The Re-ride Option
I love to watch professional bull-riding. When I hear the PBR version of Gary Allen's "Get Off on the Pain" start to play, I know that several young men are about to risk their lives on the backs of a ton of wild beef to entertain me. And maybe win a nice buckle--and some really big cash.
These guys only make money when they can stay on the back of a very irate bull for 8 seconds. But as the commercial reminds us,
"8 Seconds is a Lifetime."
Sometimes things don't go as expected. The bull stumbles badly, runs into a rail, or does more running than bucking. This is when the rider looks for the red flag thrown by a judge, indicating that he can ride another bull, in hopes of a better score. If you watch PBR, you know the re-ride option is likely when the guy with the clipboard is talking to the cowboy. The cowboy prepared well, but the meeting didn't go as planned, so to speak.
You and I don't get a re-ride option. We ride the bull 8 to 12 hours every day, and we never know what to expect from it. Sometimes our bull leaves us thinking, "you gotta be kidding!," but I can't recall a single time when I was told, "we're really sorry about what we dished out to you today, it won't count--come back tomorrow for a re-ride..."
If we want the buckle--if we want to make it to the "short round," we have to be on top of our game every day, no matter what the bull does.
These guys only make money when they can stay on the back of a very irate bull for 8 seconds. But as the commercial reminds us,
"8 Seconds is a Lifetime."
Sometimes things don't go as expected. The bull stumbles badly, runs into a rail, or does more running than bucking. This is when the rider looks for the red flag thrown by a judge, indicating that he can ride another bull, in hopes of a better score. If you watch PBR, you know the re-ride option is likely when the guy with the clipboard is talking to the cowboy. The cowboy prepared well, but the meeting didn't go as planned, so to speak.
You and I don't get a re-ride option. We ride the bull 8 to 12 hours every day, and we never know what to expect from it. Sometimes our bull leaves us thinking, "you gotta be kidding!," but I can't recall a single time when I was told, "we're really sorry about what we dished out to you today, it won't count--come back tomorrow for a re-ride..."
If we want the buckle--if we want to make it to the "short round," we have to be on top of our game every day, no matter what the bull does.
posted by Duane Olcsvary at 6:28 PM
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