The New Cars? What the hell? And bull riding at the rodeo.

OK, they rock their asses off, but who the hell is that? is that Todd Rundgren? Damn. And I LOVE that opening and closing slide riff!

Had a great weekend with friends and family. Went to the Bell County Expo Center Friday Night and Saturday Night to watch the 83rd annual 4th of July Rodeo. Took dad to eat Chinese food Friday night and then we met some of my work buddies at the Expo center. Had great seats. It's not a huge rodeo, but the crowd was into it and the riding and roping was fun to watch. Very few of the bull riders spent more than a few seconds on their bull, but every once and a while one would get the crowd cheering. Dad had a great time, and loved talking to my friends. The riding was so lame, most of my friends declined to come back Saturday for "Bullapalooza", or all bull riding (no bulldogging, calf roping, etc.).

My new lady friend wanted to go, so we had dinner before at a little place in Killeen, and then we headed for the arena. We parked around back, entering the place from a side door, and I headed to the front to get our tickets. As I was going for the door, I noticed a familiar face coming my way. It was my aunt Billie John, who I hadn't seen in a decade or so. She was my uncle Punk's first wife (of 3 - the guy in the pink shirt in the 4th of July parade shots). My sister and I always loved her. She was our favorite aunt for many years. She and my uncle were our cool, young aunt and uncle, until they split up some time in the early '80s. She was once a big rodeo gal, barrel racer, and so I should have expected to see here there.


Here's a shot from a Wilson Reunion, some time in the late 70s. Billie John is on the left. Ok, left to right: Billie John, Punk, Aunt Betty (Sam's wife), Uncle Mack, Uncle Sam, my mom, and my dad. I'm the freakishly tall guy standing behind everyone, as usual.

We hugged and briefly got better acquainted. She asked me at one point if I remembered going fishing on their place when I was a little kid, and I couldn't believe she remembered it. I must have been about 4 or 5, and it was bliss. Dad sat me in a lawn chair and they put the worms on the hooks for me, and I must have caught 30 little perch. I'll never forget that day, my first fishing trip. We hugged and exchanged numbers, and I got to introduce my lady friend to her, which felt amazingly good. We hugged again, and then they moved on to get their seats and watch the rodeo. This sort of thing is a major reason why I love living here, and probably always will. After living away from my relatives most of my life, I now get to run into them at grocery stores, gun shows and rodeos. I love the hell out of that!

I got our tickets and we headed in to get drinks and good seats before the place filled up. We got great seats, and had a good time. The riding was not world class, but it's Belton, Texas for Christs sake, not Ft. Worth or Calgary. The money that is up for grabs isn't enough to attract the best riders or bulls, but it's fun anyway.

The show began, as last night had, with the flag and a lot of patriotic who ha. normally I wince at all this overtly patriotic spectacle, believing that patriotism is supposed to be a quiet, contemplative thing, but what can you do? Their show was very moving though. A beautiful female rider rode out into the arena with a flag, and sat there in the spot lights while some local singers performed a moving rendition of the national anthem.



I was amazed at how well they did, and how much it moved me. I'm a big softy, and I love the hell out of this country, so it's easy to get me goin'. Soon the bull riding began.



Junior riders, basically high school kids, started the night. Sorry if these pictures are a bit fuzzy. I'm still figuring out the settings on this thing.



These kids climb in carefully and mount the bull. Some of these guys wore cowboy hats, but some wore helmets and pads. My uncles and cousins who did this sort of thing were always beat up, with bad knees and back injuries, so the pads make a hell of a lot of sense.



They wrap their wrist on the handle of the harness that is tied around the bull, and signal the guys to open the door and start the ride. Meanwhile, other bulls are being herded into adjoining pins for other riders to mount. the objective is to ride well, holding on for 8 seconds. The best ride is upright, with the bull bucking wildly. When it's done well, it's an amazing thing to see. I have nothing but respect for these guys. I think they are some of the toughest men I've ever seen.



Normally, within seconds, the rider is bucked off and the bull is herded off through a gate and the next rider is getting ready. Here are some shots from the evening. A few are not bad.











Riders were on hand to herd the bulls back through the gate so that the show could go on. Some times the bulls would chase the riders and they'd lead them through the gate that way. Was almost as fun to watch as the bull riding.



At one point everyone took a break, and there was a wedding in the arena. A cowboy and his bride-to-be rode out in a beautiful carriage, rode around the arena, and then were married by one of our local county judges. Then as people cheered, they rode around the arena again and out of the place, with their family members in tow. Then there was an event called Mutton Busting.



They put helmeted little boys and girls on sheep, and have them hang on for dear life as the sheep are shoved out a gate. Most of the kids don't make it far, but a few had to be pulled off the sheep by the cowboys who were running the show.



Usually they slide down to the side of the sheep and soon hit the dirt. One kid only made it a few feet out of the gate, and when he hit the arena floor and picked himself up, he gave the universal sign, with both arms raised outstretched, that he wanted his daddy. His daddy picked him up and gave him a big hug, and the crowd cheered. The kid who rode the farthest came off the critter and pumped his fist in the air as he picked himself up off the arena floor. The arena crowd went wild. That boy's got a future, or at least a great memory to build on.

After the Mutton Busting, we were back to adult bull riding. These guys were better than the high school kids, but not much better.



This guy had a great ride, but because the bull didn't really buck enough, his score was lower than the crowd liked.



This guy had the winning ride. He came out of the gate, his legs down around the bulls chest as the bull spun around and tried to buck him off. As he passed the 8 second mark, he jumped off the bull and tossed his hat far into the air, to the erupting cheers of the folks in the arena. Finally we'd gotten to see something worth payin' for.



He went to retrieve the hat, and the crowd cheered again as his winning score was announced.



This shot turned out good, and this was a good ride, but not good enough to beat the earlier guy. The show ended around 10pm, with the awards and the winners check handed to the winning cowboy, and then it was a mad dash to get out of the parking lot and beat the crowd. I know a short cut, having been there many times before, so it was an easy time. We had a great time. Easily, the best thing about the evening, aside from being with my friend, was seeing my aunt and her husband. I'll have to call her and get together with them in the future. Hope you enjoyed the tune and pics. Try to have a great Monday. Cheers.