http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml Home of NPRA Bullfighter of The Year Trever Hamsher: News Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:02:14 -0500 http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/734d2a99b0c81c484fe00f86a76b6cf0_471ace8d.writeback Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:59:09 -0500 Want to receive max. advertistment for your dollar?? Want somebody to promote your bussiness or product that will go the extra mile for you??? Look No More!!!... Sponsor NPRA Bullfighter of the Year,Trever Hamsher.....Look at Sponsorship Opp. Sheet in Photo's........or contact him at 541-620- 9751 or e-mail him at bullfighter_67@hotmail.com http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/82b72697bf96ec62a64042c0bba9c7da_471acb22.writeback Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:44:34 -0500 NFR Bullfighter Helps Young Boy Fullfill Dreams By: Lindsey Wyllie What does a young boy living in Eastern Oregon dream of becoming? For Trever Hamsher of Prairie City, OR, his dream was to follow in the same field as his Father, Jim, in the exciting world of Rodeo. Trever and his sister Vanessa were taught to rope and ride horses as soon as they were able to wear Wranglers. Both are very talented with a rope and have won quite a number of buckles between them. As most kids of ropers growing up around arenas, Trever was either in the back pens pushing and loading roping calves and steers into the roping chute, or he was at the other end of the arena at the stripping chute removing ropes off the cattle. In fact, this was his first "real" job and he used the money he made to buy a Mini Bull named "George", whom he had bought from Bob Burril, a local Prairie City cowboy. This is where Trever's life plan really started to take it's course. Oh sure, he had played with ornery roping steers in the pens, teasing and dodging their attacks, but now he had a real live bull to practice some bull fighting moves on. A strong desire overwhelmed this so called "scrawny" young lad and he started laying down some serious goals for himself. This all started at the ripe old age of 9. Many hours were spent playing with the new pet, trying to touch George's nose and move out of the way, just like he had seen the bull fighters do at the National Finals Rodeo on TV. It was only a short time before Trever and his dad would haul the mini bull to an arena and the real practice would start. A small stuffed turtle, dubbed Franklin, was tied on to the back of the bull in the bucking chute. Then Trever would get in position and when the chute gate cracked open, he would run in to save the fallen rider from harms way. Throughout the rest of the roping season and while working the ropings, there was always a "snorty" steer in the bunch and this steer would be stuck into a Round Pen that had eight foot high solid walls. Just like the old adage when tossed into a body of water, you either learn to "swim or sink", the same went for Trever. He had to learn how to avoid being run over by a charging bovine. Now it wasn't like he wasn't being carefully watched by the onlookers for his safety, and they soon became amazed at his grace and lack of fear. It was then Trever had made up his mind to become a professional bullfighter. A bucking barrel was constructed from an expelled plastic jalapeño barrel. This was hung between a couple of trees by ropes. Then, while his dad would make the barrel jump up and down, Trever would run in and practice his techniques and moves to free a cowboy that may be hung up. Again Franklin, the tattered turtle, was always the poor victim that needed to be saved. Fortunately for Trever, Franklin never became a great bull rider and Trever had lots of practice. The next order of business was to build a bullfighter's barrel. Still at the age of 9, he realized that his barrel looked plain and seeked out sponsors to help him decorate his safety haven. It wasn't long before the barrel was looking very similar to the ones the pros were using. But the sponsorships didn't end there. He soon had national sponsorships due to his making calls and following up with letters. Local sponsors helped him to by his first safety vest. The next year at age 10, the Hamshers went to the Baker County Fair in Halfway, OR as Vanessa was competing in the barrel racing. Trever walked up to the stock contractor, Billy Stevens, and asked if he could fight the steers in the steer riding. Stevens said it was OK and a career was launched. The next gig was back at home during the local fair as Trever handled the duties in the sheep riding, calf riding and steer riding events picking up other small rodeos as well over the course of the next two years. At 12, Trever, again following his sister, this time to Sublimity, OR where she was competing in the Jr. Miss Rodeo Queen Pageant held in conjunction with the Santiam Canyon Stampede, a PRCA Rodeo. Trever met up with Billy Stevens' son, PRCA bull fighter Tim McNarie who had also watched him at Halfway. Tim was so impressed with Trever's' abilities. That he introduced him to John Stroop, who had mini bulls bucking during this particular rodeo. Trever asked if it would be alright to fight his mini bulls and Stroop agreed. A good relationship ensued and Trever was asked to go and fight the mini bulls at the Mini Bull World Finals held in Gooding, ID. In an effort to further hone his bullfighting skills, Trever tried to reach a number of the PRCA bull fighters to inquire about bullfighting schools. Trever was able to contact 6 time NFR bull fighter, Darrell Diefenbach, by phone. Darrell told him that he didn't have any schools planned at that time, but he would take Trever's phone number and call him if he scheduled any. Two days later the phone rang and Darrell told Trever that he would be fighting the Caldwell Night Rodeo in a couple of weeks and invited Trever to fight the Jr Bulls there. During this time Darrell worked with him giving him tips and critiquing his abilities. Trever and his family were invited by Darrell to the NFR in Las Vegas as his quests a short time after the first meeting. He attended the PRCA awards banquet Diefenbach, who was a nominee for Bullfighter of the year, and Miss Rodeo America. At this time Trever had made up his mind that he someday would stand in the shoes of his mentor, the Australian born, Diefenbach. Keeping in mind all of Trever's' dreams are unfolding to him at the age of thirteen. Over the next two years Trevor continued to fight mini bulls for Stroop and made a couple of trips to Azle, Texas, home of Diefenbach. While there Darrell worked with him on his skills as they watched tapes of Darrell's performances. Upon returning home, Trever started contacting stock contractors to schedule some summer work. Through Rusty Gorham, a former PRCA bull rider, he was hired to fight Oregon Junior Bull Riders Association shows. He also contacted The Howell Rodeo Company in Crow, OR, and was hired to work the Prineville High School Rodeo when a bullfighter failed to show up and the he was able to showcase his talent to Jerry Howell. Trever was then hired to fight all of the NYRA (National Youth Rodeo Association) rodeos in Oregon and Northwest Washington. At age fifteen, young Hamsher applied for his NPRA card, but needed letters from NPRA approved stock contractors and bullfighters. Howell Rodeo Company, Diefenbach, and Ryan Wilson, who is a PRCA, and PBR bullfighter, each contributed letters of recommendations. The board of directors for the NPRA approved him and Trever became the youngest bullfighter in the organization. Trever was contacted by the legendary PRCA stock contractor, John Growney, to work an NPRA show in Hillsboro, OR. It was there that Trever had the opportunity to work with PRCA bullfighter Eric Layton, and try his hand with Professional quality PBR bulls. Trever has performed in several clown acts in the Northwest with Diefenbach, Joe Baumgartner, Mark Swingler and Flint Rasmussen. Trever says "He is not a clown, he is a bullfighter. The difference is a clown entertains and a bullfighter saves cowboys". Howell Rodeo Company hired Trever to fight bulls at all of their 2007 NPRA rodeos. At 16 he was, in his first year of eligibly, chosen to fight bulls at the NPRA Finals held in Sister, OR. Four days after his 17th birthday during the awards ceremonies, with his mom, Dawn, his dad and several other of his relatives sitting nervously in the crowd awaiting for the announcement to be made, Trever was selected as the Northwest Professional Rodeo Associations Bullfighter of the year, the youngest ever to receive the Honor. After the announcement of his award Trever's first thought was " All the hookings I have taken have paid off". He goes on to say "With hard work and dedication all goals can be obtained". His plans for the future? When he turns 18 he wants to get a PRCA card and work to get to the NFR. Trever thanks Darrell, for all of his time and patience and caring enough to see something in him. Also with out the many supporters and sponsors it would not have been possible. Big dreams are met everyday by those that care enough to set high goals and spend most of their lives reaching for them, but for a nine year old to know what he wants to do in life and start working with the diligence of an adult, Trever has lived a lifetime in a very short period. Expect to see him at the NFR in a few short years. http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/5a4d88e979c3e90c23f010f6b74939f0_43d71c96.writeback Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:37:10 -0600 Trever Hamsher is the most recent and youngest addition to the Dickies bullfighting team. Hamsher began his bullfighting career at the age of 10 ½ . Bullfighting was a natural fit for the Oregon cowboy who's been acknowledge for his achievements in the arena. His 5 years of experience and unwavering skills at saving fellow cowboys, once again earned him a position on the 2005 M.B.B.A World Finals bullfighting team. Hamsher's list of accomplishments includes bullfighting at the M.B.B.A.World Finals in 05. When he's not facing off the most dangerous opponents on dirt, Hamsher enjoys,Visting Texas, roping and spending time with his family ,and friends in Prairie City, Or. http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/de9e49cd9ad397608d9fe51037aa8618_4373d217.writeback Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:04:55 -0600 Joe Baumgartner, (Red Bluff, Calif.) -- Facial fractures. Will not fight bulls for the remainder of the competition. http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/f4f5ca0c1e718053bc53211d8fba0276_434817b4.writeback Sat, 08 Oct 2005 14:02:12 -0500 Congratulations to This years WNFR Bullfighters 1.Darrell Diefenbach(4-time NFR Bullfighter&Aus. World Champ. 2.Shorty Gorham(Last Years NFR Alternate,this will be his First Year.) Alternate:Joe Baumgartner (13-time NFR Bullfighter) and once again Congats to Them All!& GOOD LUCK! http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/d613605a4e806f3b8ba3f1b32b0a5b34_425d46c0.writeback Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:20:16 -0500 the tradition rich world of bullfighting, strange things are happening. Where once there was no distinction between the "rodeo clown" and "bullfighter", we now see a separation between the tasks and the look. While all of this is easy enough to see, it has created quite a bit of controversy. These changes did not occur overnight, and to understand what caused them you have to travel back in time, back in the day when the clown and bullfighter were one. Way back in the day, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the PRCA, (which had been the RCA and, at the time we are discussing here had only recently added the word Professional to the front of it's name) was outdistancing the International Rodeo Association, the IRA, (who soon followed suite and became the IPRA) as the cream of the crop, the ultimate in professional rodeo. At this time, in either association, to get a job fighting bulls at a rodeo, you had to be able to do comedy or you couldn't get hired. You were a "rodeo clown" and fighting bulls was only a part of your job. There were a few exceptions to this rule, notably the great Wick Peth, who is credited with inventing the bullfighting "skirt" and did not wear make up. Enter the Wrangler Bullfights into the PRCA. Wrangler sponsored and administered a Tour format, in which bullfighters were selected to fight bulls freestyle, one man against one beast. This meant that, if you were on the Wrangler Bullfighting Tour, you could now fight bulls for a living and not do any comedy. If you were on the Tour, you were guaranteed a certain number of matches per year (if you could stay healthy), and everyone on the Tour had the same number of matches. Everyone had the same shot at making the finals then, and those who weren't successful on the Tour were dropped the next year and new bullfighters were added to take their place. This created a lot of interest in the sport of bullfighting, especially with athletes who wanted to fight bulls, but had no desire to do comedy. "I ain't no clown!" was often heard from the lips of many of these athletes. However, there they stood in clown make-up and clown attire. About this time something else new came on the scene. Rodeo schools began to gain popularity, and just like with the other events, bullfighting schools began to develop and train these athletes who were interested in becoming a champion bullfighter. Most of the interest was in the new freestyle bullfighting. Very few schools taught any of the comedy or business aspects of the sport. As with today's schools, there were no written standards, and while some schools were better than others, the net result was to turn out bullfighters into the market. However, now that you were a "bullfighter", you still had to find a way to get on the Tour. That meant that you had to obtain a PRCA card. Obtaining a PRCA card in this era meant that you got two letters of reference from PRCA bullfighters and one from a PRCA contractor. Getting the signatures wasn't too difficult, as evidenced by the number of bullfighters who begin to enter the PRCA. The laws of supply and demand worked in favor of the contractors as the ratio of bullfighters to available jobs went up and up every year. To get a spot on the Tour, these new kids on the block had to get noticed, and to get noticed you had to get jobs. To get the jobs, a common practice became to work cheaper than the competition with the thought that once you gained the exposure, you would certainly advance to the Tour. Another important change occurred. The Wrangler Bullfights were turned over to the PRCA to administer. The PRCA promptly opened up the Tour to all bullfighters in the association and expanded the Tour to a maximum of 60 venues. What looked like opportunity to many bullfighters turned into confusion and frustration. Bullfighters had to convince committees or contractors to "hire" or "invite" them to be at the bullfights (some were hired and paid, others only made what they won at the bullfight and worked the event for no monetary consideration). Some bullfighters had over forty go- rounds, while others had only three. Since the top six money earners went to the finals, the finals became a bullfight of who could book the most go- rounds. To remedy this, the PRCA changed the program where twenty-eight go-rounds counted towards the finals, and you were limited to only a couple of go rounds more than that. While this helped level the playing field, year in and year out only about 30-35 bullfighters of the 125 -- 150 in the PRCA ever got to participate in the program, and of those who did get to participate, over half fell short of the 28 go-rounds needed to have a shot at the finals. However, this was not widely known, and interest in freestyle bullfighting continued to grow. On the surface, it appeared anyone could get go-rounds. In reality, there were not enough go-rounds for the number of athletes interested in participating. Then, suddenly, Wrangler changed priorities and decided to quit funding the bullfights in favor of what is now the Wrangler Tour Rodeos and the WNFR. No more bullfights, same number of bullfighters. While bullfighters had been trained to fight bulls, only a very small percentage could perform any comedy. Yet, throughout this time period, the make up and baggy clown type apparel continued to exist. However, before the last year of the Wrangler Bullfights, Rowdy Barry was selected to work the National Finals Rodeo. Like Wick Peth, he was from the Northwest, and like Wick, he wore no make up at the finals. He also elected to wear a more athletic look with shorts replacing the baggies. Rowdy proved to be way ahead of his time, and, even though he was not selected to perform comedy at the finals and even though his job required him to be an athlete, many, if not most people did not take his break with the traditional "rodeo clown" look favorably. In the years prior to his appearance at the finals, Rowdy had also participated in the TwoBulls Professional Bullfighters Tour Freestyle and Protection events. Rowdy was one of many top bullfighters who helped influence this tour. Many of the bullfighters on the "PBT" came to realize that for bullfighting to survive and pay, sponsorship was needed. Bullfighting pay at most rodeos remained pretty much the same through the years because of the supply of bullfighters wanting exposure and the amount of events available for them to work. While bullfighters were seen as brave and heroic, corporations did not, and still do not, want their company and product represented by a "clown" (notable exception being McDonalds, and the job was filled). The move was on to take off the make up and come up with a bullfighting outfit that suited the needs of the bullfighter and was sponsor friendly, much like what you would see in NASCAR, or other extreme sports events. However, an uphill battle ensued. To most of rodeo, bullfighters were hired labor and were not marketable. Contestants competed for their money and were seen as marketable. Why spend money promoting bullfighters? How ironic that bullriders would be seen as brave to ride a bull for eight seconds and were marketable, yet bullfighters, which risked their own lives time and time again to save those brave bullriders, were not marketable. While all of this was happening, the Professional Bull Riders put together a bullriding tour for bullriders, by bullriders and quickly rose to the top of the rodeo world. They were innovative and not necessarily tied to conventional rodeo "wisdom" and beliefs. Bullridings as stand- alone events had been around for years, yet didn't attract major sponsorship. The PBR was able to obtain major corporate sponsorship and television time because they broke the traditional mold. They pretty well forced the PRCA to come up with a televised bullriding tour of their own. Then, the PBR, with help from bullfighter Rob Smets, did the unthinkable. They began to market the bullfighters at their televised events. Gone are the baggies and the make-up. These guys bare no resemblance to a "rodeo clown". The loss of make-up and baggies has not diminished their effectiveness in protecting bullriders. And, most importantly, these are, by a very large margin, the highest paid bullfighters in the business. The bullfighters at the PRCA's showcase event, the WNFR, don't even make half of what these athletes make at the standard Built Ford Truck event. Not that they perform their job any better, they are marketable without the clown get-up. So, aspiring bullfighters learn from your history lesson. You can probably work more rodeos if you learn to work the comedy end of the business, but you will make more money if you are marketable. While make-up and baggies is traditional, so is the pay that goes along with it. Becoming marketable enables events to bring in the money to pay you more. When you are standing there with clown make-up on your face in a baggy clown outfit it only makes sense for someone to address you as "clown". The ones who will stay in business are the ones who will make enough money to make a living. Those bullfighters will be the ones who are able to change and not be so tied to traditions that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of their job that they eliminate themselves from consideration from opportunities. Want to be a clown? Get a barrel. By,alllen nelson http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/25cfb5ff0e8c210cfbcaef615aae4996_4195014f.writeback Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:30:39 -0600 Ah! Success! Seems like things are beginning to look up in the bullfighting business. After the demise of the Wrangler Bullfights, despite the gloom and doom, bullfighting has held on and is beginning to make a comeback. Even the PBR is involved now and once again bullfighting is televised for the entire world to see. Gazing into the future, it looks like bullfighting will just become more and more popular, and that's good, right? Let's look back, back into the past. What does history tell us? After all, we often hear that "history repeats itself". Up until the Wrangler Bullfights came along, "bullfighting" remained pretty stable. In fact, the term "bullfighting" was rarely heard. We were all "rodeo clowns" and what we did was considered "clowning". Once the Wrangler Bullfights were introduced, people entered the arena as athletes, not funny men. More people were attracted to the sport as participants based upon the fact that they could compete and not have to be funny. What you won, you earned through competition. The number of bullfighters began to grow because if you could just get on the Wrangler Tour you could win your way to the top. When the PRCA took over the bullfights and opened them up to all PRCA bullfighters, the scramble was on and the number of PRCA bullfighters grew. If you could just get enough rounds, you could win your way to the NFR (even if you had to work the rodeo for free to get the rounds). Actually, towards the end, it was somewhat of a mess. Probably about 30 to 35 guys actually got to participate in the Wrangler bullfights year in and year out and out of that less than half had enough rounds to have a shot at the finals. You see, there was no system to make it work. If you could talk a good line and get a few rounds, you could compete. That had nothing to do with bullfighting ability. If you would work cheap enough, you could get some rounds. That had nothing to do with bullfighting ability. The PRCA never instituted any system to let the talent earn their way to the top. So, here we are today with a new nationwide bullfighting tour that has television coverage. Great, people will watch and people will want to see more. In addition, many young men will want to learn how to fight bulls so that they, too, can eventually end up on the tour and seek a world championship. How will they do it? There is no specified path the PBR has set out for aspiring bullfighters to follow. Well, those who are a bit smarter will end up going to a bullfighting school. It doesn't matter whose school, what many aspiring bullfighter look for in a school is: it is affordable and is it close to home? Once school is over, usually about two or three days, it's out into the job market to start booking some rodeos and bullridings so that they can be noticed. Once they get noticed, surely they will get on the PBR bullfighting tour. Basically, enough of this has been going on the last twenty years or so that we already have more than enough bullfighters out there. If you fight bulls at all, you already know how tough it is to book events that pay a decent wage, because so many bullfighters are looking for work. The problem is not that there isn't any talent out there. Many, if not most, of the bullfighters out there today have the raw talent. The problem is that many, if not most, need a lot more knowledge and experience to be able to utilize their talent more productively. Why aren't they learning it in schools? All schools are not the same. There is no standard for what is being taught. What someone learns in one school, someone else might not learn in another. Some schools teach protection while some teach freestyle and still others teach both and all in a two or three day course. The stock may be challenging at one course and too easy at another. All schools (with the exception of the TwoBulls Professional Bullfighting Academy) let anyone pass who attends, so, not matter how poorly you might do, you "graduate" just as high as the most outstanding student in the class in that you will be seeking the same jobs he will. Without a system and without criteria we end up with each individual defining what he or she thinks is bullfighting. With most of the honors in the business having to do with selection of bullfighters by bullriders, the trend I now see is away from good protection. It appears that some have the idea that protection bullfighting is taking a hooking for the bullrider. Granted, it sure looks impressive when the bullfighter gets run over. Certainly all the bullriders see it and it gives the announcer something to talk about. What happens when a bullfighter gets run over? If he's laid out on the ground, what moves can he make to save the rider? Usually, just after the bullfighter gets smoked, the rider gets run over, too. What happened to getting in, distracting the bull, and leading him away and everyone walking away safely? Granted, when a bullfighter is doing his job he'll get run over from time to time, but if you'll watch, you'll see bullfighters getting run over for no reason other than, I guess, to get run over or just plain being too late to make a save. But, that's what gets you noticed. Another trend I am starting to see quite a bit deals with hang-ups. As soon as the rider hangs, everyone goes for the hand and no one tries to control the bull. The bullfighters job is not to get the rider unhung. Our job is to keep control of the bull, get him out of a spin and lined out, and let the rider get himself loose. Then if he can't get out of it there will be someone in control of the bull so that the other bullfighter can move in and help out. However, it looks so much more impressive for the bullfighter to try for the tail of the rope, get knocked down, get up and try again, get thrown in the air, get up and try again, and so forth. What does it accomplish? Usually nothing. The bull stays in a spin and the rider drags until he gets stepped on and gets loose that way. Third, we're beginning to see more and more bullridings using three bullfighters. Protection bullfighting is at its best with two bullfighters working in unison. When three guys all step in at the same time, things don't get better. Why is the third guy stepping in instead of working in a rotation where two work and one sits out? Mainly because the way things are now, he has to be noticed to get ahead. Heaven forbid if a rider where to hang up and while two bullfighters handled it the third guy wasn't in there, too. The bullriders would all think he was unwilling to get in there, or, at least, he would go unnoticed. Where is the stopping point? If three is good, why not four? Why not five? Why don't we just go all out and have it look like one of those videos from somewhere south of the border where one guy rides and a hundred guys drink beer and fight bulls at the same time? Either bullfighters aren't getting taught the right things, or they are, but the only way to get recognized is to do something fantastic, regardless of if it makes any sense. Protection bullfighting is something done with a partner who you work together with towards a common goal. The way things are now gives bullfighters the impression that each bullfighter is in competition with his partner to get recognition. Therefore, they are not really working together; it's every man for himself. That's not protection bullfighting. Why am I spending so much time talking about protection when the PBR tour is freestyle? Because even though we'll get more bullfighters seeking freestyle glory, week in and week out they'll be looking to work events to make money and they'll be working as protection bullfighters at bullridings and rodeos. In addition, it goes back to what I said earlier, the problem isn't a lack of talent, it's a lack of knowledge. Many young up and coming bullfighters don't have a thorough knowledge of freestyle bullfighting. Some don't know how to do a step through. Way too many don't know how to work a barrel, and if they do know something about it, their knowledge is very elementary. Ask about any barrelman who has worked a bullfight and listen to the horror stories. If you don't believe me, hide and watch. Without a system such as TwoBulls is already utilizing with the Professional Bullfighters Tour, Extreme Bull Sports, and the TwoBulls Professional Bullfighting Academy, history will repeat itself. Bullfighting will become more popular because it's a great sport. However, it won't grow at a fast enough rate to absorb all of the new talent that will want to enter the business as well as satisfy the demands of the bullfighters who are already in the "non-system" that we utilize now. The quality of bullfighting, particularly at the mid and lower level, will suffer as more bullfighters with less knowledge have to compete for fewer opportunities working for less money and getting hooked more in order to advance by being noticed by people who don't fight bulls to begin with. Any of you around when the floodgates opened with the expanded Wrangler Bullfight Tour in the late '80's and early '90's will recognize that we're about to come full circle. It's déjà vu all over again; it's back to the future! By, Allen Nelson http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/137fb67d6583a24d34e62e7c1b770240_419500df.writeback Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:28:47 -0600 In the tradition rich world of bullfighting, strange things are happening. Where once there was no distinction between the "rodeo clown" and "bullfighter", we now see a separation between the tasks and the look. While all of this is easy enough to see, it has created quite a bit of controversy. These changes did not occur overnight, and to understand what caused them you have to travel back in time, back in the day when the clown and bullfighter were one. Way back in the day, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the PRCA, (which had been the RCA and, at the time we are discussing here had only recently added the word Professional to the front of it's name) was outdistancing the International Rodeo Association, the IRA, (who soon followed suite and became the IPRA) as the cream of the crop, the ultimate in professional rodeo. At this time, in either association, to get a job fighting bulls at a rodeo, you had to be able to do comedy or you couldn't get hired. You were a "rodeo clown" and fighting bulls was only a part of your job. There were a few exceptions to this rule, notably the great Wick Peth, who is credited with inventing the bullfighting "skirt" and did not wear make up. Enter the Wrangler Bullfights into the PRCA. Wrangler sponsored and administered a Tour format, in which bullfighters were selected to fight bulls freestyle, one man against one beast. This meant that, if you were on the Wrangler Bullfighting Tour, you could now fight bulls for a living and not do any comedy. If you were on the Tour, you were guaranteed a certain number of matches per year (if you could stay healthy), and everyone on the Tour had the same number of matches. Everyone had the same shot at making the finals then, and those who weren't successful on the Tour were dropped the next year and new bullfighters were added to take their place. This created a lot of interest in the sport of bullfighting, especially with athletes who wanted to fight bulls, but had no desire to do comedy. "I ain't no clown!" was often heard from the lips of many of these athletes. However, there they stood in clown make-up and clown attire. About this time something else new came on the scene. Rodeo schools began to gain popularity, and just like with the other events, bullfighting schools began to develop and train these athletes who were interested in becoming a champion bullfighter. Most of the interest was in the new freestyle bullfighting. Very few schools taught any of the comedy or business aspects of the sport. As with today's schools, there were no written standards, and while some schools were better than others, the net result was to turn out bullfighters into the market. However, now that you were a "bullfighter", you still had to find a way to get on the Tour. That meant that you had to obtain a PRCA card. Obtaining a PRCA card in this era meant that you got two letters of reference from PRCA bullfighters and one from a PRCA contractor. Getting the signatures wasn't too difficult, as evidenced by the number of bullfighters who begin to enter the PRCA. The laws of supply and demand worked in favor of the contractors as the ratio of bullfighters to available jobs went up and up every year. To get a spot on the Tour, these new kids on the block had to get noticed, and to get noticed you had to get jobs. To get the jobs, a common practice became to work cheaper than the competition with the thought that once you gained the exposure, you would certainly advance to the Tour. Another important change occurred. The Wrangler Bullfights were turned over to the PRCA to administer. The PRCA promptly opened up the Tour to all bullfighters in the association and expanded the Tour to a maximum of 60 venues. What looked like opportunity to many bullfighters turned into confusion and frustration. Bullfighters had to convince committees or contractors to "hire" or "invite" them to be at the bullfights (some were hired and paid, others only made what they won at the bullfight and worked the event for no monetary consideration). Some bullfighters had over forty go- rounds, while others had only three. Since the top six money earners went to the finals, the finals became a bullfight of who could book the most go- rounds. To remedy this, the PRCA changed the program where twenty-eight go-rounds counted towards the finals, and you were limited to only a couple of go rounds more than that. While this helped level the playing field, year in and year out only about 30-35 bullfighters of the 125 -- 150 in the PRCA ever got to participate in the program, and of those who did get to participate, over half fell short of the 28 go-rounds needed to have a shot at the finals. However, this was not widely known, and interest in freestyle bullfighting continued to grow. On the surface, it appeared anyone could get go-rounds. In reality, there were not enough go-rounds for the number of athletes interested in participating. Then, suddenly, Wrangler changed priorities and decided to quit funding the bullfights in favor of what is now the Wrangler Tour Rodeos and the WNFR. No more bullfights, same number of bullfighters. While bullfighters had been trained to fight bulls, only a very small percentage could perform any comedy. Yet, throughout this time period, the make up and baggy clown type apparel continued to exist. However, before the last year of the Wrangler Bullfights, Rowdy Barry was selected to work the National Finals Rodeo. Like Wick Peth, he was from the Northwest, and like Wick, he wore no make up at the finals. He also elected to wear a more athletic look with shorts replacing the baggies. Rowdy proved to be way ahead of his time, and, even though he was not selected to perform comedy at the finals and even though his job required him to be an athlete, many, if not most people did not take his break with the traditional "rodeo clown" look favorably. In the years prior to his appearance at the finals, Rowdy had also participated in the TwoBulls Professional Bullfighters Tour Freestyle and Protection events. Rowdy was one of many top bullfighters who helped influence this tour. Many of the bullfighters on the "PBT" came to realize that for bullfighting to survive and pay, sponsorship was needed. Bullfighting pay at most rodeos remained pretty much the same through the years because of the supply of bullfighters wanting exposure and the amount of events available for them to work. While bullfighters were seen as brave and heroic, corporations did not, and still do not, want their company and product represented by a "clown" (notable exception being McDonalds, and the job was filled). The move was on to take off the make up and come up with a bullfighting outfit that suited the needs of the bullfighter and was sponsor friendly, much like what you would see in NASCAR, or other extreme sports events. However, an uphill battle ensued. To most of rodeo, bullfighters were hired labor and were not marketable. Contestants competed for their money and were seen as marketable. Why spend money promoting bullfighters? How ironic that bullriders would be seen as brave to ride a bull for eight seconds and were marketable, yet bullfighters, which risked their own lives time and time again to save those brave bullriders, were not marketable. While all of this was happening, the Professional Bull Riders put together a bullriding tour for bullriders, by bullriders and quickly rose to the top of the rodeo world. They were innovative and not necessarily tied to conventional rodeo "wisdom" and beliefs. Bullridings as stand- alone events had been around for years, yet didn't attract major sponsorship. The PBR was able to obtain major corporate sponsorship and television time because they broke the traditional mold. They pretty well forced the PRCA to come up with a televised bullriding tour of their own. Then, the PBR, with help from bullfighter Rob Smets, did the unthinkable. They began to market the bullfighters at their televised events. Gone are the baggies and the make-up. These guys bare no resemblance to a "rodeo clown". The loss of make-up and baggies has not diminished their effectiveness in protecting bullriders. And, most importantly, these are, by a very large margin, the highest paid bullfighters in the business. The bullfighters at the PRCA's showcase event, the WNFR, don't even make half of what these athletes make at the standard Built Ford Truck event. Not that they perform their job any better, they are marketable without the clown get-up. So, aspiring bullfighters learn from your history lesson. You can probably work more rodeos if you learn to work the comedy end of the business, but you will make more money if you are marketable. While make-up and baggies is traditional, so is the pay that goes along with it. Becoming marketable enables events to bring in the money to pay you more. When you are standing there with clown make-up on your face in a baggy clown outfit it only makes sense for someone to address you as "clown". The ones who will stay in business are the ones who will make enough money to make a living. Those bullfighters will be the ones who are able to change and not be so tied to traditions that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of their job that they eliminate themselves from consideration from opportunities. Want to be a clown? Get a barrel. By, Allen Nelson http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/ed9269353f4d5b6f7f7b356b4fcd1c09_4195000f.writeback Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:25:19 -0600 For years now bullfighters have been trying to shake the "rodeo clown" moniker and just be "bullfighters". Yet, these athletes still end up having to describe what they do in terms of "rodeo clown". When asked, "What do you do", they reply proudly, "I'm a bullfighter". "Oh, you ride bulls!" "No, bull FIGHTER!" "You mean with the cape and all?" "No, you know, like a rodeo clown". "Oh". And so it goes, week in and week out. Sure, that's aggravating, but have you considered the plight of the real rodeo clowns? Or, is it funnymen? How about barrelmen? Look at an ad for a barrelman and most often you see the words "rodeo clown" and "funnyman" all in the same ad and usually following each other. This would seem to be redundant. Has specialization in our sport really gone this far? Let's examine each of the job titles and how the job, or jobs, is being carried out in today's world. Naturally, the term "barrelman" would indicate that he is the man who occupies the barrel. While this seems simple, go watch a few guys work and see just how often they take occupancy. Sure, they may set a barrel out in the arena, but they spend more time outside of the barrel than actually in it. While there are a few notable exceptions, there are a good many "barrelmen" who don't really demonstrate the ability or knowledge of how to utilize the barrel during the bullriding event. For many, the barrel is a prop they set out in the arena. With the lack of fighting bulls at many rodeos and the lack of freestyle bullfights, working the barrel, for the most part, is a lost talent and almost unnecessary one. On the other hand, with renewed interest in freestyle bullfighting, will the job of the "true" barrelman, a guy who knows where to be and when to be there, the guy who will pack it in there when he needs to and stay out of sight when he needs to, become more important? The guys who aren't in the barrel and utilizing it as a protection device in the arena aren't just standing around out there. They are entertaining the crowd. While utilizing the barrel as a protection device is an important aspect of the event, so is entertaining the crowd. The spectators and fans paid their money to be entertained, either by the sporting event, or by the antics of the "funnyman". Some spectators are fans and want to watch the event, but many enjoy the whole aspect of the event and take it all in. Not everything runs smoothly at every event and it's great to have a "funnyman" there to keep things going so the crowd doesn't become restless. Sure, in this day of sponsor- rich sporting events the announcer could always fill the time lauding over the virtues of each and every sponsor of the event, but that can get old fast. Much of what the "funnyman" does is not really planned and is more of a spontaneous reaction to a situation that adds flavor to the overall performance. Now, during breaks in events, the "rodeo clown" has a spot to fill with a clown act. This is a planned part of the performance and, when someone in a clown outfit fills this spot, it is a "clown act" performed by a "rodeo clown". We've all seen them, and we've seen these transition periods filled with performers who are not clowns. We've seen trick riders and ropers and various and sundry acts that are usually not comedic in nature and normally would demonstrate some kind of skill to thrill the spectators. So, the guy in the clown outfit doing a comedy skit would be a "rodeo clown". While it appears that at the traditional rodeo the job of the "rodeo clown" and "funnyman" is pretty secure, the job of the "barrelman" may be in a transitional phase. If you don't need anyone in the barrel during the bullriding, why pay for it? If the person entertaining never occupies the barrel and there is no fighting bull to bring the barrel into play what is the point? Certainly, you can sell a sponsor a spot on the barrel, but what brings attention to the barrel if no one is in it and no bulls hit it? Likewise, at a bullriding, how often does the barrel come in to play in saving a rider? If we are now hiring three and four "bullfighters" and not fighting a bull, why have a barrel in the pen? Who wants to have their high priced, high bred bucking bull hitting a barrel and breaking his neck or getting a leg tied up in it and breaking a leg? Besides, there are bullridings going on that don't even utilize the man in the can as a "funnyman" or a "rodeo clown". If freestyle bullfighting takes off, will there be a demand for someone who knows how to work a barrel during a bullfight but doesn't necessarily need to do any comedy? Would the event be better off hiring one or two "barrelmen" to work the matches and then a separate "funnyman" or "rodeo clown" to supply the comedy? With the number of bullfighters who know how to work a barrel and protect the man inside getting fewer and fewer the chances of getting someone hurt in the barrel increases. If you are depending on that man to also supply entertainment and he goes out in the ambulance where does that leave that part of the program? I'm not saying "don't hire a barrelman" or "we don't need a barrel" or even "we don't need a clown", I'm asking some rather obvious questions and saying that it's time for the "rodeo clown/barrelman/funnyman" to step up to the plate and help define his future. As the business changes, so does the job. Working a rodeo has certain demands, a bullriding another set of demands, and a bullfight yet another set of demands. Do you bid each as a performance and bid them all the same? Is it fair to book a great comedian to work a bullfight when his actual barrel skills aren't going to compliment the bullfighters in the match? What ARE the skills required of a barrelman? We have to start defining what we do and setting standards or others will do that for us. If we let that happen, we will be judged by unrealistic or undefined standards by people who have no idea how to do the job, have never done the job, but do have an opinion about what they would like to see. The slate is clean at present. The field is wide open. Anything goes at this time, anything, good or bad. By,Allen Nelson http://www.treverhamsher.zoomshare.com/2.shtml/fd37b387632364b119401ee6ced38299_4193c9a0.writeback Thu, 11 Nov 2004 14:20:48 -0600 This could be a long read, so I'll get right to the point. As a bullfighter, you probably want to make more money and get more recognition than you do right now, correct? If you answered "no" to that question, you need not read on. Those of you who answered in the affirmative must surely have a plan to go forth and appear at larger, higher profile events and make enough money to make living fighting bulls. Does your plan involve getting that "lucky break" where someone sees you fight bulls and then every bullriding and rodeo has to have you at your price? Good luck, because I think that dream scenario has entered just about every bullfighters mind at one time or another. How about earning your way to the top? At the present time, I would venture to say that the ultimate goal of most bullfighters is to work the WNFR, the PBR Finals, or both. That's an honorable goal, although it's not likely to happen. If you'll examine the PBR, it's pretty much a closed shop. As far at the WNFR, there have only been seven different bullfighters work it in the last fifteen years, which tells me the probability of any one bullfighter working it is pretty slim. As a matter of fact, there are very few things that have changed in the world of bullfighting in the last fifteen years. The Wrangler Bullfights have disappeared, but there are more bullridings out there to work because of the success of the PBR. Other than that, the only ones doing anything different or new is TwoBulls. TwoBulls does have a plan for the future of bullfighters. It doesn't involve luck, or who you know, or the bullriders recognizing what a good job you do. It's not easy, it's not free, and it won't happen overnight. TwoBulls has been in the business of producing freestyle and protection bullfights for some ten years. Over that time period we've pretty much selected the bullfighters for the events by recommendation or by invitation. We've been able to insure the quality of our events because we knew the personnel and what they were capable of. We have also been able to put on some qualifying events whereby we could evaluate some new talent. The time is approaching where we will be able to put on more events and will need more qualified bullfighters. I emphasized the word "qualified" for a reason. Our events will always feature bullfighters of the highest standard. We know this because we will be using bullfighters that have been to our events in the past and performed successfully and we will be using bullfighters that come up through the TwoBulls Professional Bullfighting Academy . We will have a tour where those bullfighters that win will stay on the tour, and those who do not will be taken off the tour to let another qualified bullfighter come aboard and prove himself. Over the course of time, all the bullfighters on our tour will be Academy graduates. They will begin at the entry level and earn their way to the top of the tour. By having quality bullfighters at our events and doing the things we have done in the past to make events successful, we will be able to develop a bullfighting tour that pays better and gives more exposure to it's bullfighters. A bullfighter that is recognized as "TwoBulls Certified" will be recognized as one of the best because he will be on the most successful, high profile bullfighting tour in the world. If you look at the bullfighting business today, you will see that, obviously, we will never be able to put on enough events to have every bullfighter on the tour. That is not our goal. We intend to put on the best bullfights, not the most. Many, if not most bullfighters will not be on the tour, and most of them will not be on the tour by their own choice. Over the years I have observed that, while everyone wants the best, few are willing to pay the price. For instance, many bullfighters want a protective vest, but many are unwilling to pay three hundred dollars for a good quality vest that may save their life or a visit to the emergency room that will be much more costly (not to mention the work they will miss recovering from injury). This attitude seems to apply to bullfighters learning more about bullfighting. Many will not attend a school because "it costs too much". These same bullfighters that won't learn "how to" will continue to do the same things that they have been doing not realizing that those things they are doing are taking them nowhere. And yet, they think that they will advance by continuing to do the same thing over and over. That is their choice, and that is not the type of bullfighter TwoBulls is looking for. If bullfighters are going to advance, something has to be done to change the bullfighting business, as we know it. Look at the PBR. Prior to the PBR, the best a bullrider could do is winning around $100,000 to $120,000 a year while traveling to 100 to 125 rodeos a year. After expenses, the number one bullrider in the world did actually make a little money. However, what about the bullriders who went to just as many rodeos chasing the dream that didn't make half the money? The PBR changed the way the bullriding business was done, and bullriders are better off for it. Not only bullriders, it opened up a whole new industry in the raising of bucking bulls. Sure, there were breeding programs before the PBR, but look at the scale of that industry since the PBR came along. The same will bullfighting. Until TwoBulls came along, nothing new has happened in the business. Protection bullfighting and Extreme Bull Sports, along with the marketing of bullfighters are concepts that will change the bullfighting world. Certainly, many freestyle continue today, but prize money wise, they have yet to catch up to the old Wrangler Bullfights. In order to move ahead, we will have to do things differently. What are these things and how will we do it? One of the answers to that question is, The TwoBulls Professional Bullfighting Academy. Your future is your choice. If you are content with the way your bullfighting career is now, then continue to do what you are doing. If you want a brighter future, you can choose to do things differently. Remember, though, that there is no free ride. You have to pay to play. That's how it is in life, and that's how it is in bullfighting. Good luck to you, whatever your choices are. By Allen Nelson