St. Louis PBR

Matt Bohon stole the show last night in St. Louis - covering all four bulls and taking the event with a 89+ point ride. Looking good, cowboy.

Greg Potter made a $5000 "Ride with the Best" ride. Jason Bennett's doing fine and Brendon Clark cut a solid swath in the Show Me state.

For me, though? The two most memorable moments featured two of the old guard - JW Hart and Mike White. It felt so good to see those two riding so well, so see JW eating up the response from the crowd. Then Mike took his tumble and, I swear to you, my heart stopped. I mean, Lorna and I pull for that man, week after week, and it was awful, seeing him laying so still on the arena floor.

Thank goodness his injuries weren't severe - lacerated chin and a concussion. He might not make LA, but he's not down for the count.

We're headed down to the opening of the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo in the morning - look for updates!

Look at the new boys go!

Gotta love it when the underdog takes it!

Clayton Williams (another Texas boy!) just worked it and worked it, riding for $215,000 and covering all four bulls, beating out JB Mauney and Kasey Hayes.

Justin had a bad weekend and Guilherme's slump lengthened. And, man, Austin Meier seems like he's fighting to take over JW Hart's Ironman title. Damn.

If you stayed around for the bull fighting on Versus, you got the chance to hear Rob Smet's announcing. He'll always be the world's best bullfighter to this cowgirl.

PBR on TV

Way to go, Greg Potter, for winning Anaheim for the third time in 4 years! (Hey, more than one of the Cowgirl Up team is a big fan of the Aussie cowboy!)

Final results for the event:

1) Greg Potter (Queensland, Australia), 338.75 points, $27,330; 2) Brian Canter (Randleman, NC), 264.00 points, $17,494; 3) Kody Lostroh (Longmont, Colo.), 261.00 points, $11,890; 4) Sean Willingham (Summerville, Georgia), 258.25, $8.052.

Brian Canter had an amazing ride in the championship round with 91 points on Mud Flap. And this former Coloradan is always glad to see Kody Lostroh up there in the top 5.

If you can't be there in person, you can at least watch on Versus, and thank goodness for that. I need my fix!

Rodeo Austin Gala

What: Rodeo Austin Gala

When: February 10, 2007

Where: Palmer Events Center, Austin, TX

Start Sightings: Nashville recording artists Joe Nichols and Sugarland

http://www.rodeoaustin.com/austin_gala/default.asp

This was a blast, y'all. The gala is held each year to help support scholarship funds for students in Texas. This year was our first year, both attending and donating. (Cowgirl Up donated 5 hours of web/logo design)

We were a little worried that we were gonna be underdressed in our good, starched jeans and sparkly cocktail tops, but we looked just *fine*. We fit right in, got to sit with two groups of very nice folks (one pair of ladies who were nice enough to take our business cards and one group of six), and ate like princesses. The buffet was great, with enough Texas style food cooked in new ways to keep even a couple of old broads like us happy. The pecan pie and buttermilk pie were amazing, and if y'all know me, you know I'm all about the pie.

Joe Nichols sounded good, even if I think the rodeo gala crowd was a bit tame for him. It's amazing to realize how many top ten hits that man has had, but when he sets up to sing, you realize you know most of his songs and can sing along.

Sugarland love what they do, no doubt. They rocked the house, got folks up and dancing, and just put on a fine show. Of course it was their song, "Baby Girl" that really got that crowd on their feet, finally, and got them moving.

Many props to the folks who did all the organizing of this event. Parking was manageable, the food was great, the entertainment was good, and they had an open bar with no real security problems. Definitely worth the money we spent in tickets and donations, and more than once were seen to look at each other and say, "God, I love Texas."

Hopefully we'll get a page up soon with some pictures from some of these events! Stay tuned!

Bell County Youth Fair, Livestock Show and PRCA Rodeo

What: Bell County Youth Fair, Livestock Show and PRCA Rodeo

When: February 8-10, 2007

Where: Bell County Expo Center, Belton, Texas

http://www.bellcountyexpo.com/index.cfm

Hey, y'all! Rodeo season 2007 is upon us. Due to time constraints we missed the stock shows in Fort Worth, Denver and San Antonio. So our first trip out this year was the Bell County Youth Fair and PRCA Rodeo.

The Bell county expo center is about halfway between Austin and Waco on I-35, centrally located, and had plenty going on last night. From youth showings of handmade fire pits and picnic tables to rabbits, sheep and pigs, the exhibits made for a heck of a lot of fun, and the rodeo got going about 7:30, giving us plenty to watch.

Star sighting: Cory Melton of PBR fame participated in the bull riding event. The Texas cowboy bucked off of a bull named Superstar.

Go 'round wins: We only made the Thursday night performance, so these are the winners for that go 'round.

Bareback riding: The bareback riders had a tough time, with only two qualified rides. Caine Riddle from Vernon, TX won the night with a 76 point score.

Steer Wrestling: A couple of good times made the race close, but Bray Armes from Argyle, TX blew the rest of the pack out of the water with a time of 5.2 seconds.

Saddle Bronc: Brody Bolton from Odessa, TX won this go round hands down with an 80 point ride.

Tie Down Roping: Justin Maass, Giddings, TX, took the go 'round with an 8.3 second time.

Team Roping: Justin Lovell and Cole Bigbee took it with 5.1 seconds.

The Bell County Team Roping Finals: This was the short go for the local boys, and Billy Pipe and Randy Bloomer took it with a short go time of 8 seconds, for a total on four of 39.11

Barrel Racing: Pretty Whitney Baker from Stephenville, TX blazed across the line in 15.02 seconds

Bull Riding: Only three qualified rides had the bulls coming out on top this go 'round, but Tyler Johnston of Bridger, MT put in an 88 point score on Erksme, winning the night.

Stock Contractor: Sammy Andrews, Andrews Rodeo Company (yep, he of Bodacious fame)

Barrelman: Rudy Burns

Bullfighters: Chad Beavers and Wesley McManus

Announcer: Boyd Polhamus

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