Let's Head to Texas...

Dallas, Texas that is. For the Dickies Invitational this Saturday and Sunday, and take in some thrilling bull rides in one of the best regions for bucking bulls in the country. The first go round alone is enough to make a bucking bull enthusiast drool.

First big name bull, Page and Teague's Crossfire Hurricane. The big monster of a bull hasn't been out since the World Finals. He's only been ridden 11 out of 54 trips. And frankly, I don't care whose got him, I usually pick him to win the match up. However, if Dustin Elliot is on his game, he might be succesful. That man has after all put up rides on bulls such as Palace Station Deuces Wild. Whose only been ridden 19 out of 55 attempts. If Elliot is successful he will be the first man since Travis Briscoe to cover the Hurricane since Tulsa Oklahoma last year. And with Elliots riding style, it could be a potential go round win score.

Next bull up, another Page and Teague beast, Black Smoke. Ridden just 12 out of 45 attempts, he will take on World Champion Ednei Caminhas (yes I know he was supposed to retire...he didn't). We didn't see much of this bad boy in 2008, but the 2006 and 2007 seasons were full of high 80- low 90 point rides, and big streaks of buck offs, with bull ratings in the mid 40's. With the way Caminhas has been riding, it is hard to guess which way this ride will go. If the World Champ side of him comes, look for a 89-90 point ride. Otherwise I'd say he will be in the dirt after about 3.5-4 seconds. I'd like to see Caminhas cover him, but so far this year he's only been successful on one bull. Not a good way to start off the season, when you consider that they had a good long break to heal up and recuperate. Caminhas is good at pulling himself out of holes though, so maybe he can get by Black Smoke.

And then there is JB Mauney's bull Zorro from Lufkin Ranch and Rodeo. I really like this bull who made his PBR debut back in 2004 at the World Finals by dusting legendary PBR superstar Michael Gaffney. And while he has only been ridden 10 out of 44 outs, I think I have to go with Mauney on this one. He's riding over 70% of his bulls, on a super hot streak that started back at the World Finals. While I love Zorro and he is an amazing super star bucker, Mauney is just too hot I think. Course Zorro is a smaller bull, so he may join the other three bulls that have gotten past Mauney this season.

Then there is Sports Machine from Page Buck and Watts. He's got to take on 2004 World Champion Mike Lee. Sports Machine has 11 out of 41 trips successful for his riders. And Lee is on a hot streak, having covered all of his bulls at last weekend's Sacramento event. Given Lee pretty much seems to like any bulls style, it is hard to ever go against him in the chutes. In his career he's ridden 56.9% of his bulls. So better than half of the time a person is more than safe picking Lee to make a ride. I do doubt this will be a go round winner, depending on who else comes off or rides. But we will have to wait until this weekend to find out.

And finally for the "big boys" that have come to play, there is young Ryan Dirteater's draw...the one...the only...Cat Man Do. He's been ridden more times than any of the others (22 out of 43) but lord do I love to watch him buck. #10 Bucking Bulls Cat Man Do is one of my all time favorites to watch. He's put legends such as Justin McBride, Paulo Crimber, and JB Mauney down before the whistle. This match up I think I will go with Cat Man Do. Dirteater's riding a lot of his bulls, 5 out of 9, but I don't know if this is a bull he can make the whistle on.

As a shout out for a few favorites of various folks. Mighty Mike White has Roudy Houdlum, from Circle T Ranch and Rodeo. Houdlum has been ridden twice, by Dustin Elliot, and Mike is nursing a sore jaw, so who knows how this will turn out. Frankly with Mike already hurting I am not sure I even want to hazzard a guess.

Then there is our current World race leader, and one of my personal favorites, Colorado man Kody Lostroh. He's drawn D&H Cattle Company's Livin' Large. Livin' Large was only out once last year for a buckoff. And Kody is covering bulls like Troubadour and making it look fantastic. And he's my favorite...how can one go against one's very favorite?

That's all I have time for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday. And have a safe and happy weekend!