After the Finals it was good to have a break because you were getting on the rankest bulls in the world – three or four a week – and your body is kind of sore, especially after you get on seven of them at the PBR World Finals.
It's almost like when you get off that last one you can take a deep breath.
I ride bulls for a living and I love to do it so you take a month and a half off you just get to craving it and you can't wait to get to the first event to get started again. It's something I love doing and I crave riding bulls so I was ready for the season to start last week in Baltimore.
I've ridden since I was five-years-old and that's 20-something years so when you take some time off like that you have to step in there and get the feel of it again. It becomes a repetition to be able to do it again every week.
To finish the first event in Top 5 I was pretty happy with myself. Actually, any time of the season I'd be happy with that.
But from when the Finals ended last year until the start of the first event this year all you hear about on the news is about how bad the economy is and how everything is so bad it is in the United States right now.
It was refreshing to go to the bull ridings and we sold out the second night in Baltimore and, I think, they've already sold out Saturday night here in New York City and it doesn't even start for two days.
It's pretty refreshing to see how popular bull riding is. We have all these other things to worry about, but it feels really refreshing to see how big bull riding is and how it's still growing.
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P.S. Boy do I hear you about the economy. Things will get a lot worse though. This is only the start of it.
I believe that one major reason is that the riders are so awesome to the fans. The riders are available and willing to not only offer autographs but also photos with the fans and the PBR after parties allow more one on one access. You can have the excitement of bullriding and not be that interested if you don't care about the individual riding.
Another reason is also the caliber of bulls that are available to the PBR.
The media is getting more involved with making interest grow over the sport and PBR is doing their job with making the interest turn into a fan addiction. After all, it is the toughest sport on dirt.
Looking forward to seeing that trademark smile, and a lot of excellent rides. Watching out for your bulls, too!
We were watching B'more and wondering if you'd got on any practice bulls. It's always a pleasure to watch you.
And, again, thanks for visiting Tidioute in '08, we were so pleased to have you.
Tidioutefan
northcentral PA
Congrats on making it back onto the top 40 list! [#39] Kick Ass this second half!
Joe Krivan