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| Rough rider |
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| Wednesday, 16 May 2007 | |||
J.W. Hart began riding calves at age four. Only eight years later, he rode a bull for the first time. Now, at age 32, Hart is one of the top competitors on the Professional Bull Riders tour. The PBR makes the 18th stop of its Built Ford Tough Series at the Alamodome on Saturday, May 19. Before the gates open for some bull riding, Hart chatted with 210SA.
I just grew up around it. My dad rode bulls and rodeod. When I was really young, that's just what we did. Bull riding was the event that really excited me the most. Do you remember the first time you rode a bull? I don't really remember, but I just knew this is what I was supposed to be doing and what I wanted to do. I remember he was a great big bull, and he jerked me down out of the chute, hit me in the mouth and knocked some teeth out. It was not a good experience, but I got the best of him later on. Is it tough to make a living as a bull rider? The thing about our sport is that we've really grown to new heights that we never dreamed of. I guess there are football players out there that don't make a living either, but guys are making a better living riding bulls now than ever before with the exposure on TV and sponsors that have really stepped up. Does the risk of bull riding sometimes outweigh the reward? If all that was going to happen was injury, no one would do it. The other side of the coin is being able to ride a bull no one can ride, competing against an animal that's 10 times your weight and winning the challenge with him. Of course, there's money there, too. What was the toughest bull you ever rode? There was a bull I rode called Hollywood in the late '90s that was really good. He weighed about 1,900 pounds but had the speed of a 1,400-pound bull. He was smart, too. You put that all together, it makes for a good bull. One time I topped him in Anaheim, Calif., and that still holds the best score I ever had. Are bull riders viewed as the toughest guys on the rodeo circuit? Well, I'm not one to toot our own horns or try to make us sound tougher than everybody else, but I know guys right now that are riding with broken ribs and torn knee ligaments, things like that. I don't know any other sports that people go play with things like that. What's the worst injury you ever sustained? I broke my neck in 1994, and I was out for 45 days. I had to get back and make a living. I went to the doctor that morning (that I returned), and he just bent me around. If my neck was going to break, he would have broken it because he bent me in places I didn't know you could. I asked when I could go back, and he said when I was ready. I left that afternoon for an event in Minnesota, but I don't think he knew I would leave that quick. What is the average shelf life for a bull rider? I would probably guess the average age, though some go out younger and some older, is in the neighborhood of 35. I've seen some that went up to 37, 38 or 40 and others that shut it down at 31 or 32. And you're 32. I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope there isn't a train at the end of it. Clint Hale | 210SA
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