A crowd of 1,500 filled a grass bank and bleachers. Bullriders yelled encouragement. The rodeo announcer started his spiel. The rider nodded. The gate opened.
Bull riding is the adrenaline rush of the rodeo.
I always wanted to be in the bull business, even when I was a little kid. I wanted to be a lion tamer but there was nowhere to learn. The Gettysburg man promotes, produces, announces and provides the livestock for about 75 events each year throughout the Northeast. It's a life of too many sleepless nights, too many miles to drive and too much debt. Sometimes those things combine for drastic, if not tragic results.