Steroid suspicions ride into the rodeo
In a sport based on 'honor and grit,' one group is testing bulls, if only to dispel rumors.
PUEBLO, COLO. — It takes Big Bucks an average of 3.64 seconds to throw a cowboy off his back.
And he keeps getting better. Last season, the 7-year-old, 1,350-pound bull shaved his time down to 3.48 seconds; this month, he trotted out of Madison Square Garden as the top-ranked bull in the 2008 Versus Invitational, the opening event in bull riding's major leagues.
But these days, with steroid scandals clouding many top sports, doubts waft like sawdust in the bull arena too, and Big Bucks finds himself facing a question about what makes him a winner:
Is it the Mexican fighting bull in him, the Brahman influence, his Texas upbringing -- or something else?
Big Bucks hasn't ducked the question -- instead submitting to a needle-wielding veterinarian and making history in the process as the first bucking bull to be tested for anabolic steroids under the Professional Bull Riders' new plan to keep the sport clean.
Dogged by internal rumblings that bull owners seek an advantage in the arena by injecting the massive creatures with steroids, the association recently decided it was time to ferret out the truth.
A number of people in the industry speculate that steroids were used on competitive bulls in the past (at least one owner acknowledges having done so) but that the practice fell out of favor as owners realized they were trading short-term gains for long-term losses.
"Our sport has hung its hat along the lines of true competition and honor and grit," said Matthew Rivela, general counsel for the Professional Bull Riders Inc., based in Pueblo. "We want to ensure the integrity of the sport."
Though casual observers of rodeo might understand that riders get points for staying on a bull, they might not get that the system works in the opposite direction too: Bulls get points for how high they kick and how tough a time they give the rider -- and fame and fortune come to the animals that do it best. Bull owners can win bonuses ranging from $1,250 to $20,000 for a world champion.
Big Bucks, a past world champion, is a celebrity in his universe. His owners say he's steroid-free and they don't mind that he's been the first to undergo testing -- they just don't want him to be unfairly singled out.
Testing for steroids is becoming more common in horse racing, but it's virtually unheard of in the rodeo world.
