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One might think adrenaline junkies could attain their desired jolt from less dangerous activities, something like playing paintball, jumping out of a plane or even wearing the wrong colors in a Chicago neighborhood.
But, according to Randy Blanchard, it’s excitement that attracts a bull rider to the mount – a thrashing 2,000-pound beast that aims to buck off his back and gore that guy waving his arm while getting his jollies. There’s also something about the conquest, man versus beast for 8 seconds, as well as man against man in the macro picture. Who is stronger – or less awkward – atop the bulls?
“I think it’s the adrenaline rush, and really, bull riders, they’re athletes,” said Blanchard, producer and co-founder of Fear No Evil, which returns Jan. 18 for the 13th year at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. “It’s not like, I guess, the old days, where you just climb on a bull. If you’re going to be serious about it, you better be in shape. Back in the day, I guess it used to be just having fun, partying, and over the weekend, get on a bull. But these guys are actually really athletic. You work out, you watch your diet, they take it really serious.”
Blanchard rode bulls for a while but decided to settle for financial stability when he met the right woman and had children. His appreciation of the sport persists, and he has helped foster what he describes as a professionally run, independent event that draws amateur riders from throughout the region.
“I’ve always been involved with some type of rodeoing,” he said. With bull riding experience and appreciation comes an understanding of what skills are necessary to be successful.
Technique is as important as courage and fitness. Riders can only keep one hand on the rope they wrap around the bull, and there’s more science than art to using the free hand to maintain balance. Even the placement of the rope is vital to success.
“The thing about sitting on your rope, you set that rope in what’s called the break in the bull’s back. If you set your rope wrong, you’re definitely going to know it, because you’re either going to go over the head or be shot off the back. … If you see a bull buck, you’ll see why they call it the break.”
Violent bucks are less painful if the rider is correctly situated. And professional bull riders are adept at mirroring a bull’s head with the free hand,” Blanchard said. “It’s not just about holding on, because you’ll never outpower a bull. You have to make moves to counteract his moves and just get in a rhythm with him”
These skills are accented with the bulls’ ferocity in the annual Houma event, which routinely fills the civic center, marketing director Scott Belanger said.
Fear No Evil, which pits 40 riders against 50 bulls in one night of action, arose from the popularity around a Professional Bull Riders event waged at the civic center, which Blanchard said he helped organize. Local sponsors, seeing interest in the sport, wanted recurring action.
“It’s just an open show, to come win some money, and if you’re good enough, you get the belt buckle,” Blanchard said. “We get a lot of locals, but this thing has grown so much with all the riders: We get guys from Oklahoma, Texas, one year we had a guy from South Dakota.”
Some riders travel their own circuit, making a round trip out of stops in various states. Word of mouth and social media advertise the Houma event, and a no-nonsense reputation draws in these traveling riders. The allure of a $7,000 purse – $3,000 to the winner – doesn’t hurt.
“The guys talk about it, and if they’re close enough to the area, they’ll come on and give it a try,” Blanchard said. South Louisiana, through, is well represented, as evidenced by last year’s winner, Jason Beck, of Prairieville. “That’s what this event is about, giving some of the local guys the opportunity to ride in a professionally run show,” he added.
The format is straight-forward. Forty cowboys are culled from the entry pool based on experience and qualifications. Based on a random draw, all entrants ride separate bulls in the first round, referred to as the “long round.” The top-10 scorers from the long round ride 10 more bulls to get their final rankings.
Riders are admitted based on their reputations, and so are the bulls, whose records and personalities are frequently hyped. Competitors get more points based on the strength of their mounts – judged on a scale of 1-50 based primarily on the height and intensity of their turns, jumps and kick-outs.
The random draw is unbiased and final. A bull’s ferocity is factored into a rider’s score and, anecdotally, contributes to the legend-making aspect of the sport. One year, for instance, a semi-famous bull named Rampage was brought in, Blanchard remembers.
“(The bull’s owner) approached me and told me we had a 15-year-old boy that drew Rampage in the show. He said, ‘Randy, you need to do something.’ He said, ‘That bull is going to kill that boy.’ And we discussed it and I said, ‘Look, let me tell you something: When I was riding, just because of my age, I would have never turned down a bull just because he supposed to be some bad buck, and I don’t think we need to take this away from this kid. Lets give him a shot.’
“There was a bunch of more experienced cowboys saying, ‘Oh man, this is not going to be good.’ But the kid won the whole bull ride, won everything. When I tell you Rampage bucked, man, did he buck. … I think it’s a pretty good success story.”
For the younger crowd, the Fear No Evil also features two calf scrambles. Two calves are released at at time, and kids are separated into one of two age groups. The first participant to tear a piece of ribbon off a calf tail and redeem it with judges receives a prize.
Also breaking up the bull-riding action is the “barrel man,” who performs a one-man comedy routine geared at appeasing all ages.
“Whatever dead spot we may have, he’ll fill that spot with comedy,” Blanchard said. “He’ll go play in the crowd. A bull may fight his barrel. His primary job is to keep the show moving.”
As the contest has grown, so have the ancillary offerings around it. One day before the competition, the riders meet and greet the public at Hooters, where a mechanical bull is also brought in for people to have a less-risky chance to test their grit.
Prior to the show, children’s activities are offered for ticket holders, and after the champion is crowned, the band Velvet Sky perform live from a stage in the civic center.
Distilled to its core, however, Fear No Evil is about the short bursts of unpredictable moments.
“There’s a lot of excitement, danger,” Blanchard said. “The cowboys asked us for some tough bulls, so that’s what we’re bringing.”
– editor@gumboguide.com
A bull rider is tossed during a previous Fear No Evil contest. The event returns to the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center for the 13th consecutive year, pitting 40 riders against 50 bulls during a tournament that holds a $7,000 purse.
