Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Sandy has laundry day----today the Commish cleans out the Bull Pen

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-The Commish is in the bullpen.


-The Flying Cardinal.


(We thank you for your comments on the series of bull riding articles that Mark the Commish has been posting over the last two months. Today's final in the series covers ownership, bull-fighters, wrecks and girls. 


Add a few chimps, beverages, bananas and Poobah and it sounds like a typical night around CARDINAL COUPLE Worldwide after Sonja and I have left for the day.) 

Would you like to own a bull ?  There is a new Turn-key ownership Program sponsored by the PBR and American Bucking Bull Inc (ABBI) called the Back Seat Buckers Program.  If you have the money, you could own a competitive bucking bull and become a Stock Contractor. Once you own the bull, the ABBI will do the rest.  They will house it, feed it, take care of it, train it , etc.

Basically, it is an auction and there are only 100 spots.  To obtain a spot (sold on a first come first served basis) in the auction one needs to cough up $3500.  An auction spot ensures the right to bid on a draft position at the Live Draft and Back Seat Buckers Auction held at the PBR Iron Cowboy Invitational in March 2013. A draft position will dictate when the buyer (contractor) will be able to pick their bull(s).

Minimum bid for a draft position is $1000. Once the bull is bought, you will need to fork over another $3600 to the ABBI for feeding and housing.

Here is how the competition works: There are 100 top-rated 2-year-old Futurity bulls (plus alternates) in the program. They will be competing for $500,000 in prize money this season. They’ll buck in four regular season events, and at the World Finals in Las Vegas in November. These animals are still babies and will buck only four seconds with a 25-pound weight aboard.

This years bulls will buck at 4 PBR BFTS events across the country and the World Finals:

Event 1: Pueblo Invitational Pueblo, CO May 18-20, 2012

Event 2: Tulsa Invitational Tulsa, OK August 11, 2012

Event 3: Thackerville Thackerville, OK September 1 , 2012

Event 4: Springfield Springfield, MO September 15, 2012

Final Event: Las Vegas World Finals Las Vegas, NV October 23, 2012

Final Event: Top 5 Return Las Vegas, NV October 27, 2012
  

Here is a list of some famous people that bought bulls this year:
John Elway, Wayne Gretzky, Reggie Jackson, Bear Pascoe, Chad Ochocinco (who recently got married and changed his name back to Chad Johnson) and CBS Sports' Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.  Thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert and Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens also got into the act. (they named their bull Silverbulletday) He bucked May 19, 2012 and scored a 61.  Didn't place in the money.  All the bulls are scheduled to buck again August 11.

If you got the "bucks" and want to buy a bull, here is all the info on the program.  Auction spots for 2013 are available August 1, 2012.

http://backseatbuckers.com/home.html

The Bull Fighters

Sometimes during or after a ride things go wrong. A cowboy gets his hand caught in his rope, or he may get stomped on by a bull.  This is called a wreck. When this happens, the ones who save the day are the Bull Fighters: A bullfighter's job is to distract a bull when a bull rider either bucks off his bull or dismounts after his eight-second ride. The distraction provided by the bullfighter gives the rider a chance to get back to his feet and out of harm's way.

Bull Fighters get hurt too.  According to one of the top Bull Fighters--Shorty Gorham:  "Broke my shoulder, blew out my knee, broke a leg and an ankle, broke ribs, broke arms, separated both shoulders and separated my sternum … but it’s part of the deal. None of them are serious injuries. It’s just a part of it. You gotta know that going in that there’s going to be some broke bones. We’re like the Secret Service guys. If things are going well you don’t notice us, but when things go bad, we’re there."

Watch as retired 5 time World Champion Bull Fighter Rob Smets explains what Bull Fighters do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Swn2XwmpI&feature=related

Wreck, Wrecks, And More Wrecks:

When there is a wreck, the Bull Fighter will usually save the day. Here is a video of the top 10 Wrecks of 2010.  There are some squeamish moments so watch with caution. Due to some violent content...Parental Discretion is advised.  As bad as some of these wrecks are, all the Cowboys lived to tell about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WnYZxhOV1w&feature=relmfu

Let's hear it for the Girls:

One of my articles featured Women Bull Riders.  One was about 13 year old  Tayler LaFlash of Plantersville, TX. Recently her Grandmother wrote Cardinal Couple with more information about her and an update on her status:

"My Granddaughter is Tayler LaFlash and at age 9 she started riding the mechanical bull at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. She did this for 2 years. At age 11 she entered the Grimes County Fair N Rodeo Steer Riding and won her first buckle in 2009. That was her first time on a live animal. We are so proud of her accomplishments and we stand behind her 100%. Good luck at World Finals, Tayler. Ride Rank!!!!!"

Looking forward to seeing how her career develops.  Hope to see her riding in the PBR someday.  I'm sure with her will and determination she will be a success.

Kallie Kautzman

A female Bull Rider that missed being mentioned in the article was Kallie Kautzman.  I found out about her because her stepdad emailed Cardinal Couple and mentioned she rode bulls as well.  I did some research and here is her story:

Kallie Kautzman is from Bismark, ND and has been on the Bull Riding Circuit for about 5 years. She has won several prizes and  events including the 2008 Little Bull Riders junior championship and 2009 Mandan Horse and Saddle championship. Every event she has won was against Men---or should I say young boys.....and I almost forgot to tell you---Kallie just turned 13.

What does Kallie think about competing against the boys?  She says, "It doesn`t feel natural being around all boys, not really a girl thing but it`s okay."  And what is in the sport for her besides prizes like trophies or Belt Buckles? Well, as Kallie says,"You win money".

Kallie's stepdad who was brought up in Rodeo himself got her started in the sport.   Kallie was watching her brother ride a Bull and decided she wanted to try as well. Turned out she was a natural and rode him pretty well.  She has been riding ever since.

It seems Kallie is going to hang up the Bull Rope when she turns 14 because the Bulls get bigger and stronger. Have no fear--she will continue her Rodeo career by concentrating on her true passion of Barrel Racing.

Best of luck in the future as well Kallie.

This concludes my series on "Everything you wanted to know about bull riding but was afraid to ask".  Although Bull Riding does not fit the profile of "Cardinal Sports", since Paul gave writers free reign to write on any subject they wished sports related, I chose Bull Riding because I knew about it, and wanted to share with readers the different aspects of a  sport that  no one would think that WOMEN participated in.  I figured that most may not know much about the sport and would be interested in learning something new.  Even I learned some new things about the sport researching the articles: I never knew 13 year old girls rode bulls. I know Bull Riding is not everyone's cup of tea, but I never was a fan until I actually sat down and watched it on TV. Then I attended two live events (Nashville and Chicago).

PBR viewers have an average household income of $66,000, and 40% are women; 70% own their own home; 53% attended college and 68% own a computer. The PBR has more crossover with NASCAR and with the NFL than with rodeo. So, why not Cowboy Up and take in a PBR event?  You can watch it on TV or attend a live event.  It is really a family orientated event. Lots of things to do and see. And tickets prices would fit into anyone's budget. Ticket prices range from  $10, $25, $35, $50, $75, and $100. Events usually last about 2 hours.

Here is the PBR BFTS Event schedule with ticket and TV schedule info:

http://www.pbr.com/en/bfts/schedule.aspx

And the level below the BFTS--the Touring Pro Division schedule:

http://www.pbr.com/en/tpd/schedule.aspx

Note: The Touring Pro Division usually has a stop in Louisville each year--they were here February 24-25 at Broadbent Arena.  The Touring Pro events don't have as many "bells and whistles" as the BFTS events but it is Bull Riding with some of same bulls and riders that are on the BFTS Tour.

Commish Mark


( Mark will check back in from time to time with "bull updates". We've currently got him scheduled for women's sports duties and also to see if he can ride the offensive and defensive linemen on UofL's football team or guard Asia Taylor and Sara Hammond for eight seconds. Stay strong, Commish!)  


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The first FLYING CARDINAL has been introduced by UofL Director of Social Media Nick Stover. His first episode includes guests we know and love here at Cardinal Couple...Howie Lindsey and Charlie Springer. 


Charlie's got a link to it at his site...UofL Card Game. Link below.


Card Game

You can follow Nick on Twitter as well. We're checking into the legalities over contacting him and seeing if he'd like to challenge the Commish to a bull-riding contest or taking the staff chimps out for Bananas Foster and bowling. 


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