What I'm Currently Fascinated with

It's that time of the week where Mama Kat posts her writing prompts....The one that I chose for this week is: What are you currently fascinated with?

These are the Brazilian Bullriders on tour this year

Well I've always been fascinated with it but right now I'm big into my PBR (Professional Bullriding). There's just something about this:
2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi

Trying to dominate this:

2007 PBR Bucking Bull of the Year Chicken on a Chain

Right now I'm a little bit upset with the PBR because they axed the one event that I really wanted to go to this fall in Minneapolis....It's only 5 HOURS from my house. I guess there just might not be any live events for me this year.....No 2009 Dear Diary's. But the upside to that is that it gives me time to set aside money for trips next season or just a random trip.....It'll be really hard on me not going to any live events this year but life is rough all over right?


I'm going to be missing out on lots of this, I don't even get to watch it on TV because I work weekends and right now that makes me sad:

Oh and a LOT of THIS too:

I LOVE Butt Cam....It makes me happy. There's always next season right?! Hey maybe I'll even get a trip to Vegas in for the PBR World Finals who nows!?

A closer look at one of my favorite sports

How PBR bucking bull Chicken on a Chain got his name

Jeff Robinson tells the story best:

"Well, he was raised in North Georgia, where, at that point in time, seven to eight years ago, there were lots of people who had fighting roosters… anyway, there's all kinds of people that raise these fighting roosters, and they'll have them in their backyard or whatever, and they'll have them staked out. They'll have a little chain around their leg and stake those chickens out in a little pen. And he got out and got one of those roosters caught on his leg, so he drug this chicken around the yard for three or four days before they caught him."

And on that day, the legend was born: Chicken on a Chain.

NOTE: "Chicken" had jumped the fence and was trying to fly the coop.

Houston, We have Hotel!

As I've posted before, my friend Ashley and I are going on another one of our Girl Vacations to see our favorite group of guys...Our PBR bullriders/Cowboys extraordinaire. This morning I made hotel reservations at the Holiday Inn Express across the highway from where the event is actually being held. The nice lady at the desk who was helping me make my reservation was able to knock a $129.99 a night room down to $89.99 a night for us even (She's my hero right now). I am getting SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about this trip right now it's not even funny!

On another note, a couple months ago I rearranged my room and put my 2009 PBR Hunks calendar in a "safe place." Well it's now the 15th of January and I just found my calendar this morning. We almost had to declare a State of Emergency....It was pretty touch and go for a little while there.

In honor of the 2009 PBR season starting on January 2nd

Captian Enterprise - Flint Rasmussen

Some Sean Willingham

An Austin Meier action shot

Brian Canter's butt - I could not help myself

Robson Palermo action shot

Mike Lee action shot

This would be Ashley's favorite rider Matt Bohon hung up on the side of his bull

This is my mom's favorite rider Wiley Petersen in the short round of the Omaha Classic

My 'Girl" Vacation!!

I am finally going to get to go on my “girl” vacation! My friend Ashley and I have decided that we are going to go to the PBR event in Nampa, ID in April, we actually leave the end of March though.

The original plan was to fly out there. Now I'm pretty sure the plan has changed and we are going to be taking the Amtrack out there. It'll be almost a 2 day train ride plus an 8 hour bus ride but I think it will be worth it in the end. It’s a three day event and I’ll finally be old enough to rent a rental vehicle from the PBR’s sponor Enterprise Rent A Car. Ok, so I just found out as I was writing this that you only have to be 21 to rent from Enterprise but who cares at this point. I’m soooooo excited that I’ve already ordered Idaho travel information and a road map too. Ashley’s even been looking for things that she wants to do and sent me this yesterday afternoon. So I guess if we’re going to go and do this trip we’re going BIG!

I mean who wouldn’t want to go all that way to look at that or even some of this:

But as good as the “Butt Cam” is my favorite part has to be:

The introduction pyro….I come from a long line of pyro “maniacs.”

Don’t worry between the both of us there will be PLENTY of photo’s to go around to share with all the blogging peeps out there. Plus it’s going to be one heck of a “Dear Diary” too! Oh, I guess I should tell you all what “Dear Diary” is….everytime we go to an event or on a trip we write about what goes on before, during and after the whole trip….pretty basic readers digest version of what it is but hey, it works right?!

My friend Ashley's favorite bullrider won a pretty cool award

Wish upon a 'Star'

Coleman recognized for granting wishes

PUEBLO, Colo. (December 4, 2008) - Ross Coleman’s wish is simple.

All he hopes is that his family – wife Amy and son Cooper – remain healthy and happy, and achieve their dreams, whatever they may be.

But the 29-year-old cowboy from the Pacific Northwest is well aware that not all families are as fortunate as his. That’s exactly why – with a great deal of help from family and friends – Coleman has worked so hard to help the make dreams of the less fortunate become a reality.

Each year his professional and personal lives cross with the hosting of the Ross Coleman Invitational, a PBR-sanctioned bull riding event, in which all the proceeds are donated to charity. While the annual event is an enormous undertaking by itself, that isn’t his only charitable effort.
There’s an old saying that if you give you shall receive, and recently Coleman attended a banquet put together by the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon where, much to his surprise, Coleman was the guest of honor.

He was recognized for his continued efforts with the prestigious Katie’s Star Award.
“That was cool,” said Coleman, who shared the evening with his wife along with his parents Steve and Cathy, and his sister Bridgette Wynn. “There (were) seven or eight of us that went into the city [Portland] that night for a dinner and fundraiser they had, and the main award that night was the Katie Star Award. It was really, really cool to win that.”

“I’ve won some different awards with bull riding,” he continued, “but to win an award like that—I don’t know—it really represents a good deed. I really felt good about it.
“When I won that award it’s always going to be one of the most prestigious awards I’ve ever won.”

Coleman, one of the top professional bull riders in the world, is from Molalla, Ore., and according to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon, he has demonstrated a significant commitment to the mission of granting wishes to local children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Over the past four years, the Ross Coleman Invitational, which has been recognized as the PBR Sanctioned Event of the Year, has raised more than $127,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon.

Coleman has rallied fellow riders, the PBR and the entire Molalla community to support the organization, and more importantly, has shared the mission by hosting wish kids at the Molalla event each year.

“The people we work with work so hard and are so cool,” said Coleman, who aside from the help of his immediate family said his event wouldn’t be as successful as it is without the year-round effort of Kristy Wheeler and Lisa Banyard.

“When you work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon, it’s so easy because they work so hard and they put a lot of time and effort into helping us out with our event.”
Katie’s wish was to meet the Seattle Mariners and bring her little league team with her. Her story struck an emotional chord and touched the hearts of millions—in part because of ESPN’s “SportsCenter: My Wish” series.

Sadly, Katie lost her battle with cancer in 2007, but her inspirational spirit continues to influence the work of employees and volunteers of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon.
In her memory, the Foundation created Katie’s Star Award to recognize an individual that touches many lives and makes a lasting impact on the Make-a-Wish organization.

“It’s a special time,” said Coleman, who had a chance to meet Katie’s mom when he received the Star. “It was pretty emotional just talking to her. … I was pretty chocked up, at the time, to win that award.”

As it turns out, Katie, like Coleman, is from Central Oregon, and their families have many of the same friends and acquaintances. As fate would have it, Katie was laid to rest in a cemetery located across the road from Coleman’s ranch in Molalla, where he hosts the Invitational.
“It’s a small world,” he said.

Coleman’s heartfelt efforts have not only personally impacted these amazing children, but have also set an example for others—that they, too, can support this magical mission.

Originally the idea for Coleman’s own invitational came when he decided to try and help raise money for his friend Jack Peterkin, who was battling cancer at the time. The entire community pitched in any way they could, and Justin McBride, who won the Challenger event that year, donated his winnings – as did Coleman – to the fund. Even the stock contractors donated the use of their livestock.

“I think everybody that year realized it was for a good cause,” Coleman said. “Then the next year we made it for the Make-a-Wish kids and everybody showed up again ‘cause they had so much fun and it went for a good cause.”

It may have been a small community, but as Coleman pointed out they collectively made a big difference for “something that just made a lot of sense.”
In the years since, the event has served as a major fundraiser for Make-a-Wish, and when Peterkin won his battle with cancer, the following year he was steering a big Clydesdale-led wagon filled with Make-a-Wish kids in the back.

Ever the humble and gracious giver, Coleman – when not championing those who help him organize the event – even credited the weather. “It’s August and it cools off real nice at night … it’s a nice atmosphere.”

But make no mistake about it: There is something about Coleman – the intensity he displays as a bull rider aside – that simply inspires those around him to help.
Those who may not have had money to donate instead donated their time and effort by helping Coleman hang sponsor panels, put up hay for the bulls, work the grounds, set up the V.I.P. area and other jobs that required manual labor.

Just as Katie did before him, Coleman has touched the lives of many and, according to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon, “he truly models the idea of aiming to share the power of a wish with children we serve and with members of the community.”

“If we can put a smile on someone’s face,” Coleman said, “that’s what makes you sleep better at night.”

The 2009 Ross Coleman invitational is scheduled for August 21 and 22. For more information, log onto www.rosscoleman.com.
—by Keith Ryan Cartwright

Grand Rapids PBR Event Dear Diary

Disclaimer: This was written when the participants had not had a lot of sleep and at some points added alcohol to that mix as well. I apologize in advance.

Dear Diary,

Jesus was at the antique shop in Sauk City on Thursday! How cool was that!? Any way, current time is 12:02 pm, departure time 7:00 am, time spent in Illinois so far 4 hours! So we’ve almost died once on our way into a toll booth – Jamie was driving. I swear I didn’t see that truck….Toll booths are the DEVIL! Then we got “lost” but we weren’t really lost – MAPQUEST SUCKS! Then we had a serious Lightning McQueen moment and couldn’t find the interstate again, but we did eventually find it. Lunch at the Old Country Buffet in Tinley Park didn’t go so well either. First, Ashley had not one but TWO defective straws and I ended up wearing a bunch of swirl slop before I got any swirl ice cream. At 12:22 pm we crossed into Indiana! We are an extremely happy bunch of campers!

4:13 local time (Grand Rapids is an hour ahead of us), we’ve been in the hotel all of 8 minutes and hysterics have ensued. We were trying to get into the hotel from the parking garage and the sign on the door said “use room key to enter” so I did and was rejected ½ a dozen times, Ashley walks up to the door yanks on the handle and low and behold the door opens. So we meander towards the elevators and these guys from the PBR go in with us and while we were getting on I broke my flip flop. I leaned over and trying to have a private conversation with Ashley told her that “I broke my flip flop.” Not wanting to be excluded from the conversation one of the guys yells out “what the hell ya gonna do now!” and I had to be honest and say “I don’t know.” Then we got to our floor (3rd – same as our elevator buddies) and while I was trying to get off the elevator my bag tipped over and my concerned sidekick stopped me and tipped my bag right side up again. He’s my hero/the wind beneath my wings!

While I was running down to the truck for my camera and hair dryer (the stupid hotel one didn’t work!) I plowed into not one but two bull riders! One was Ashley’s close personal friend Tater Porter and the other was my now close personal friend Guilherme Marchi. My weekend is complete…….Almost.We left for the event at 7:00 pm and when we got to the arena our new close personal friend and my mom’s favorite bullrider, Wiley Petersen was signing autographs and taking pictures, so we got our pictures taken with him. I also got my 2008 PBR Cowboy hunks calendar! Again my weekend was almost complete right there too…….Almost. The event started right at 8 and as always Flint opened the show with a little audience participation with a guy named Bob (Aka “The Pretzel”). Ross Coleman was leading the round for most of the night with an 86.75 on a bull named Blue Chip. Side note: This bull has only bucked off one rider – Aussie Brendon Clark, who was given a lot of crap about it. He also tied Ross on to Blue Chip last night. There were only 13 qualified rides in the first round. The lead was taken from Ross by Chad Denton with an 87.50 on Semi-Automatic. Colby Yates and Matt Bohon bucked off.

After we came back to the hotel and after we ordered our Papa Johns pizza we chilled for a while in our room for a while and then went down to the lobby to meet Mr. Papa John. After we got our pizza we could not figure out how to get back into the hotel. It turns out it was after 11 and we needed our room keys. So we’re back in the hotel and on our way back up to our room when we came to these two rooms that were across from each other that each had a little ankle biter dog in it fighting it out to see who could bark the longest, when my hero from the elevator came by and started growling at the doors. A funny end to a “funny” day.

So during the day today….Waiting for what seemed like forever for the start of round 2. Ashley and I went and toured the neighborhood a little bit. We wanted to go to the art museum but it appears to be closed on Saturdays, then we went back to this pub called the Ottawa Tavern for some beer and fries. So after being rejected by the art museum I had the bright idea to go to the children’s museum right down the road. It would be something to keep us out of trouble for a while. It almost worked except for the million little two year olds running around the place. That’s when we decided to go to this mall about 15 minutes from the hotel and just hangout and kill some time. While we were in the mall I got the cartilage in my left ear pierced and we went and petted the Coach bags at the Coach store. Next year we’re gonna get a bag! We ended up killing almost 4 hours at the mall! Time flies when your having fun!

So yesterday I ran into Tater and Guilherme, today it was Cory Melton and Brian “Pee Wee” Herman and I smashed the crap out of there bags of chips. On my way back up to our room I found out the hard way that PBR Photographer Andy Watson and bullrider Rocky McDonald are in the room next door to us when they plowed into me. We were in room 310 and they were in room 312. Then Ashley decided it was time to go down and watch the guys go off to work. She saw Brendon Clark and Luke Snyder (who tied the record for the most consecutive events in Grand Rapids – 197 is the record set by JW Hart) take the skywalk. While I was checking to see if the internet was free I saw Adriano Moraes, Travis Briscoe, Guilherme Marchi, Robson Palermo, Renato Nunes and V. Oliveria. When we were getting in the elevator to come back up to our room to get ready for the event we found out that Ashley’s future husband Matt Bohon is also on the 3rd floor (room 325). Ashley is breathing again and her heartrate is getting back to normal.

Round 2, The night started off with more audience participation from a prison guard named Mike. I regret that I have to print a retraction. Matt Bohon did indeed ride his bull last night for 83.5 points. Mike Lee and Austin Meier cut in front of our seats on there way back to the chutes after their autograph signing at the US Army booth (both are sponsored by the US Army). We met the next generation of American GI Joes. Pyro that scared the hell out of me. Then we got to the bullriding, the first flight was not real eventful, a lot of buck offs. Second flight, Tater Porter got plowed over and bull fighter went flying through the air. Sean Willingham rode Mohegan Sun for 86.25 points. Then Aaron Roy took the lead. (end of sentence) Then during one of Flints routines during a television break the announcers put baby powder in his hat. Then Matt Bohon bucked off. (end of sentence) Allan Moraes was seriously injured when he was stepped on. Then came the guy who resembled Mike Lee but the real Mike Lee (please stand up) was being strapped to the back of a bull. The only three time champion Adriano Moraes bucked off again. Guilherme also bucked off his bull. Wiley Petersen rode his bull but was offered a re-ride which he accepted.

I’ll be right back….pitstop!

Flint came out in his camo outfit, and became the horse whisperer to the safety man’s horse. But the horse kept trying to bite him thinking he was hay, cause he really did look like hay. Wiley Petersen rode his re-ride and was offered a re-ride on the re-ride which he got a score of 83.50 on. Jason Bennett was hurt. Then “Lilly” (Aka Justin Mcbride…It’s what Ashley and I call him…He’s not our favorite) attempted is bull and ate dirt. He was also hurt during his ride. But because Jason was hurt and could not compete any further Lilly made the short round, which upset Ashley, but because he too was hurt and could not compete any further that made Ashley happy. So Steven Shelly made the short round, and ended up third at the end of the event. The curse of Grand Rapids prevails!

Halftime was uneventful. (end of sentence) Short round was eventful. Flint came out in his rent a tank and was going to “bomb” the building with it. LJ Jenkins rode Dr. Proctor for 86.50 points. Ross Coleman on the other hand came with in .3 seconds of a making a qualified ride on Red Ant. When he realized he had not made it he proceeded to headbutt (thank god for helmets) the ground and shout and angry expletive throughout the building. Agnaldo Cordozo won the event with an 82.75 on Mud Flap. He does not speak any English (he’s from Brazil) at all and it was his first BFTS event.After the event was over Ashley and I headed down to the Jeffery Steele fan booth were Travis Briscoe, Guilherme Marchi, Cory Melton and Dustin Hall were signing autographs. I got everyone’s autograph and a picture with Guilherme (we touched) and Ashley got her picture taken with Cory Melton (they did not touch). We had to come back to our room to calm down a little bit, then we decided to order another Papa Johns pizza (they do NOT have Cheddar Cheese in Grand Rapids Michigan!). We made a run down to the truck to get our six pack of Bud Light and our string cheese out of the cooler. On our way back to our room the bag we put it all in “peed” all over Ashley, apparently the string cheese had taken on water. When we got back to our floor we saw Rocky McDonald come around the corner, his key was not working to his room. So we got back to our room without any more catastrophes happening and put the beer on ice and Ashley cleaned herself up. A little bit later we decided to go down to the lobby to wait for Mr. Papa John. At the elevator we saw the Cowboy Holy Grail! An elevator FULL of riders, Adriano Moraes, Chad Denton, and Guilherme Marchi to name a few. Adriano is in room 330 and tried to kill us both with his luggage on his way out of the elevator. Meanwhile, in the lobby we saw Renato Nunes, V. Oliveria and Agnoldo with big check in tow, Brian “Pee Wee” Herman, Tony Stewart….I mean Mendes was checking out – he brought his own pillow with horses on it, Kasey Hayes and Tater Porter also.

Badgers beat Iowa 17-13. Denny Hamlin won the Busch race at Dover and Matt Kenseth was third. It took us 8 hours to get there and about 6 ½ to get back. That’s weird isn’t it?!

Chicago PBR event Dear Diary

You’ll have to keep in mind that we were running on not a lot of sleep, not a lot of food in our tummy tum tum’s and were also not running on all cylinders either!


We left for Chicago about 10 am and when we started out we were playing “I Spy” until we got to Illinois….But the “I Spy” was Illinois so we had to stop. We almost died three times when I ran three stop signs (that I did not see) with in two minutes and within a few feet of the hotel. Well we’ve been in Chicago for about 1 hour and 35 minutes. Having a blast!!! (we spent a lot of time looking out the window into the parking lot for cowboy hats or the “welcome wagon” full of PBR riders) Yeah! Saw LJ Jenkins while checking in…..Fashion Report is: Baseball cap, Shorts, White T-shirt and flip flops carrying McDonalds! YEAH!


Hotel’s television sucks so we went down to the lobby(for Cowboy sightings) and watched Travis Briscoe float in pool, watched Helton Barbosa (with girlfriend/wife – she’s wearing rings the really expensive kind - in tow) and Guilherme Marchi (with family in tow) check in.…..Tandy even checked in while we were down there and gave Helton some advice/hand gestures about ordering a shoulder brace. Shortly before we came back up to the room (which is very nice by the way!) we saw both a wet “Pee Wee” and Chris Shivers. Traffic not so good but all flights in and out of O’Hare are running on schedule. There is a plane making final approach as I am writing this.


Ashley ran into Brian Canter….LITERALLY. He was in his bathing suit carrying a handful of towels and he was sprinting down the hall. I saw him as he was making final approach to his room he’s a funny little guy…wish he had a better weekend though!


6:00 pm we watched a bunch of the riders go off to work from our hotel window. Travis Briscoe (knew it was him cause of the shirt he was wearing and the “macaroni” in his hat!) was one of the for sure ones the others not so much.


Well at the event this evening Helton Barbosa won the round with an 89.00 on Sports Machine. No major wrecks that’s always a good thing. Wiley Petersen rode his bull tonight….he’s another $5,000.00 richer thanks to Enterprise Rent A Car…They’ll pick you up ya know!? Cory Rasch rode his bull also and the big bonus is that he DID NOT get hurt YET!!!


We went down to the bar for a little bit then decided to go back up to our room and wait until it was a little later in the evening. The highlight was that we were on the same floor as both the Moraes brothers and ROB SMETS (10th floor). We rode in the elevator with ROB SMETS….How COOOOOOOOOOOL IS THAT!?!?!?On our second trip to the bar I got off on the seventh floor thinking it was the lobby and Helton Barbosa and his girlfriend/wife happened to be getting on the elevator at the same time and the rest of the way down they looked at me funny. We also saw Ross Butt and Bohon Butt too. Ashley had a little bit too much to drink. Cory Rasch thought that I was some Erin…I’m not complaining. Colby Yates and Jake McIntyre were cranking out tunes on their guitars. Justin McBride was TRASHED and absolutely hilarious. Ross Butt was good as usual.


Round 2 action was pretty good! Well the event started out with Ashley giving the ticket guy the wrong ticket and drove all the way back to the hotel and tore the room apart only to find that her ticket for the second round was in her other back pocket! No really MAJOR injuries….Ross Coleman did get a boo boo though. We hope he’s alright. Cody Hart won the round with an 88.5. Chris Shivers was second in the round with an 88.25. Wiley Petersen is another $5,000.00 richer…He rode Ross Coleman’s bull Dakota Country. Flint broke his brat launcher today….bad news there. Flint also did the Boneless Chicken routine…Hilarious! The Battered Salmon routine was good also! Then on our way out I embarrassed myself and slipped and fell on the floor….I got an 82.5 with the option of a re-ride! Bruises forming on both knees quite nicely!


Rounds 3 and 4 were quite eventful…. Opening ceremonies were AWESOME!!! The new generation of GI Joe’s were inducted into the Armed Forces this evening. Then they welcomed home some veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom! Kyle Cudmore won the round with a 87.75 on Chili! Andre Moraes had a major hangup on Shane…He got his spur caught in his flank strap and he did a whirly-gig for at least 4 or 5 rotations. Guilherme came in second and he danced…..He shook his groove thing and all is well in the world! Cory Rasch came in third and he got hurt (no surprise) but played through the pain….YEAH!!!! Austin Meier won the event!


After Party….. $5.00 for a beer…..and I thought $3.00 at the hotel bar was bad! Ashley grew some cajones and asked for a picture with Ross Coleman. Austin Meier has a little tiny hindend….we found that out the “hard” way! Colby Yates cranked out some more tunes on his guitar! Ross Coleman smells really good (that’s directly from Ashley who got up close and personal with him).


Got “home” from the after party to find LJ Jenkins and Brian Canter sitting in the lobby on the really comfy cozy couches….Great finish to a great weekend!!!

Minneapolis Minnesota PBR event Dear Diary

Minneapolis was AWESOME!

ROUND ONE: The first night the airline lost Flint’s luggage on a DIRECT flight from Montana…I wonder how THAT works? Flint’s “thing” for the night was the Olympic games…the luger’s especially! Oh but then again there was “I’m a clownboy, on a steel barrel I ride, Wanted Dead or Alive!” The PBR also did an AWESOME tribute to Greg Crabtree….complete with Brad Paisley’s song “When I Get Where I’m Going.” Rob Smets wasn’t there…he had a prior engagement – Dylan’s basketball tournament. Frank, Dennis, and Joe did a great job as usual protecting the cowboys. Cody Whitney won the round with a 91.25 on Joe Simon’s Cooter. My traveling partner and I realized that Brian Canter is a TINY little thing. We are talking they should call him “shortstack” short.


ROUND TWO:Flint found his luggage and all was right with the world again! Guess what?! Santa Claus is a closet PBR fan….I know this cause he was at the last night of the event. We sat in front of a VERY intoxicated woman who would not shut up. Betcha ya can’t guess which bull won the round for Travis Briscoe? COOTER!!! With a 90.25! That Cooter has got fire in his belly if you ask me. Well because of the New Years party my traveling partner and I cut out at the intermission to make sure that we got our tickets….BIG MISTAKE…we were there about an hour before every one else. Heard through the grapevine that Matt Bohon won it…confirmed it when we watched the short-go on Sunday night.


AFTER PARTY:OH MY GODDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had so much fun!! After we got our tickets and our VIP card to get complimentary drinks we processed to inhale as much Bud Light as humanly possible – we didn’t pay for a single drink that night. Sunny Ledfurd was AWESOME. Nothing like a couple hundred drunkish (not everyone part took in adult beverages I’m sure…I did though) people singing “Family Tradition.” Ross Coleman and his girlfriend Amy started the dancing off right….looking at him you wouldn’t think he’d be that great of a dancer but he’s pretty good. Jake McIntyre did a pretty decent version of “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound”. Brendon Clark and LeAnn Hart are both very good singers. Flint (without his makeup) did a stirring version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”, it was AWESOME!! A lot of the bull riders are very good dancers. Saw Chris Shivers having WAY too much fun celebrating his birthday. Mike White is a pretty decent dirty dancer. My traveling partner, Ashley, won a pair of Rocky Boots. Tater Porter helped her pick her number that won her the boots (she had to pick a number between 1 and 100 – the number was 35 and she picked 9). Then Gerardo Venegas asked her how she picked her number…..I missed what his reply was cause I got run over by Evan Rasch…Then not long after that I ran into Cody Hart. For a guy how had the flu JW Hart was having a great time. Edgard Oliveria was at the party too….He looked really out of place…but he drinks Bud Light. Guilherme Marchi was there also with his little girl Manuela….She’s SOOOOOOOOO CUTE and daddy isn’t bad looking either. Andrea Moraes is a Bud Light drinker too….He had his little girl at the party too….Very cute little girl…Must run in the Moraes gene pool – the cute gene I mean. Must go falling off my shoes.

Columbus Ohio PBR Dear Diary

The event that I went to was Columbus OH. My friend, my grandmother and myself drove 10 hours straight to go this event. My friend and I went to pre-event party in our Wisconsin gear and were told that “we had balls” wearing that stuff in Whiskey Dicks that night. Was a great time my friend tried to take out Mike Lee with an air hockey puck. I ran right into the middle of a group of PBR riders on my way to the bar (Most of them are taller in person - like I have to look up to talk to them tall). Got tipsy played some more air hockey and attempted a game of pool (that was a disaster - couldn’t tell which ball was the real ball or where the pockets really were). The following day just seemed to drag on FOREVER….we decided to have White Castle burgers for lunch (was NOT impressed at all), then after the White Castle disaster we got some ice cream to ease ourselves on our way back to the hotel. Know being as this was my first LIVE event I really didn’t now what to expect so I was pleasantly surprised when the first person that we saw at the beginning of the event was Mr. Flint Rasmussen wearing his red apparel because Ohio had played Michigan State that day. (Flint 4 President 2008)…I’ll be honest I went to see Flint but the bull riding was good too….LOTS of excitement (Pyro and all) AND we got lots of autographs…EVEN Adriano Moraes. Second night the exctiting ride Travis Briscoe made on LYJ and then LJ Jenkins winning the event that made the whole day worth suffering through.

Save a horse ride a cowboy!

I've always had a little bit of a "thing" for cowboys. I don't really know what it is that draws me to them but it's become borderline obsession now. Now, there is a particular group of cowboys that I like....Officially they are known as Professional Bullriders and they (and the sport in general) are the reason why my friend Ashley and I are spending 2 days on a train going all the way to Nampa, Idaho in April to see them. Oh and then there is another cowboy that "does it" for me too, who will be introduced later in this post.

Now let me introduce you to some of my favorite sights/cowboys/bulls of the PBR (oh and at the end the other cowboy that "does it" for me as well.):

The two photo's above are of my favorite bucking bull, Troubadour

This is Guilherme Marchi, he's from Brazil and the scar on his chin is HOT!

We're going all the way to Idaho to see a whole LOT of the above photo.

And a bunch of this guy too!



Oh and have I mentioned that I LOVE the zoom feature on my camera....Which brings us to "BUTT CAM!"

And we're going to be drinking PLENTY of this: But as much as I love the "Butt Cam" and the beer I have to say my favorite part is right at the beginning:Oh and that other cowboy who "does it" for me:


Let's put it this way....I would have seen Ghost Rider a heck of a lot sooner had I known Sam Elliot was in it. Is it weird that after I hear one of his "beef it's what's for dinner" commercials I start jonesing for a steak? There are worse things to be "addicted" to right?!

Jamie