On top of their game

Eight seconds might not seem like a lot of time, but it is when you’re riding a 2,000-pound bull whose goal is to spin, kick and jump, then slam whatever’s on its back into the dirt.

For the 45 cowboys competing in this weekend’s 10th annual Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Las Vegas, eight seconds is what they’re aiming for when they suit up in their chaps, hats and flannels and ride into the ring. Most of the riders this weekend will have the misfortune of being jerked around and thrown to the ground in the blink of an eye, but the few who hold on until the bell rings and the crowd roars could be rewarded with hefty prizes. The season’s overall champion walks away with $1 million.

“It’s a big adrenaline rush,” said “Mighty” Mike White, the 27-year-old Texan who’s ranked third going into this year’s finals. “That’s just the thrill of bull riding: to get on there and make a really rank bull ride” -- a rank bull being “one that’s got a lot of rarin’ and a lot of kick.”

White’s had a lot of experience. In the dozen or so years he’s been riding, he’s taken 1,200 bulls out for a spin and has been thrown 800 times. Since 2000, his second year riding pro, he’s broken his neck, ankle and kneecap and dislocated a shoulder, but to White, it’s worth it.

“I don’t want to go get a job. I don’t mind working, but I don’t want to punch a clock,” he said. “I like being my own boss.”

So far this year, White’s won $200,000 in prize money in only four events, and he did it in less than 30 seconds.

“First and foremost is danger,” said Professional Bull Riders CEO, Randy Bernard, explaining the sport’s appeal. “That’s what’s selling NASCAR. Everybody wants to see a good wreck, but everyone wants to see them walk away.”

One in 13 riders is injured during each event, Bernard said, which is why the group has an on-site orthopedic surgeon. “These guys’ motto is: It’s not when you get hurt, it’s how bad you get hurt, because you know in the sport of bull riding you’re gonna get hurt,” he said.

It’s this thrill of potential injury that is helping to make Colorado-based professional bull riding one of the country’s fastest growing sports. About 67,000 people will pay between $40 and $100 a head to attend this weekend’s finals, with 4.5 million more watching the event on TV. In 1994, the sport’s debut season, average attendance was 12,000, with 1.1 million tuning in on cable.

Watching pro bull riding is like watching a movie with missing frames--the riders are jerked around that violently fast. Competitors are judged on a 100-point scoring system -- 50 points for the bull, and 50 points for the rider, whose job is to make simply hanging on look easy.

It’s an amazing display of athleticism, but it extends beyond pure sport, incorporating the theatricality of pro wrestling and glitz of rock ‘n’ roll. In addition to straight-up riding, there will also be live performances by country music stars such as Tracy Byrd.

With the exception of one outdoor event in Laughlin, Nev., all 29 major-league events each year take place indoors at arenas, where thundering rock music, plumes of artificial smoke and flashy pyrotechnics combine to make professional bull riding not just an event but a spectacle.

Pro bull riding is to rodeo what Shania Twain is to Tammy Wynette -- new country versus old country. It was founded in 1992, when a group of 20 bull riders broke away from the traditional country-fair type of rodeo circuit. Subtracting the calf roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing, they made bull riding a stand-alone sport, chipping in $1,000 apiece to put together a series of eight events.

Now, the group hosts 150 events annually, with 800 minor-league and 45 major-league competitors, the latter of which have rock-star followings carefully cultivated by the professional organization.

At the beginning of each event, riders are introduced with spotlights and plumes of smoke to better showcase these macho young men -- most are in their 20s -- before their nerves are shot and when their spines can still handle the unpredictable jostling that comes from riding an angry, bucking beast.

“Most of these guys are agile like a cat. There are three or four that do 2,000 sit-ups a day. Their workouts are unbelievable,” Bernard said. “Fifteen years ago, these guys would go and get on bulls on the weekend, and it was a big party more than anything. Today’s it’s a sport like any other. There’s a lot of money on the line.”

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Professional Bull Riders World Finals

Where: Thomas & Mack Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas

When: Today-Sunday

Live TV Coverage: Today-Saturday, 4 p.m., Outdoor Life Network; Sunday, 1 p.m., NBC.

Info: (719) 471-3008 or www.pbrnow.com.