Professional Bull Riding

For Christmas we got tickets to go see the Professional Bull Riding event at Madison Square Garden on January 8th from Sean, Andrea, and Tom. It was really fun, and great to go somewhere that felt a little more like home.

We went into Manhattan early that day to run a few errands before the event. We had to go to the Manhattan Mall to exchange the pair of pants that I got Brian for Christmas. They were just a little to long. :( The mall is just one block east of Madison Square Garden, which was very convenient. We also had to go to Barnes & Noble because Brian has a gift card and has been itching to spend it. While we were at Barnes & Noble we checked out the Nook. It was pretty cool, but I like my Kindle much better!

Here we are in the subway terminal waiting for a train to go to Barnes & Noble. It was weird to feel cold down there. It usually is so hot.

After running errands we stopped and got some food...a yummy Falafel from a street cart. Then went to pickup our tickets. After we went through security we passed by the little booths outside the ticket office. They were selling t-shirts, programs, and cow bells. The bells were very annoying, especially after standing in line for a while. It really felt like we were being herded through the gates once they opened. It was tightly packed and then with all the bells ringing... good grief! There were tons of people wearing western shirts, boots, belt buckles, and cowboy hats. It felt like we were in Idaho, which I really liked.

We had to take a few escalators to get up to our level. The escalators run up by the windows of the building and we could see a great view of the Empire state building from where we were. It is gorgeous at night! We finally reached our seats, which were fairly high up. They were good seats though. We had a perfect view of the whole arena.

When the event started they lowered the lights, and cranked up the music, and lighted the fireworks. It scared me when the fireworks lit up the PBR in the dirt. It was a loud bang and I wasn't expecting it. I almost jumped out of my seat! They introduced each bull rider while they stood atop the chutes in the spotlight.

After the riders were introduced they said a prayer and the Star Spangled Banner was sung. They brought out the National 9/11 flag. The flag was flown at the Twin Towers and was damaged on 9/11. It is pieced together with other flags. I couldn't get a great picture of it because of the spotlights, but it was cool. I had goosebumps while listening to the song. The crowd joined in singing at the end.

Then the bull riding started. It was great! There were a couple cowboys that got banged up during the night and needed medical attention. The people behind us would cheer every time a bull looked like it was going to charge someone. They were cheering for the bulls more than the riders.

There were also six guys sitting next to us that kept buying beers all night. They spent like $200 on beer! It was ridiculous how much money they spent on alcohol. I couldn't believe it. Talk about throwing your money away.

Clint Rasmussen was one of the hosts. He was dressed up in red, white, and blue and dancing all over the ring and cracking jokes. It was hilarious. At one point he put on a pair of Jeggins...the new leggings that look like jeans. They were pretty tight, but he didn't seem to mind as he wore them for the rest of the night. He also said that New York is his favorite place to come and host these events because the crowd is great. He also talked about how the walk and stop signals for pedestrians don't mean anything. It was so funny, because it is so true! That is one of the first things we noticed when we got here. People just walk across the street between the cars and hardly ever look at the signal. He was wondering how New Yorkers can grab a slice (of pizza) and dodge traffic at the same time. Then he started running around in his Jeggins demonstrating. It was hilarious.

I kept trying to take a picture of us together and could never get a good one. One of us was blinking, or the flash wouldn't go off, or I had it on the wrong setting. I think Brian was getting sick of having pictures taken of him so this is what I ended up with. Hahaha I love it!

I think this is my favorite picture of the night! Our tiny little camera doesn't work so great in low light, long distant shoots. Speedy bull :)

We had so much fun. I haven't laughed as much as I did that night for a long time. It was wonderful to get out of the apartment and have some fun. Thanks for the tickets guys, they were perfect!