No bull about it: Riders gather to compete in Bull Jam

Bull Jam 2008 displayed some of the nation's rankest bulls Friday night as more than 40 up-and-coming cowboys from around the state tried to make the eight-second mark.

Conway's annual Bull Jam, which was held behind the Don Owen Sports Complex, got rave reviews from audience members in large part to having active bulls. Tombstone and White Chocolate are national finalist bulls that were featured at the National Federation of Professional Bull Riding event.

"There's some mean bulls here tonight," rodeo announcer Jim Lee said. "Some of these bulls have been seen on television. A matter of fact, I've seen one on the Outdoor Channel just the other day."

There were local cowboys that received big round of applause once their names were mentioned at the beginning of the event. Vilonia's Seth Wright felt honored to participate in such a high-profiled local event.

"Before those gates open, you just have to stay positive," Wright said. "You just feel nervous and excited, ready to go. You just have to know how to keep all of that stuff inside of you until after the ride.

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"To me, this is an excellent sport. It's just you and the bull. You don't have a coach out there telling you what to do or you don't have any teammates, although everyone doesn't mind offering help." Lee called bull riding the ultimate extreme sport, Greenbrier's Jay May agreed with him.

"You just get a big rush," May said. "I just now got back into riding because I broke my back in 2006, and I had a liver cut in half. This is a brutal sport, but it's exciting."

Lee, who announces at other rodeos across the state, has bull riding in his blood. In fact, he's been hard at it for over 50 years.

"There's just so much that goes into bull riding," Lee said. "You can never over power the bull, but you do have to have some strength. Being able to keep your balance while the bull is bucking and changing directions is the main thing. You'll here cowboys say jump-for-jump. That's what you have to do to win is stay jump-for-jump. It's man against beast."