Hi Everyone

I was curious if anyone watches the PBR on TV. I watch bull riding occasionally but not all of the time. However this past weekend I went to Baltimore and saw them in person. I have too admit the pBR put on a heck of a show and the riders themselves have a tremendous amount of class as athletes. They stayed for about 90 minutes after the show signing or posing for anyone who wanted. They didn't stop until they had seen everyone. Don't think you would get other athletes to do this.

Hainvg been there in person I think they have a new fan and viewer.

Tony

PBR: Pabst Blue Ribbon, I was confused at first.
Then I see you were referring to Professional Bull Riding. PBR is out of my frame of reference. We all have our pastimes.

I do not know anything about professional bull fighting except when they show the running of the bulls on TV in Spain. Eventually, they end up with a weekend of bull fights after the big run. Not my thing but thanks for the heads up. I am out of the loop on this one.

Hey, Tony, we may not agree on PBR but thanks for waking up the threads. We need more variety & energy.

EDIT/FOOTNOTE: My kids and I also frequented the monster truck shows, and WWF/WWE, they had fun meet & greets. Old memories with the kids, fun times. Guess I did not connect the dots w/ PBR.
But like I said, I have no frame of reference for PBR. Have always had fun w/ the kids at truck or monster car jams. Those were the days........Making memories

like tony, i tune in on tv occasionallly, but i have seen the PBR live 3 times, and never have i been disappointed. he's right, too... they stick around and greet the fans, answer kid's questions, etc. cool thing to take the family to. the times that i visited in person, i was impressed with the atmosphere... not what i expected... they keep the language clean, and such... and it's fun to watch. both the riders and the bulls go all out the whole show... totally worth the ticket price.

and tony, as far as other sports that do the "meet and greet" afterwards.. i have found that the drivers of the Monster Jam show are equally accessible... you can even get the kids free rides in one of the trucks... if you're looking for a local happening... (monster jam doesnt really thrill me, but the kids love it annually... can't say the husband complains too much either. lol)

Could you please, for the upcoming talking points, provide your definition of Athlete? I am being serious.

Hi Community

Actually bullfighting and bull riding are two different things. Fighting is the guy with the red cape and the bulls can get killed. Bull riding you have some young cowboy trying to stay on the back of the bull while doing certain things for 8 seconds and the bulls are not killed as they are too valuable.

Tony

Tony says:
"Actually bullfighting and bull riding are two different things. Fighting is the guy with the red cape and the bulls can get killed. Bull riding you have some young cowboy trying to stay on the back of the bull while doing certain things for 8 seconds and the bulls are not killed as they are too valuable."

LOL. See, I knew I was clueless. And now all know it on that count. I actually like rodeos, we went to those when we lived in Nevada. We loved it. So, I guess it is the wording that threw me. Thanks Tony. Now the various posts make sense. I was hung up on the guy w/ the red cape.

Hi Burn

Your right about them keeping it clean. The only thing are some of the sponsors are alcohol or tobacco related. The riders themselves do try and keep it clean. We even went to the Sunday morning church service for the riders, their families and the fans. I was very surprised how many of these "cowboys" are very devout in their faith. They were telling us that a group of 13 of them had fasted for religous purposes for 3 days the previous week. That is almost one third of the riders on the tour. I knwo very few other christians who take their faith that seriously.

They are an interesting group and certainly not what I expected.

Tony

Bent actually the PBR does refer to the bulls as athletes also. I will answer yours and Patton's questions at the same time. Bull riders are athletes in my opinion because they use:

1. strength- to hold on as you put it
2. agility- try to get off of a moving spinning animal while untying your hand
3. coordination- they have to keep their free hand from touching the bull as it is moving or jumping or they get disqualified, they have to stay holding the rope (they get disqualified if they let go) and they have to spur the animal on for points, they can't just dig their heels in to hold on.
4. strategy- they have to predict what the bull is going to do by past experience and try to anticipate what they are going to do now. Much like a baseball player looks for a fastball vs a curveball the rider has to decide is this bull going to spin left or right, is he going to jump up or run. There is a lot to it.
5. They put their lives at risk much like race car drivers

To do everything they have to do and maintain control in that short of time they are very skilled. As I said the rider just doesn't "hang on" he works hard to stay on that bull and to rack up points.

Tony

Rodeo riders: Athletes

I see that as an easy comparison. I ride horses and I have to maintain a moderate level of strength, agility, & coordination to stay on the horse and communicate with him. If I did not focus, I would end up on the ground. That would hurt.

Am I an Olympic athlete?, Heck No!
I would imagine a professional rodeo rider would be a highly skilled and motivated athlete. They have a lot to consider, including financially, physically, and mentally. A rider of a bull would need to be in top form, to participate in the level of endurance needed for such a physical contest. This parallels what some classify, as athletic abilities.

EDIT: We would enjoy talking about bull riding. Lord knows I need a refresher as I was a little scattered. More PBR...

Ok so weight lifters, rowers, boxers, wrestlers and the like are not athletes then by your definition? I guess we will agree to disagree.

Very narrow definition. I'm sure some real athletes would like to talk to you and show you how athletic they are.

So are you here to talk about Tony's topic, or just pick at the people you don't like?

At least Bent is staying on topic.

Unfortunately, I have nothing to say about PBR, having no interest in it.

Carry on Tony.

Ok, I missed it, were did you say how long your athletic self could last?

Let's please keep to the topic folks, and not turn this thread into another members bashing members topic.

Were has it gone astray?

Or is this more of the same, I'm being serious and not trying to be flipant.

Interesting. This is a classic, man vs. beast contest of strength.

ha. i root for the bull too. in fact, all of the riders, trainers etc that i have spoken with ( not like it's THAT many... lol) will agreee that the BULLS are also considered professional athletes, and should be treated as such.