the mommy avenger

Without question, the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) is one of the best live events you can attend.  From start to finish it’s pure adrenaline and entertainment. If you’ve been, you know first hand. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and get tickets the next time it’s in your town. You don’t understand what you’re missing until you go. This weekend, we, and the rest of the attendees at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, were thrilled to get to see it up close and personal.

The event places the 40 best riders in the world against the top bucking bulls in the world. If the rider stays mounted for 8 seconds without touching their freehand on the bull, the rider receives a score. If they fail to stay mounted, no points are awarded. For those new to the sport, a score in the 80’s is good, high 80’s is great, and 90’s is phenomenal. Over a two day event, the competitors have one ride each night and the top 12 move to the final round where they have one additional opportunity to collect points. After all the grit and hurt, the dust settles and a winner is crowned. 

Everytime the event comes to Salt Lake City they put on a spectacle. Among one 90 point ride, there were several 88+ point rides. The competition was fierce and led to riders taking some serious spills and hard hits. The whole arena was on the edge of their seats each time the riders nodded their heads and the chutes opened. There is no room for error on top of a 2000 pound animal with that much power. Within milliseconds you can go from being on top to being on the ground underneath which is not where you want to be. 

As dangerous as bull riding is, and it is very dangerous, the grit and passion of the riders is something to be admired and appreciated. From the National Anthem and opening prayer to the crowning of the victor, there is an immense feeling of unity between the crowd and the competitors, which is something you don’t find very often. It’s a pleasure seeing these riders live life to the fullest, 8 seconds at a time.

Once again, if you have a chance to attend a PBR event, take it. It’s an event like no other, and one you won’t soon forget. You can follow along for updates of this season as they tour the country by visiting them online.

^{*we were invited to facilitate a feature, all opinions are our own*}