Let’s talk bull riding! Namely, the Professional Bull Riders tour stop in San Angelo next weekend. 80 bull riders, led by Clayton Williams of Carthage, are expected to tie on to bulls weighing up to 2,000 pounds with hopes of pocketing their share of big bucks. Not that Williams needs the money. He leads the PBR’s Copenhagen Cup standings with $530,000 in 2008. Williams loaded his pockets with a half million dollars at the Copenhagen cup finals in Oklahoma City earlier this year. The 22-year old also won $215,000 at the same event in 2007. He’ll join Bryan Richardson of McKinney in the coliseum arena. Richardson has won $112,000 on tour this year and currently sits second in the Copenhagen cup standings. Another notable name is Mike Lee. He’s due up Friday night. He’s currently in seventh place on the main PBR tour with over $69,000 in winnings. Our PBR committee will design the coliseum in a more ‘fan friendly’ arena. Bucking chutes will be set on each end of the arena. There will be four segments of bull riding each night. The top 10 riders each night will compete in the short go. The gates will open on an equal number of rides from each end. There won’t be a bad seat in the house! It’s different, plus there’s pyro starting the show and live music on the fairgrounds. Clearwater will play Friday night with Hyatus occupying the entertainment tent on Saturday. Good tickets are still available, but moving at a brisk pace. You can purchase your tickets at the stock show office, 200 W. 43rd St., or telephone 325-653-5622. Tickets are also available at Blair’s western wear and Elite Physique. Prices range from $15-$35. Plus, on Saturday night, some lucky bull riding fan will walk away with a pair of tickets to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas Oct. 31st-Nov. 2nd. It’s a great way to start off the Memorial Day weekend with top notch bull riding and entertainment!
What does crab fishing, monster truck driving, gold mining, logging and rough necking have in common? All are a part of a new reality show called, “World’s Toughest Jobs”. The Hollywood production rolls into San Angelo and the 1st Community Spur arena on Tuesday, May 27th. The public is invited to be a part of the audience as bullfighters put a number of novices through the paces of saving cowboys from raging bulls. The team of bull fighters helping with the production and teaching the contestants is a who’s who of bull fighting circles. Joe Baumgartner, Frank Newsom, Shorty Gorham and Miles Hare with teach the contestants how to navigate around the arena during actual bull ridings. They’re led by the ultimate arbiter of bull fighting, Rob Smets of Merkel. The retired professional bullfighter determines which contestant is eliminated from the show.
“We’re going to rub fenders, according to Smets, using a NASCAR analogy. He also plans something special on the last day of filming. We’ll find out how they really like the bull fighting game.”
Smets said, “bull fighting may be more dangerous than the other occupations featured on the show. Bull fighting is unpredictable. You don’t know what kind of wreck can happen.”
He said his involvement started with a call from the PBR. Smets then went to work procuring stock contractors, bull fighters and riders. He even suggested San Angelo and the spur arena. “The stock contractor and the riders are from the Abilene and San Angelo areas. It gives us a chance to promote our part of the country,” Smets added.
Smets is inviting everyone out to the 1st Community Credit Union Spur arena for the taping on May 27th.
A former San Angeloan roped his way past some of the top names in calf roping two weeks ago in winning the Joe’s Boot Shop calf roping in Clovis, NM. Shank Edwards, now living in Levelland, bested a field that included world champions Cody Ohl, Joe Beaver, Monty Lewis, Fred Whitfield and Stran Smith. The 24-year old Wall high school graduate roped four calves in 40 seconds to win by three one-hundredths of a second over NFR qualifier, Mike Johnson. He pocketed over $7,100 for his efforts. In other notes, San Angeloans Fred Hernandez and Frank Cranek won the double mugging event with a time of 29.16 seconds.
And finally, San Angelo and the Spur arena received a pat on the back when Quarter Horse News interviewed top cutting horse trainers. Robert Rust complimented the Spur, show management and San Angelo when picking his favorite arena. He should know good ground. The Gordon resident has over $1.7-million in career earnings.
- Perry Curnutt, San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Marketing Director