Bull Domination in Springfield ~ Ryan Dirteater

As always PBR put out a full force effort this weekend for their event in Springfield Missouri at the PFI Invitational. With no lack of showmanship, glitz and glamour the show was nothing less than amazing.

PBR was not the only ones to bring their A game to Missouri for this event. The bull power here showed its domination.  During 44 originally scheduled out here at this event and 25 qualified rides there is a lot to be said about the level of bulls that attend this ride. But the numbers may not be a great assessment of the livestock and cowboys during the weekend. The fact is that because this was a classic bull event and there were a lot of new bulls in attendance maybe there is more to be said in this story.

Shortly after the completion of the event we had an opportunity to sit and talk with Chad Berger (2015 Stock Contractor of the Year) during our conversation we asked his take on the results from the weekend. Mr. Berger pointed out a couple things that may have passed by the everyday fan when he said “These guys are pretty beat up by this point in the year, for several weeks straight they have seen the top level bulls which has gotten most of them beat down” he went on to say, “Most of them had some time to recover over the break but that little bit of time is not always enough to really get reset for the second half”.

We also asked how much he felt this being a Classic Bull Event played into the high buck off rate. Mr. Berger agreed that it is a factor without a doubt, “there are a lot of bulls here that no one has ever seen, with young bulls it is hard to predict or even imagine what they will do”, this also brought up the question of the high rate of chute issues that came with the weekend. “When a bull is new to this level it is hard to say how they will react while in the chute, it’s the nature of these types of events but you can guarantee this is not the only time you see many of these bulls”.

One cowboy who just seemed to have his finger on the pulse of the weekend was Oklahoman Ryan Dirteater, not only did he win the weekend’s event but he did so in impressive fashion. The only bull rider to ride all three of his bulls Ryan seemed to have put it all in the right place at the right time. We also had a few minutes to talk to Ryan after the event. He told us, “It feels great to have a good weekend, I found my rhythm from night one and after that it was just focus on each bull and match up with them”.

We went on to ask Ryan about the fact that he really did not have to get on his last bull to win the event. In order to win the average and secure more points he needed a good ride on the last bull of the weekend but in no way was it mandatory for him to accept this challenge.  Ryan told us “There is a lot about the points that have to be part of the thought process”. When asked was it more of a points race decision, personal pride, or crowd influence that helped make the decision? Without hesitation Ryan answered with, “The points are important but there are a lot of people here that came to watch us ride bulls, the influence of the fans is always part of the decision”.

As the weekend wrapped up, Springfield created a lot of buzz in the PBR world, with several cowboys now on the injured list to include a couple of the world leaders, there just maybe some open doors for some others as they head east for next weekend’s ride in Charlotte North Carolina.

Keep a close eye on who is ready and who is still fighting the hangover form this weekend and as always we want to hear from you the fans.
By: Phillip Kitts- Pepper Stewart Show Staff Writer