, were there. It was a great time to talk to some of the riders, in a more relaxed atmosphere. There was no alcohol served (I am mentioning this because of my previous post on after parties). This was not the "PBR after party" but a separate gathering for any rider that wanted some snacks and sandwiches. We had a great time and spent hours talking to the riders and other PBR fans. We finally left the host hotel and headed back to our hotel at 2:30 am. It was shaping up to be another great PBR event and another weekend of getting little sleep. However, being the dedicated PBR fans we are, sleep can come at another time.

Zack Brown celebrating after his round winning ride.