It's Pronounced Dee-Moyn!!

Before Friday night's show in Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend, I offered in-house announcer Brandon Bates $50 dollars if he would say, "Des Moinz, this is not a rodeo...!" He refused my cash, and rightly so, because it would have scarred his reputation for life. There just seems to be a lot of extra s's floating around in there. Of course, this is coming from a guy who lives in Choteau: pronounced Shodoe.

My first time ever to Iowa was a great weekend. Des Moines is a very classy city, and the Wells Fargo Arena turned out to be one of the most beautiful facilities we have performed in. I very much hope we go back next year, but, then again, it's not up to me. I know there are a lot of fun "activities" that go on at the host hotels across the country, but I did not stay at the host hotel this past weekend. I was at the Hotel Motel Holiday Inn, and was a little intimidated by the Shriner Clown convention going on there. You know you've hit the big time when you spend your Friday night in the Holiday Inn Lounge drinking merlot with clowns while they make everybody balloon animals. Creepy...but true. You could tell when the clowns started to drink too much because they were popping more balloons than they were twisting them into the shape of...well, I couldn't tell what anything they made was.

Oh, ya, I should talk about bull riding a little bit, I guess. Gizmo is a stud. Marchi extended his lead in the standings with ANOTHER win. Good for him. I read some comments posted on another blog about being a fan of his or not. Those debates are what make our sport great, but I will say this. He is a genuinely great guy, and he would make a great champion. The cool thing is that you fans debate back and forth about which riders you like better. I never take that for granted, because the foundation of my career was pro rodeo, where the cowboys don't really have a fan base. Sure, there was always a Ty Murray, Joe Beaver, or Fred Whitfield, but, in general, the cowboys at regular season rodeos were pretty anonymous. So keep the debates up, but go easy on the people that tend to cheer for the Americans. I cheer for Americans at the Olympics because I just think I should. I'm pretty neutral in the PBR, though, because I've gotten to know most of them personally. It's a fun bunch of guys from South America, and I would be thrilled if there was some Marchi Madness come November. Do you notice that it's mostly the ladies that love the Brazilians? Hmm, I wonder why?

By the way, Kasey Hayes broke a vertabrae and Austin Meier is alive and well. We sometimes shrug off wrecks that look like the one Austin was in as "part of the sport". But I can say from a personal standpoint that they never get any easier to watch. Those are our friends out there and we have to continue on with the show. No Fun.

The topic I've been thinking about this week has to do with the tours that exist in the PBR. I had a note to myself jotted down on my desk, then someone asked me about it on the PBR Primetime radio show last night. (Thanks to everyone who called with some great questions and comments, by the way!) For the bull riding fans who aren't "die-hards" or PBR regulars on the website or telecasts, I think it can be a little confusing. When an event is sanctioned by the PBR, it doesn't necessarily mean it is a Built Ford Tough major league event. The Challenger, Enterprise, and Discovery Tours are where cowboys earn money to qualify to be on the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS). Last summer there was an Enterprise event near my hometown. Some people who went commented to me that since I only do PBR's, I should have been there. If it is a BFTS event, yes I WILL be there. That's what my contract says. I do choose to perform at some minor league events, but I contract independently and I don't do very many of them. I go to places like Denver, Cheyenne, Pendleton, and some others because it is a way to keep a connection to some of the rodeos I used to do. There is a chance that some of the top riders will be at these smaller events. If there is no BFTS event on a particular weekend, the riders are free to enter down into the other tours. Places like Pendleton, Cheyenne, and Ross Coleman's event in Molalla are incredible stops. Bozeman ain't bad either. The fun thing about doing some of the other tour events is the fact that we are not so dictated by TV and sponsor obligations. If you want to see me cut loose and really get down, catch me at a Challenger event somewhere.

It's sure nice to have a weekend off. This time of year it starts to get harder and harder to head to the airport. Our next stop is a one-night stand in beautiful San Antonio. If you're kicking around if you should go or not, it's worth the price of admission just to go into the Alamo Dome. You could fit my whole town in there. I'm not talking about the people in my hometown(pop. 1800), I am literally talking about my whole town. Watch for me travelling with two beautiful blondes. That would be my daughters Shelby and Paige, ages 9 and 7. They get to go with me while their mom travels to Cloverdale, B.C., to compete in the barrel racing at that rodeo. It's right near Vancouver, and I'm sure she'll show the Canadians whose boss.

Be sure and check out great merchandise at www.pbrstuff.com. Some of you have asked about a DVD of my performances, and you can get one at that site. It's called Bulldiculous, and features performance footage as well as interviews with me and the people I work with. It's a sort of behind-the-scenes look at the World Finals, so check it out.

Thanks for being fans and for having a passion for our sport. It does not go unnoticed.

Laugh Always, Flint.