Audio By Carbonatix
At a time when skateboarding godfather Tony Hawk is as much a celebrity as pro baseball player Tony Womack, all things “extreme” seem to be taking over 21st-century sports, and the once narrow definition of “athlete” is being expanded to include anyone willing to go faster, higher and harder, with no fear.
What’s next? Try extreme rodeo.
Wait — don’t roll your eyes about the modern spin on an old-fashioned competition. The Justin Boots Bucking Thunder Tour is coming to town to prove a point, in case you’ve never actually seen what these guys and gals do. These rodeo events are some of the original extreme sports, beating out BMX and snowboarding by generations.
Champion bull rider Cody Hancock, a native of Taylor, Arizona, explains the challenge and raw thrill of riding a kicking, twisting, pissed-off bull: “I weigh 150 pounds, and I’m getting on something that weighs 2,000 pounds,” he says. “You’re expected to be able to ride that bull for eight seconds, and the odds of that happening are pretty unbelievable. To be able to do that on a consistent basis, you really have to get good at that event.”
And sure enough, the folks who participate in Bucking Thunder are exceptionally good — they’re the best at what they do. “If you look at our roster, it’s a who’s who in the world of rodeo,” says Alan Jacoby, president of Ovation Entertainment and creator of Bucking Thunder. “We have all of the reigning and former world champions competing.”
Four events make up Bucking Thunder: three in the “rough stock” category (saddle bronc riding, bareback riding and bull riding), plus an all-ladies’ sport, barrel racing. According to Hancock, they’re the four most popular and exciting events of traditional rodeo. Twelve riders compete in each, and the top three contestants from round one compete for the championship in round two. At the World Championship next month in Denver, the final stop on the tour, the 12 highest-scoring riders in each event will hang on for dear life for a chance to win a chunk of the $300,000 in prize money.
Bucking Thunder started only a year ago as a one-shot Phoenix event; it’s grown into a four-city series, with more cities to be added next year. That success is more impressive when you consider that last year’s debut was three weeks after the terrorist attacks. “We didn’t know if we would be able to do the event,” Jacoby says. “The entertainment business was really in transition. Then the NFL came back, and baseball came back, so we decided to go ahead.” With around 11,000 fans showing up, Bucking Thunder’s debut sold out America West Arena.
The night was a stunning triumph for Hancock. “People just went nuts, me being from Arizona — and I won!” For a cowboy from small-town Arizona, it was a truly sweet victory.
