Colton’s Corner: Living a childhood dream

OP/ED

During my offseason when San Marcos and Texas State go on their summer breaks, I use the opportunity to cover local rodeos in Hays County.

When August comes around, I start my transition into covering both the Rattlers and the Bobcats, with volleyball and soccer starting their seasons before school starts.

So after covering both the Wimberley Memorial Day Rodeo and the Wimberley VFW Rodeo, I thought my rodeo season would be over. But then I was thrown a curveball.

The Professional Bull Riders Team Series tour was making a stop in Austin for the weekend as part of Austin Gambler Days.

After receiving some emails from the PBR, I made the leap and signed up for a media credential to cover the event.

For me, the PBR has a deep connection with my childhood. Growing up with a ranching family, you become familiar with the sport of rodeo along with the ins-and-outs of the business.

My family ranch, the UF Ranch, would compete in what is called a “Ranch Rodeo,” where local ranches compete in events such as team penning, wild cow milking, ranch bronc riding and calf branding. Then later in the rodeo season, we would watch bull riding, which captivated me the most at a young age.

In fact, one of my dreams was to become a bull rider. But due to lack of opportunities to compete - on top being told flat out ‘NO’ by my mom, grandmother and all of the women in my life - this dream didn’t come true.

The concept of bull riding is a simple one. A rider must stay for eight seconds on a bull in order to make a qualified ride, which is then judged on the quality of the ride, with 50 points being available for the rider and 50 points being available for the bull. Average scores range from 80 points to 89 points while exceptional rides go into the 90s.

But the danger level is the added element of bull riding which makes it the main event of the rodeo. No one in bull riding escapes unscathed. There are hundreds of stories of bull riders dealing with some of the most horrific injuries only to come back and keep on riding.

Being introduced to bull riding at an early age, it immediately became the sport I gravitated to. I would stay at my grandparents’ house overnight just to watch PBR and see riders like Justin McBride, Chris Shivers and Adriano Moraes attempt to conquer bucking bulls such as Little Yellow Jacket, Mossy Oak Mudslinger and Blueberry Wine.

One of my core childhood memories of the PBR was watching Chris Shivers take on Little Yellow Jacket in what was built up to be the ‘Million Dollar Ride’. Shivers was a two-time bull riding world champion while Little Yellow Jacket, my favorite bucking bull, was a three-time world champion.

The event was hyped throughout the day and my excitement was through the roof as I watched with my parents. Everyone believed it was going to be Shivers’ night as he studied his opponent. However, it turned out to be Little Yellow Jacket’s night.

As the chute opened, Little Yellow Jacket made a last-second change and dumped Shivers over his head in a two-second ride. But before returning to back to the pens, Little Yellow Jacket faced the crowd to seemingly acknowledge his accomplishment and bask in his glory.

But despite all the PBR I’ve watched on television and the toys I collected over the years, not once have I attended a live event. Sure I had attended several bull ridings and rodeos, but to see the highest level of bull riding in person to me was a fever dream and something I didn’t think I would ever experience. Until last weekend.

Though I was on-duty taking photographs and conducting interviews before and after the bull riding, I couldn’t help but get a little choked up.

Years of watching the PBR before I fell out with the sport due to my other interests, mainly high school and college football, and here I was watching the event live in person. My six-year-old self came out once more, giddy to see the bull riders and the bucking bulls clash with each other.

Though the PBR has changed slightly with the introduction of the Team Series, the sport itself hasn’t. At its core, bull riding is still the battle between man and beast, and who can conquer the other.

So to my seven-year old self who spent hours in front of television watching bull riding, wishing he could see the PBR live in-person, “we did it cowboy.”