Cowboys Dancehall - May 9, 2008

With the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) event rolling into the Alamodome this coming Saturday and the PBR's "dark" weekend with regards to BFTS events, the PBR tour bull riders have started making their way to south Texas. The Friday night bull riding at Cowboys Dance Hall hosted a couple of current "tour" riders; namely J.B. Mauney, the 4th ranked bull rider in the PBR as well as Australian bull rider Ben Jones.

Mauney, the young cowboy from the Carolinas, is only about 400 BFTS points away from second place in the world standings. Jones first captured the hearts of Americans with his trademark celebration dance witnessed via the PBR's 2007 International Team Event held in his home country.

Bull riding varies from most professional sports in that bull riders will generally compete in a variety of events, both sanctioned and unsanctioned. Aside from sponsorships and endorsements, bull riders must perform in order to get paid. There are no guaranteed contracts like some other professional athletes enjoy. In short, at any given bull riding you could very well see top ranked cowboys competing. My prediction is that the Friday night bull riding at Cowboys Dance Hall on Friday, May 16th could be stacked deep with BFTS cowboys.

The bulls definitely got the best of the cowboys last week. There were only a handful of qualified rides and a couple of brutal wrecks. The Good: Clayton Baetchge continued his hot streak with an 87-point ride for the win on Sid Evans' "Cool Whip." The Bad: J.B. Mauney did not ride his bull. The Ugly: Ronnie Kitchens got in a bad "hang up" after coming off of his bull; he was stepped on and knocked unconscious...scary.

• Bullnotes: L&G Cattle Company's-492 "Skat Jacket" made short and impressive work of former BFTS rider Jason Bennett.

Results (Unofficial)

1. Clayton Baetchge-87-Sid Evans "Cool Whip"
2. Colter Chapman-82-Alan Green Deep South Bucking Bulls "Goat"
3. Juan Baron-81-Davis Wilson "Specalicious"
4. Rosendo Ramirez-79-Davis Wilson "Gillette"

Stock Contractors:
Sonny Arocha's Cibolo Creek Cattle Company
L & G Cattle Company
Davis Wilson Bucking Bulls
Sid Evans Bucking Bulls
Alan Green's Deep South Bucking Bulls

Officials: Jimbo Kimbro, Barry Gullo and Shawn French
Bullfighters: Guy Reid & George Barragan

Cowboys Dancehall - May 2, 2008

As a play on words and their meaning, I thought a good caption for this picture would be the title of one of my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker songs..."Desperados Waiting for a Train."


Each Friday night I am privileged to announce the bull ridings at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio. If you have not had the chance to check it out, you need to put it on your list of "things to do." Cowboys is a huge nightclub with an indoor bull riding arena. They have an awesome house band, Marty Heddin and the Country Blues, and they are always hosting great touring acts-tonight it was Tracy Lawrence.

The bull riders get a little "gas relief" on the first Fridays of the month for the time being. No, not like Gas-X or Pepcid, but rather the riders are not charged an entry fee to ride on the first Friday of each month...kind of an olive branch to extend to riders who are having to buy $4.00 diesel fuel and $3.50 gasoline in order to travel to events.

If you like to root for the bulls, they got the best of the riders at this event. Out of the 37 riders that were entered, only 10 rode their bulls and were awarded scores for their rides. Bull riding fans got a special treat tonight with the appearance of Team Enterprise rider Steven Shelley as well as Jason Bennett; both of whom have been on the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series but have slipped down in the rankings and are fighting to get a spot back on the BFTS Tour.

As a brief aside, the PBR is a highly competitive league of bull riders. Only the top riders from around the globe are permitted to participate at their premier level called the Built Ford Tough Series. The PBR has created a "minor league" system that gives riders the opportunity to earn their way onto the BFTS tour. At certain intervals during the season, riders at the bottom of the performance scale are cut and the top riders from the minor league tours are invited to come ride in the BFTS events.

Jason Bennett won this event with a 87-point ride aboard the Dx3 Bucking Bull "Smokin' Liz." Jason's closest competitor was Douglas Duncan who marked 82 points aboard Currey Creek's "Disco Fever." Incidentally, Douglas Duncan is currently in second place for the PRCA's Rookie of the Year. As I was leaving Cowboys Dancehall Doug mentioned that he had rode pretty well at the PRCA rodeo at the Helotes Cornyval...so maybe he can make up some ground between himself and Tony Smart who is currently in first for the Rookie of the Year.

• Bullnotes: I was particularly impressed with JD Nix's -9 "South of the Border." He was exceptionally rank while bucking off Kenny Paul Kimbro.

Results (Unofficial)
1. Jason Bennett-87-Dx3 "Smokin Liz"
2. Douglas Duncan-82-Currey Creek "Disco Fever"
3. Jonathan Brown-81.5-Currey Greek "El Dinero"
4. Justin Edmonds-81-JD Nix "Rowdy"
5. John Armstrong-79.5-Cibolo Creek "Who 'Dat"
6. Carson Griffith-77-Cibolo Creek "Gold Mine"
7. Nick Alvarez-75-JD Nix "Again"
8. Kevin Glover-73.5-Cibolo Creek "Ice Man"
9. Wes Farris-71-Currey Creek "Yeller"
10. Pedro Carlucci-70-Cibolo Creek "Super Freak"

Stock Contractors:

• Sonny Arocha's Cibolo Creek Cattle Company
• JD Nix Bucking Bulls
• Currey Creek Bucking Bulls
• Dx3 Bucking Bulls

Officials: Jimbo & Mel Kimbro

Bullfighters: Guy Reid & Brent Wilke