Forgive the 9-foot-tall, 13-foot long Magic Carpet bull for suffering a midlife crisis. He's well into his 40s, overweight — tipping the scales at 1 ton — and in a rut.
He used to enjoy messing with people playing miniature golf but was put out to pasture when Magic Carpet closed a year and a half ago.
Most of his gigantic sculpture buddies — Tiki Head, Poo Monkey and Willard the T-Rex — have moved on.
Next week things will change for the bull, who has been christened The Tucson Toro.
He'll board a flatbed truck and scoot over to The Maverick King of Clubs, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road, Wednesday as part of a cross-promotional effort between O'Shaughnessy's Steak House & Piano Bar and Jay Zucker, owner of The Maverick and the Tucson Toros.
"As a native Tucsonan, I have slammed many a golf ball between the bull's legs," said Zucker, who added that he went to Magic Carpet for one of his first dates.
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The Tucson Toro's trip will end at his new home, O'Shaughnessy's, at 2200 N. Camino Principal.
The Tucson Toro, who now boasts a deep-brown paint job with a reddish tint — shedding his former red-with-white-spots, dairy-cow get-up — might keep his bull run going the last week of July, when Zucker said there's a "strong possibility" he could visit Hi Corbett Field to take in a ballgame played by his namesake squad.
If he does go to the game he'll return to O'Shaughnessy's for good, where the long-broken mechanical tail many golfers mistook for dangling feces will be fixed so it swings from side to side. He will hold court near a sign that will read "O'Shaughnessy's: Where the Bull Stays Outside."
"I am just absolutely pleased and happy to be keeping part of Tucson's legacy alive," said Sam O'Shaughnessy, owner of the restaurant. "So much was lost of what made this town really neat."
O'Shaughnessy has spent "several thousand" dollars acquiring and restoring the sculpture, which, like all of Magic Carpet's wonders, was made by artist-builder Lee Koplin. A patron of Magic Carpet since it opened, O'Shaughnessy said it was an easy decision to adopt the bull.
"It's an adventure," said O'Shaughnessy.
The 2 1/2-acre site of two miniature golf courses at 6125 E. Speedway opened more than 30 years ago. It closed in January 2008 and was sold to Chapman Automotive Group, which plans on using it for an overflow parking lot for a nearby car dealership.
Only a handful of Koplin's creatures will be left after the bull's departure.
The rest of the sculptures have been promised to the landmark Valley of the Moon, 2544 E. Allen Road. The Sphinx and the Goop are the only recognizable titans not spoken for.
Artist Charles Spillar, who is helping restore the Valley of the Moon, is the self-appointed foster dad of the sculptures.
Though his face would surely never show it, perhaps The Tucson Toro's departure will sadden the Sphinx. Spillar says he's found no takers for the 16-foot-wide, 30-foot-long, 20-foot-tall monstrosity.
"Everyone's overwhelmed with the size of it, that's the main problem," Spillar said. "The other problem is the shipping."
photos by greg bryan / arizona daily star & arizona daily star file photos
IF YOU GO
What: The Tucson Toro will be parked in front of The Maverick King of Clubs and some Toros pitchers will sign autographs. There will be giveaways of Toros souvenirs as well as food and drink specials. It's an all-ages event.
When: 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: The Maverick King of Clubs, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road.
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