No, this has nothing to do with NASCAR. After thinking about that statement, maybe it does. Many years ago I was a bull rider, hence the (xbulrdr). No I don't ride anymore. It hurts too danged much-I'm 43-but I have a story to tell if you are willing to listen.
I had been ridin' bulls with full permission from the military-I guess I didn't get enough punishment from them so I had to find more.
I entered up in this county fair rodeo and it was beautiful country in the Virginia country side. I went and did my business about paying my fees, finding out what bull I had, and asking what the local cowboys knew about the bull. I was told, "he's a good 'un Shorty, he'll come out and spin right there". Good deal-my adrenaline is up and need to settle down-I already prepared my gear-rosined my rope-checked my spurs-chaps are on-glove hangin' on my rope-said my PRAYER.
I'm going to the stands and sit with my first wife and watch the the show till it's time to go to work. I'm just sitting there and I start hearing whispering above me. It's from a child to her her mother. She was saying, "Momma that's him. That's shorty-let him be honey-Momma that's him-honey don't bother him." I turned around and said, "yes m'am I am shorty". I was shell shocked-the little girl had a picture of me riding a bull at another rodeo and just wanted to talk to me. Her mom told me that she had pictures of me all over her room-she was 12 years old-I did not know how to act-so I sat and talked and answered her questions the best I could-she was heart broken when I introduced my wife at the time-she tugged on her mom's arm and said, "Momma, he's already married". I did not know what to say.
We continued to talk as the bull ridin' neared. This was my first bull ridin' since my GRANPA had passed away-my unit had taken up a collection for money so I could go home and present my GRANMA with the flag since he was a WWII VET-that hurt.
I wanted to ride this bull for my GRANPA. I said my gotta goes as they wished me luck. I did my routine of stretching and checking gear till they loaded the bulls-heart check-adrenaline rush-my bull's in chute number 1.
He's loaded and I get a cowboy to help me drop my rope and I get a feel of his back with my butt-checkin' to see if he's cranky in the chute-in other words, is he gonna try to kill me in this metal cage. We're good-just one problem-I ask Jason why you cut off his left horn? the right one is about 2 and a half foot long-wassup with the stub on the left? "Shorty he was pickin' off too many cowboys with that horn," ThanX for that info Jason-specially since I'm gettin' on 'im-lol-Jason was the contractor-owner of the bull-let's go play....
I'm on and gettin' tied in-smile on my face-adrenaline-blood pressure-I hear the announcer state ,"coming out of chute # 1 is your number 1 cowboy in the standings". I had no idea-I did not know that-I really did not-I had 2 seconds to process that and then I nodded my head-in half a heart beat I'm out in my playground on top of 1800 pounds-2 jumps and he turns back to that right-left free arm flies over my head to keep my butt in the center-keep spinnin'-keep diggin'-keep throwin' that free arm- you got a good seat- keep tryin'-hear the roar of the crowd- focus-keep tryin' -buzzer-you made it- keep tryin' he's still spinnin'-pulled my rap, pushed back onto his butt, and let him throw me away from the hell of the spin-bull fighters got the bull in the pen, I waved my hat to the crowd, and hit my knee to THANK THE LORD.
no these pics aint me-just wanted to show you a bit of something.
Great stuff! I think this does have alot to do with Nascar - particularly when it comes to dealing with the fans. I think for the most part the Nascar drivers are open and genuine with their fans.
I used to race motocross when I was growing up, and it's always fun to remember the races and the tracks and getting butterflies in the stomach while I was lining up at the starting gate. The crashes aren't all that fun to remember, but hey, it's all part of the sport.
Thanks for sharing a bit of perspective on bullriding...from the rider's point of view. Looks both exciting and dangerous at the same time. I bet you were handsome up on that bull!
525-you won't believe this-yes you will-I had a Yamaha IT 175 as a teenager-I hit a jump way too fast and hard-I landed in a tangled mess-did not know what I was doing-I did not respect the power-my buds pulled the bike off of me and I sold it the next week-I took up safer sports-Marine Corps and bull riding-lol-lol-thank you for your time.
Hotfoot-I don't think so-it don't ring a bell-if you ever met me, you would never forget me-lol-at least that's what I've been told-good, bad, or ugly-I miss those days but I can't do it anymore-pain hurts the older you get-lol
Gerrel-thank you-I lost my last comment-I tried to look good, but I tried harder to ride that monster I was on-I had plenty of hooves land right beside my face on the ground-It's all part of it-if you want to ride bulls, you accept things others can't fathom-I got a story for later about the scar between my eyes-lol-If you can't accept it, don't put on the boots-plain and simple-lol-take care and thank you
photo-heck-you already know I'm not hittin' on all eight cylinders-I never used a face mask,(roll cage), and I quit using a mouth piece cuzz it got on my nerves-I couldn't hold my mouth right-like Bill Dance fishin'-lol-be good my friend
Again, another awesome and heartfelt blog by you. As bc525 said, I see how this relates to any sports star relating to his/her fans. You've always taken the time to be patient with me and relate to me in a down to earth fashion. I appreciate you and the fact that you take the time to let us know about your life. Best to you as always!
vol-thank you so much-I can't ever tell you enough how much I appreciate it-the government is slowly beating me down-it hurts bad-they wouldn't do this if I still had a weapon and ammo-they wouldn't do this to any of us if we were still allowed to fight-the only danged thing any of us did was our job-and now we are left with pain and anger-
I'm sorry to come across so harsh-I luv Y'all
Last edited by xbulrdr8 on October 15th at 7:11 PM.
xbulrdr
Way to go cowboy ! Hell it's not something that I'd be of the mind to do. But kudos to you. My thing is getting into the ring to for 5 to 10 minutes of head on muy-thai fighting. But then I'm crazy like that !
abritishman ............ aka tophatal
Last edited by abritishman on October 16th at 10:10 AM.
bleed-been there-done that-liquid courage-hurt and didn't want others to know my pain-pop the pain killers and wash it down with a few bottles of liquid courage before you get on-unbelievably, I rode most of those bulls-it's a crazy world
abritishman-I wish we would have met years back-I believe we could have showed one another some useful stuff-lol-years ago, hell right now, I'd step in the ring with you: even though I believe You know a tad bit-I think it would be fun-what most people think is hell, military people enjoy-I KNOW you could show me a few tricks- I got a few things stored away as well-lol-be good my friend-
xbulrdr
I don't get that much time now but I do workout when I can. I try and teach two or three times a month when it comes to the martial arts. But on the weekends when I'm not working it's about tutoring the kids that I've got on my roster. It's something that I enjoy immensely.
However I don't feel I could've gone into teaching fulltime.
I don't feel that I've got the patience to teach middle or high school students fulltime. Let alone teach at the college level.
I'm somewhat disappointed that the Rays lost last night. They've placed themselves in a must win situation if they're to erase this deficit.
There'll be times when I know that I'll just have to look and stare at myself naked infront of the mirror. So says Kelly Monaco. Now who'd question that predeliction ?
abritishman aka tophatal ..........
Last edited by abritishman on October 26th at 2:30 PM.
As for the Rays the drubbing that they took at the hands of the Phillies seems to have placed them on their last legs. I certainly don't see them being able to defeat Hamels tonight. Especially if he's on top of his game.
And with the disappointing offense provided by the Rays in game 4. It'll be hard seeing them overcome another solid performance by the Phillies and in particular Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels.
