I’d have to say that 2007 has been a pretty good year. I got to perform in 20 different arenas across the country and was only ridden three out of 27 attempts.

Not bad for a bull that looked like a calf out of a Jersey milk cow when I was born. I finished my year out at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR). I was so excited to get back to Las Vegas after only one appearance at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals.

My first appearance there found me up against Colin McTaggert, a student at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas.  Colin won a round at the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Finale on my traveling buddy Crazy Train. Crazy Train wasn’t with me in Las Vegas, but I have a pretty good idea about how he bucks, so I knew that Colin could be sticky. I guess that’s pretty obvious if he’s qualified for the NFR.

So it’s the fourth round when I make my first appearance and I was surprised to see how healthy and excited those bull riders were. They were all confident and ready for my pen, the eliminators. We might have taken a little bit of the stuffing out of them as only two of the fifteen made it to the whistle. Congratulations to J.W. Harris for winning the round on Flying U’s High Water.

I was thinking that could have been me if I’d only been the bull drawn by J.W. Well, I was prepared for Colin and was going to do my best to get him to the top of the leader board. He was pretty confident sitting down on my back and I was thinking about him getting money on a Bad Company Rodeo bull again.

I came out of the chute and turned back to the left. I started to buck again, and lo and behold, Colin was already gone. I knew that I didn’t explode out of the chute like I can and that was not at all what I expected. I couldn’t wait to get out of the arena. Then I heard Bob Tallman say “Bring that bull back again, we didn’t even get a chance to see him,” and I decided maybe my trip was okay after all.

We got a couple of days off and it was back to the Thomas and Mack Arena for the seventh performance. I’m in the back and there are all these bulls ahead of me. I’m looking around for my flank man Gerry Byrn, and I don’t see him. Then I realized that I was one of the re-ride bulls. Well, I’ve never wished bad luck on any of the other bulls, but I want another chance to perform in front of 17,000 crazed rodeo fans in Las Vegas. So, I’m hoping that something happens and someone gets a re-ride.

You know that old saying about be careful what you wish for, well I was wishing for it and it came true. There were two re-rides that night and I was the second one. Marcus Michaelis had drawn Stockland Livestock from Big Bend Rodeo out of Washington.

That bull got a little excited in the chute and did quite a bit of bucking in there. Marcus had to repull his rope and the bull was still acting up so he got a re-ride.

Dave Samsel had been on David Bailey’s Lucky Strike and Lucky Strike did not have his day at all, so Super Dave had a re-ride as well. He got Pudd from Broken Arrow Rodeo. That meant Marcus got me. He had been riding really well in Las Vegas and he was definitely ready for me. I was pretty good in the chute and Marcus was good about nodding his head. I turned back to the left and Marcus had his seat. I got a couple of good jumps in, then caught some air, turned back to the right and the rest is history.

It was a pretty good night for bull riders in the eliminator pen as five of them rode. Logan Knibbe won the round with a 91.5 point score on Flying U Rodeo’s Big Mike. It was cool to see Big Mike do so well since he was named for Mikel Moreno who lost his battle with Leukemia in 2006. However, the Flying U bulls sure did give the rest of us a bad time back in the pens.

Along with what goes on in the arena, there is a lot that goes on around the NFR that people don’t often know about. Before the rodeo started, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association held their Contract Awards Banquet. I found out that Boyd Polhamus won the “Announcer of the Year” an award that he had been nominated for many times but never won.

Boyd got his start in the rodeo arena at a college rodeo in Uvalde, Texas, that was produced by Bad Company Rodeo. Mack Altizer saw the potential in the kid from Wisconsin and got him started in his professional career. Susan Kanode got a buckle for Excellence in Print Journalism. She started with Bad Company Rodeo as well and has written stories about rodeo, the competitors and livestock for over 20 years. I’d like to think that I had something to do with her getting the buckle since she has spent so much time with me this past year.

I’ll never forget last May when we were at the farm in Del Rio. There were a lot of people there I’d never seen and we were getting ready for the George Paul Memorial Super Bull. Here comes this girl carrying a bucket and I immediately thought of feed. Well, she brings it right back there to the pen, turns it upside down and sits on it. I wondered what in the world was going on, then she started talking to me, and I know that people might think this is crazy, but she listened a lot too.  We’ve formed a pretty good bond this year and I think it’s been great that she has taken the time to get to know me and tell my stories.

I’m headed back to the ranch to hang out with the girls and get ready for 2008. My first adventure will start at the Sand Hills Stock Show Rodeo, in Odessa, Texas. I’ll be there Jan. 10 and 12, and I hope some of you will be there cheering for me. My name is Walk This Way and I am a bull with BADITUDE.

You can email me walkthisway@badcompanyrodeo.com

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