Gentle readers, I greet you today somewhat mollified because on Sunday afternoon, having worked most of Saturday, I managed to watch one hour of X-Treme Bulls in Cody, Wyoming, four hours of the PBR in Cincinnati, and a bonus hour in the form of CW’s series “In Harm’s Way,” which focused on professional bull riders. Thus, I feel like I finally managed to get enough bull riding into my system to keep me from just going crazy under this huge pile of work. Not that I’m complaining about having plenty to do. I feel really fortunate to be in that position, given the way the economy is imploding all around us.
Had I to rank my bull-riding watching, I’d have to say (sorry, Jean and William) that the X-Treme Bulls event, filmed over the 4th of July weekend, just did not cut it. It was pleasant to see the old stomping ground, of course, what with the mountains looming up behind the Cody Stampede stadium, but frankly, the riders were nothing to write home about and the bulls, er, sucked. The only bull I recognized was Nervous Waters, who appears to be on the downhill slide to the packing plant, but he did manage to buck his rider off right smart. One thing I did like about it was that the scores were relatively low, but since just about every cowboy managed to ride, that didn’t help my attitude much. And I was really conflicted about seeing Wesley Silcox, because it only reminded me that after he and Dustin Elliott won the PBR Team Shootout in Molalla, Oregon on August 9, Silcox got stepped on during an X-Treme Bulls event in Bremerton, Washington, on August 24 and suffered a broken leg. I am not sure whether he’s been back in action since, but at the very least, it had to slow him down some.
The PBR events in Oakland and Cincinnati did calm my nerves some, since Guilherme Marchi is riding rather better than he was. He got bucked off his bull in the short-go, but he still came in sixth overall, and J.B. Mauney, Mike Lee, and Valdiron didn’t gain any ground on him. I’m not quite ready to relax totally, but maybe I won’t wake up sweating, worrying about Marchi for a while.
By far the most interesting, though, was the CW show, which documented the run-up to the Tulsa event this season. Naturally it focused way more on Justin McBride than I would have liked, ending up with his 94.5 ride on Voodoo Child. But it also featured Robson Palermo, who is one of my favorite riders, and Mauney, who is not. I was happy to see that Palermo has apparently settled down in Texas with his family and seems to be doing well. But a good portion of the show dealt with Paulo Crimber, who appears to live fairly close to Palermo and was hanging out with him at the ranch. Palermo remarked that Crimber, who was tricked out in the biggest cervical collar I’ve ever seen, had only a 1 percent chance of returning to riding bulls. I hadn’t heard that, of course, since it seems like we never hear much about the truly badly injured on PBR broadcasts. What was the last time you heard Tandy Freeman talk about Paulo Crimber? Chris Shivers? Lee Akin? It’s almost like it’s out of sight, out of mind, or maybe it’s more like it’s bad luck to talk about it.
I am willing to consider that maybe my present state of melancholy was actually brought on by the same thing that lifted my spirits temporarily—that is, watching all that bull riding, pretty much back-to-back, while I tended to various domestic chores of a Sunday afternoon. It just reinforced how inconceivably young these boys are, and how astoundingly tough they are, and how fragile, in the end, we all are.
14 comments:
Why have I not heard of "In Harm's Way?" Is it a series or did I miss the only one? I'll have to look for it because it sounds good. I was thinking of Paulo the other day and wishing that we'd hear about him soon. 1% chance of returning? That's so sad. I do hope we see him again in some capacity. I miss seeing him up there behind the chutes.
"I am willing to consider that maybe my present state of melancholy was actually brought on by the same thing that lifted my spirits temporarily"
It's funny you should say that because it does that for me sometimes, too.
I hadn't heard of it either, just stumbled up on it by accident. It's a series and this was the season opener, so you should be able to track it back. It did include considerable footage of J.B. at the Bozeman event, so you can see something of our fair fairgrounds if you do.
In the repeats VS broadcast over the weekend, they showed one of Paulos fabulous rides. At the end, of course, he did his break dance (dunno if it's still called that) routine with Flint. It brought tears to my eyes thinking how much I missed that dance and how unlikely it is that I'll be seeing it again.
Also, last night I watched an old PRCA Rodeo event that had been held in Tucson. A VERY young, skinny, Adriano won the bull riding segment and when interviewed barely spoke enough english to say "with rain still good ride" or something to that effect hehehehe. He'd only been in the U.S. 3 months at that point.
THOSE are the moments I watch Xtreme bulls and PRCA for SQ. To see the bulls that have since retired, or see the debuts or early careers of some of the great bulls we have now. People who only watch the PBR can only hear about the first time Pandora's Box was ridden. I saw the ride ;-) So, grump about how dull it is if you must (snicker) but I enjoy seeing the histories of the bulls and the riders and how they've changed over the years.
My dear lady, I have no quarrel with you or anybody else watching X-Treme Bulls or anything else that amuses. I'm just an adrenaline junkie--I can't bear to be bored, but mostly I can't bear to see the riders winning.
Howdy y'all, I'm new here.
I'm not from Jacksonville but I'm an ol' lady just a state away, in Georgia. I've been lurking--and laughing--at the great, funny, intelligent posts here! I'm so happy to find folks who love to talk about bullriding, too. I wanted to jump in and be a part of the conversation before Finals week, because I know everyone's fingers will be flying discussing all the great bull drama that awaits us. I really get a kick (pun intended) out of the bulls. They have extreme personalities and IMHO are just as athletic as the riders. It never ceases to amaze me how they learn their job and seem to enjoy it immensely.
I've got "In Harm's Way" recorded and I can't wait to watch it. Paulo has always been one of my favorites (that dance! I miss it too, Jean) and I'm glad to know he's doing well but heartbreaking to know he may have ridden his last bull. I was at the event in Atlanta and got to see him dance that weekend--it'll always be near the top of my PBR highlight reel. He and Guilherme and Adriano are three of my favorites and yes, I'm partial to the "Georgia Gentleman", as Justin McKee calls Sean Willingham. He's kind of in a slump right now, but maybe one year (next year, after Guilherme wins? because Guilherme's just GOTTA) it'd be great to have a world champ from the Peach State.
Thanks for letting me chime in! Viva bulls!
Welcome, black boots!
I miss Paulo's dance, too, and am grateful that I was there in Anaheim when he won the event. I saw him in the lobby of the hotel, but since I already had his autograph and I knew they were in a bit of a hurry to get to the stadium, I let him go. If I'd known then, what I know now, I'd have said something to him (because when I got his autograph, I was so star-struck, all I could say was 'thank you'). As for Sean, yes, he does like a nice guy.
I'm looking forward to the finals. Go Guilherme!
Welcome, Madam Boots! As you can probably tell, several of us here are "old ladies" and we're glad to have another join us. Enjoy!
Welcome Black Boots! I'm glad you stopped lurking and joined the fun. Paulo has been doing that dance since before he got to the PBR. I've seen him ride in several PRCA events (ahem) from several years ago and I'm thinking he must have adopted that little show about as soon as he arrived from Brazil. I was so hoping to see him win a finals one day. I'm still holding out hope. There IS afterall, a 1% chance that he'll be back. I suppose if he makes it back he's got just as good a chance as any of the rest of them of breaking his neck. Maybe he'll join the Carillo Cartel and bring us some world class bulls if he can't ride.
Okay. I'm going to have to go Google "In Harm's Way" to find out what everyone is talking about LOL. I was kind of out of touch with fun stuff over the weekend while trying to beat back grime.
Mmmm, I love being a "madam"!
(visions of bawdy houses with mechanical bulls dances in head)
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll probably hop in on the Zonk, too, if I can figure out how to keep it from rolling. Gah.
Any predictions for the Princess McBride, er, PBR event this weekend? (I'm assuming he's riding, since I haven't read anything to the contrary.)
He's riding. I predict he'll either ride and get inflated scores, or fall off and everyone will be surprised at the unusual occurance ;)
"Princess McBride" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A bull bested a tobacco spittin' giant here... Now I understand what the issue has been. The judges are ROUSes.
Welcome Black Boots! My previous welcome was eaten by cyberspace and I can't remember my post... sigh. I do remember saying that I've seen Paulo ride in old reruns of PRCA events and he was doing that dance of his way back then.
I did finally find where DirecTV hides the CW channel, but I can't find the bull riding episode on In Harm's Way listed. Ahh well. Things are getting busy here on the farm since the temps are finally dropping into the low 90's. Those rotten little horses need my attention.
Black Boots, you're more than welcome to visit our little message board too at http://thefarmhouse.activeboard.com/
It requires a very simple and easy signup. Shannon and my husband William are the most prolific posters LOL, but Jaye has stopped by once or twice too.
I haven't blogged since the blasted packrat ate my truck. That kinda took the wind out of my sails. I have some catching up to do there.
HAH. Now. I've copied this post and pasted it into notepad just in case...
And how can we forget that for two years running, he was Princess McBridesmaid! Oh, we didn't forget that, but the folks at the PBR sure seem to have lost track of that little fact!
Ha! We're really big "Princess Bride" fans here and I didn't even make the connection. lol! That's cute.
Finally got to see In Harm's Way. Good show!
"Oh, we didn't forget that, but the folks at the PBR sure seem to have lost track of that little fact!"
Did you hear in the show, right after Adriano's "three time WC" intro, that "two time WC" Justin was called "The superman of riding?" *rme*
I heard that Shannon. I also heard Cody Lambert calling McBride the "greatest bull rider in the world". I also noticed there was NO mention of Marchi at all, anywhere, not even a glimpse, in this program.
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