War Dance spent Tuesday morning lying on some straw at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, his eyes half-closed, appearing anything but a 1,900-pound picture of violence.
He worked for two seconds on Sunday, a short work day considering that the average bull rider stays on War Dance's spotted back for 3.27 seconds.
"He don't hear that eight-second whistle much," said Rhett Beutler, War Dance's agent, a stock contractor from Oklahoma. "Ain't nobody been ridin' him."
War Dance won't work again until Sunday afternoon, the final of 12 bulls in the finals of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. In the interim, oblivious to the people who stop to gawk at his twisted set of horns, he is getting his beauty rest. (Between you and me, he needs it).
Now that Bodacious is in rodeo heaven, Tornado in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and Viper retired, War Dance is probably the most feared bull on the planet. He is 57-2, the clean-up hitter of the PRCA, as irascible as Barry Bonds, the most-apt-named animal athlete in American sports.
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"With War Dance, it's sort of like people stopping to see a car wreck," said Darrel Diefenbach, a bullfighter working his fifth Tucson Rodeo. "You don't want to see anybody get hurt, but you watch anyway."
There is no subtlety in bull riding. There is force and rage and velocity and danger.
Here's a hint: There are 56 bulls scheduled to perform at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds this week. None of them is named Daisy.
Pandora's Box is here. So is Broken Bone, Smashmouth and Blizzard.
But the lure to bull riding is that the cowboys want to ride War Dance. Unlike ballplayers dreading the sight of Randy Johnson on the pitcher's mound, the cowboys in Tucson this week pine for the chance to get in the chute with War Dance, Pandora's Box (lifetime record 45-3) and Phantom (30-4).
"To get the best scores, you've usually got to ride the best bulls," said Beutler. "You don't want to avoid 'em."
It's the old you've-got-to-beat-the-best-to-be-the-best concept. Judges honor degree of difficulty. It's like the NCAA basketball tournament putting a premium on strength of schedule.
On Sunday, drawing a ride on War Dance is akin to playing hoops with Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Sensing the emerging popularity of bull riding both on the PRCA circuit and on the more uptown Pro Bull Riding organization, ESPN has scheduled 16 telecasts of bull riding from May through November. Two more, next week in San Antonio, will inaugurate ESPN's 2006 coverage.
The hook? In a study of pro rodeo injuries, 1980 to 2000, it was determined that bull riders were injured in 32 out of 1,000 rides, the most of any rodeo event. Bareback riding was the runner-up, with 24 injuries per 1,000 rides.
The Big Four of bull riding has unfortunately become: fractures, ruptures, dislocations, concussions.
It is Diefenbach's profession to help rescue downed bull riders and distract the bulls while cowboys make their getaway. In effect, the danger has created not just an occupation for bull riders and stock people, but for bullfighters.
"I'm not amazed, because bull riding is so intense and exciting, so sellable," said Diefenbach. "It has spawned an entire new culture of fans, and ESPN's presence proves that."
There'll be no broadcast of the bull-riding (or any) event at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. There will be, however, 56 bulls in the chute, with many of the world's top riders hopeful that War Dance wakes up in a bad mood Sunday.
In other words, the cowboy who draws a ride on War Dance is something of a lottery winner.
Get your tickets now.
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