I feel that I shouldn’t but I have enjoyed watching the Pro Bull Riding on the television. It is back on the Free Sports channel. It is something that I never thought I would get into. It is all a bit redneck and cowboy for me and I have no history in any of these things. I am sure that it is also not great for the bull let alone the riders who get thrown about all over the place. At least they understand what they are getting into. The bulls must wonder what the hell is going on.
The problem with my guilty pleasure is that it is almost the ideal sport for the modern age. Each ride lasts 8 seconds if you are lucky. If the rider gets thrown off it is even shorter. This is just long enough to hold the attention of any self-respecting technophile. Between rides there is plenty of time to pick up your phone.
It is compact. Each ride is not much shorter than a snapchat. It is the sport for the twitter age, full of action, full of characters, exciting and unpredictable.
Of course there are rules and, just like Pointless, they are fairly easy to remember. Once you understand them then you can get into it. Stay on the bull for 8 seconds, holding on with one hand and the other is not aloud to touch the bull. Do so and the ride ends. Fall off and the ride ends. The rider and the bull are scored separately. The best riders who stay on the best bulls are the winners. Simples!
There are points to be gained and prizes to be won. The riders, the cowboys (they are all men) are mostly from the United States and South America, those countries that have large herds of cattle. Sponsorship is by macho products, tools and trucks, that sort of thing.
It is all alien to me yet I enjoy the spectacle. How wrong can it be?
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 