Thursday Cardinal Couple -- The most dangerous sport?

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-From the Commish...


-Go Angel Go!


( Today, the "Commish" is behind the Cardinal Couple golf cart wheel. Mark shares with us a sport he's grown to watch and like. WE approve but won't be looking to become active participants. Enjoy!)

More Bull From The Office Of The Commish

Cardinal Couple Readers:  Paulie has given the staff writers free reign for a few weeks to write on any sports related topic of our choosing.  I have decided to write about a sport I have been following since 2006.  Before I tell you what that sport is, I have a Cardinal Couple of questions for you:  What is the most dangerous sport? What sport has the toughest athletes? 

There are many good answers to those questions.  Some dangerous sports could include Auto/Motorcycle Racing, Cave Diving, Base Jumping, High Altitude Climbing, and even Cheerleading.  Of course Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Football, and Hockey come to mind as well. 

The Toughest athletes?  Most would probably include Boxers/MMA fighters, Football players, Hockey players, Soccer players, or even Rugby players.

So, what does the Commish think? I feel the most dangerous sport with the toughest athletes……Cue the Announcer---"Ladies and Gentlemen---This is not a Rodeo—--This is the P....B....R!!"

PBR?  Are we talking about Pabts Blue Ribbon?  Beer?  An article about Beer????   Beer drinking could be a dangerous sport.  Lots of elbow injuries from bending it too much. And there are beer drinking contests.   No...we are not talking about Beer.  We are talking about “THE TOUGHEST SPORT ON EARTH”---Professional Bull Riding. As bull riding in the Professional Bull Riders ( PBR).

It all started in January of 2006.  I was at a friend’s house and there was nothing on TV.  Was flipping channels and Bull Riding was on.  Knew nothing about the sport but because of the way the bulls bucked and threw riders off, I thought that maybe my friend’s Autistic son would like it.  (He likes things that spin or have movement.  Or things that are "chaotic”.  For example, sometimes he laughs when his cousin is disciplined and sometimes starts crying when that happens.  He has been known to say, "Call Nanny 911!”)

So, because of him, we started watching the sport.  He would actually sit and watch it.  That was not normal for him to sit in front of a TV for an extended period of time.  But when Bull Riding came on, we would call him and he would bolt into the room.  The more we watched, the more we liked and understood it.  Mainly because the announcers presented and explained the sport in an entertaining way.  As weeks went by, we got to know the riders and the bulls.  We each had our favorites.  In fact we enjoyed the sport so much, in 2007 we attended a PBR Event in Nashville, TN.  Met all the riders, got their autographs, and had a fantastic time. 

So, what is this PBR the Commish is talking about? 

The Commish's brain trust.

In 1992 a group of 20 Cowboys got together and pooled $1000 each of their own money to form a "league”.  The goal---Take the most popular event of rodeo---Bull Riding----and make it an event all to itself.   Pit the best Cowboys vs. the best Bulls.  Since that day, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) has grown significantly.  As a matter of fact, it is the fastest growing sport in the country.  In 1995, 310,000 fans attended PBR events across the nation. Today the PBR attracts over 1.5 million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure consisting of two divisions: 

There is the Built Ford Tough Series (comparable to the Major Leagues in baseball) and The Touring Pro Division (comparable to the Minor Leagues in baseball). 

Riders not competing in the BFTS will ride in the Touring Pro Division.  The Touring Pro Division offers up-and-coming bull riders and riders not competing on the elite Built Ford Tough Series the opportunity to compete in PBR-sanctioned events while earning money to qualify them for the BFTS and the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals.

So, when and how does a rider “move up” to the bigs?  The PBR site explains it this way:

After every five events, the PBR cuts the bottom 10 riders from the tour and brings in the Top 5 riders from the Touring Pro Division, and five other riders who are returning from injuries or have some other exemption. In previous years, there have been 40 riders on the BFTS tour and a rider had to stay above No. 30. This year, however, the PBR is dropping the number of riders on tour to 35, which means riders need to stay above 25th to remain on tour. It's important for the riders to perform well from the start of the season, but now it's especially important for the bottom 15 to step it up and get some points on the board.

In the PBR a BFTS Season usually consists of about 30 EVENTS including the World Finals in Las Vegas which is a 5 day Event.  Most EVENTS are 2 day but there are 1 and 3 day EVENTS. 

The rider with the highest point total wins an Event.  That is, the total scores of all the bulls he rode at an event.  Depending on where a rider places in an event he may receive BONUS POINTS which are counted in the OVERALL SEASON STANDINGS.  These do not determine Event Winners. 

Here is how EVENT SCORING is determined as stated in the PBR rules:

Riders earn points at each Built Ford Tough Series event based on three things: their ride scores, their finish in each round, and for their overall finish in the event.

The first-place finisher in a round receives 100 bonus points. Riders placing second through 10th receive points on a graduated scale down to 10.

For a two-day event, the Top 10 riders following Round 1 will advance to compete with one more bull the first night. Following the long round on the second day, the riders with the 10 highest scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, where they will compete with one more bull.

For a three-day event, the Top 10 riders following the long round on Day 2 will advance to compete with one more bull. Following the long round on Day 3, the riders with the Top 10 highest scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, where they will compete with one more bull.

The overall event winner is the rider with the highest combined score on all of his bulls.

This PBR isn't associated
with the PBR Mark likes...

The first-place finisher in a two-day event receives 300 bonus points; riders placing second through 10th receive points on a graduated scale down to 30. The first-place finisher in a three-day event receives 400 points; riders placing second through 10th receive points on a graduated scale down to 40.

 The rider with the MOST  POINTS (including their bonus points) at the end of the season becomes the WORLD CHAMPION.  It is NOT always the rider that wins the WORLD FINALS  EVENT.  He would be World Champion only if  he had the most points at the end of the season as well.  For example, if Paulie Sykes rode in the WORLD FINALS  and WON because he scored the most points in the EVENT that would NOT make him the World Champion UNLESS his total points for the SEASON were the highest as well. So, after the World Finals are completed, there is an EVENT winner AND a WORLD CHAMPION crowned.  The World Champion for the season receives a Gold Belt Buckle and 1 MILLION DOLLARS.

So, what is attending a PBR Event like? Just as there are player intros at a basketball game they have them at the PBR BFTS events as well.  The lights go dark.  There are fireworks, pyrotechnics, and smoke.  All of the Cowboys are introduced as well as the bull fighters, entertainers, and a few of the top bulls.  Also, there is music.  A different song is played for each rider while riding a bull.  One might think they were at a bull riding event and a KISS Concert broke out.  There are two arena announcers that call the action and explain what is happening as well.  It is just as the name implies: An EVENT. 

After the event riders will sign autographs for the fans and pose for pictures.  The Cowboys are down to earth.  To see what the opening of a PBR EVENT looks like, click here to view a short clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPOA-i23NNU&feature=related

The season started in January and since then the PBR has had 19 events. They are currently taking a break from competition and will return August 10-11 in Tulsa, OK.   After that event they will have 8 more events including THE WORLD FINALS in Las Vegas.

During this break from May 19 thru August 9, some of the riders will be riding in the TOURING PRO DIVISION Events to try and win enough money to make it back into Built Ford Tough Series Events.  Some of the Top riders will participate in order to make more money and solidify their position to qualify for the World Finals. Some riders will just rest their broken bones and try to heal-up before the next BFTS Event. Total Money Won determines who qualifies for the World Finals. 

 In an attempt to inform, educate, and maybe convert a few new fans to the sport, future articles will discuss various aspects of Bull Riding such as rules, equipment, and scoring methods.   Maybe even a human interest story or two.  Who knows, you may even get “hooked” on the sport. (pun intended): For those who do not know, “hooked” is when a bull rider dismounts from or is bucked off a bull, the bull sometimes goes after the rider or the bullfighter and attempts to hook the human target with his horns. This is known as being "hooked."

The next scheduled telecast of the PBR will be August 10 at 10pm on the CBS Sports Network and August 11 on the NBC Sports Network (Formally Versus) at 8pm. 

More on the PBR next week…….

Commish Mark


[...Thanks for the overview of the PBR Mark! Paulie wonders if we could get up a celebrity bull-riding event? We'd go with John Calipari (and hope he gets 'hooked'), Charlie Strong and state senator David Williams (hoping he'd get gored)...Maybe before a Lady Cards WBB game?...]


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We also extend our congratulations to Angel McCoughtry for her induction to the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. The ceremony takes place this evening at the Crown Pointe on Phillips Lane. Some of us remember when it was Executive West. 

Some of us also remember #35 as a freshman for the Lady Cards, playing for Tom Collen in Freedom Hall. Collen never would start her in her freshman season...but she'd come in off the bench and make an immediate impact on the game. 


We knew we had something special in the works with the skinny, never-say-quit freshman from Baltimore back in the fall of 2005. 

Almost seven years later...she's an WNBA superstar, member of the Olympic womens' basketball team and ambassador for Cardinal women's sports wherever she goes. She even dropped in to visit Jeff Walz's skills camp yesterday at Cardinal Arena to greet the campers and give an impromptu talk. 


That's our Angel...


Here's a link to the induction:


Angel McCoughtry to be inducted to Hall of Fame
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