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PAT VASQUEZ-CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL A bull named Mud Flap, who is owned by Sandie Bonsall of Minneola, Kan., awaits his turn to buck a rider Friday night at Tingley Coliseum.
PAT VASQUEZ-CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL Cody Hart is thrown from Roper's Broke Leg after his eight-second ride at Tingley Coliseum on Friday night. Hart landed hard, but walked away with a tip of his hat to the crowd.
Pain Is a Large Part of Bull Riders' Game
Albuquerque Journal - 04/01/2006
by MICHAEL BENIASH Journal Staff Writer
In bull riding, competitors often suffer broken collarbones, fractured fibulas and facial injuries. Sometimes an injury will result in death.
The list goes on and on for riders in the Built Ford Tough Series Professional Bull Riders tour.
Friday night at Tingley Coliseum, 47 of the world's elite riders, excluding 13 who are sidelined by injuries, took to the dirt for the first round of the three-day Ty Murray Invitational.
They were dodging disaster with each passing moment.
Cody Hart, who scored 86.5 points out of a 100 on his ride Friday, was on for eight seconds. But then he was bucked off Roper's Broke Leg by way of a high-arching backflip. Hart landed hard but tipped his hat to the jam-packed crowd.
"Unfortunately, two to three riders will probably end up in the hospital this weekend," said Dr. Tandy Freeman, who is the traveling doctor at each tour event.
For the men who compete on tour, pain and suffering are a common part of the game.
"This is our job and it's an exciting thrill of a sport," said Ty Murray, the president of the PBR, for whom this weekend's event is named.
"It's like a running back in the NFL not getting back up after taking a hard-nosed hit. Our job is to make something that is so hard look flawless and that challenge is addicting. That's why riders come back."
But in bull riding, it's not if you get hurt, but when and how bad.
"We treat probably one injury every 15 bull rides," Freeman said. "So over the course of the weekend of about 150 bull rides, that's quite a high percentage."
According to Freeman, the most common injury is a concussion. The most common reason for hospital visits are facial fractures.
Legendary rider Tuff Hedeman, the co-founder of the PBR who retired after a 14 years in 1997, didn't end his career without a major injury. In '93, Hedeman suffered a neck injury after being bucked, but returned one year later.
In '95, Hedeman went facefirst into the horn of Bodacious, a now-retired bull. The impact crushed Hedeman's cheekbone in 11 places, which required six hours of reconstructive surgery. But he returned to the sport six months later.
The most tragic event in PBR history, however, occurred in the 2000 Ty Murray Invitational after veteran rider Glen Keeley took a fall. After landing on the dirt, the bull stomped on his chest. Keeley stood up and walked out of the stadium, but later died at the hospital because of massive internal injuries.
He is the only rider to die as a results of injuries in a PBR event, although other documented deaths have occurred on other bull riding circuits.
For every rider who attempts to survive a thrill ride, there is always a chance for catastrophe.
"Fear is in the back of our heads," Murray said. "For every guy, before every ride. If you don't have a little fear, you have to be a little off in the head. But it doesn't change our mind-sets."
Murray, who started this event in 1997, grew up in New Mexico and had a 14-year career, but missed three full seasons because of injuries.
"I've had surgical repairs on two shoulders and two knees, but just one concussion. I'm kind of lucky," he said.
But it's eight seconds of glory the rider craves. And if the goal is reached, the feeling overshadows the pain.
"When you ride for eight seconds it feels like you've conquered a beast," said L.J. Jenkins, a Texico native. "You feel like you've done your job. It's unbelievable."
