La CROSSE, Wis. – It’s been 15 years since Fred Boettcher first tied himself to the back of a bull in La Crosse.
He still has fond memories; even of winning the event in 1994 when he was just days shy of his 19th birthday. It was a big deal for the man from Rice Lake, Wis., and who spent years just down the road in Tomah.
“I remember in 1991 or ’092 when they first started having these bull ridings in La Crosse that I just wanted to be there,” said Boettcher, 33, a six-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier. “But I wasn’t old enough to compete. It used to be just a straight amateur event, then it moved up.”
The Professional Championship Bullriders organization brings the excitement and danger of elite bull riding back to western Wisconsin, with shows starting at 8 p.m. Nov. 6-7 at La Crosse Center. It’s the excitement of the original extreme sport and the danger of man vs. beast – men have died trying to tame wild bucking bulls.
“There is something about the danger that draws people to our sport,” said Robert Sauber, a former bull rider who runs the PCB. “They may not want to see anyone get hurt, but people want to say they were there when the wreck happened. Yet, there’s something beautiful when it all comes out right.”
Boettcher knows that better than most, and he’s bringing his years of experience to La Crosse – tickets are on sale now at the arena or through Ticketmaster. But he won’t be riding in the competition in a week and a half, he’ll be judging those that will.
“I’ve been judging at PCB events and lower-level bull-riding events,” said Boettcher, who won the National High School Finals Rodeo bull-riding title in 1994. “I’ve heard people say you had to have ridden bulls to be a good judge, but I don’t agree with that. There are some judges that just rode bucking horses or did timed events, and they’re good bull-riding judges.
“But in the NFL, it’d be tough to find officials that played pro football and they do just fine. I think you need to be knowledgeable, and I’m knowledgeable about bull riding.”
He’s also proficient at it, and that adds a distinct flavor to his work as a judge.
“I think it gives me an upper hand, because I can picture myself on that bull,” he said. “I know the degree of difficulty, and that gives me the opportunity to judge accordingly. There’s a lot going on in eight seconds, and you can’t rewind the tape and watch it again. But it comes real easy to me.”
And he should be a bright spot among Wisconsin rodeo fans. He’s one of just a handful of cowboys from the Badger State to have ever played among the elite in the sport of rodeo, much less bull riding. B.J. Schumacher of Hillsboro is a seven-time NFR qualifier who won the bull-riding world title in 2006, and Cory Check of Prairie du Chien has played for pay at the grand championship of ProRodeo.
“I know Cory Check will be in La Crosse, because he got into the bull interest,” Boettcher said. “Here he lives in Prairie du Chien, which is just 45 miles from La Crosse and was one of the best bull riders from Wisconsin, and now he’s bringing bulls to this event.
“I think a lot of people are misinformed that you have to bring stock contractors from Texas and Oklahoma to have quality bulls, but that’s just not the case anymore, and Cory shows that. He’s a Wisconsin product who raises quality bucking bulls.”
That’s an important factor in Boettcher’s job, since competitors will be riding for scores based on a 100-point scale. Half the score goes to the bull, half to the rider. So Boettcher must take into consideration all that happens in that few seconds of ferocious bucking action.
“It’s like car races,” he said. “People don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but they want to be there to say they saw the car roll 15 times. Bull riding is like that. People don’t want to see us get hurt, but they want to see the wreck when it happens.”
The Professional Championship Bullriders is also in the blood of Rob Smets, one of the best-known bullfighters to ever look a bull in the eyes and step away while protecting fallen bull riders from the dangers of the sport. Now retired from active bullfighting, he serves as the color analyst during the performances, working closely with veteran announcer Roger Mooney – who, three times, has been selected to work the National Finals Rodeo.
Funnyman “Radical” Ryan Rodriguez, who has worked some of the biggest events in the sport, from Calgary to Denver to Las Vegas, and Joe Garretson, the 2008 PCB Bullfighter of the Year, is scheduled to be part of the action.Not only does he bring a history of terrific cowboy protection to the table, but he also adds to the excitement of the performance, just like the wonderful women of barrel racing, who jockey their athletic animals around the cloverleaf barrel pattern in mind-bending speeds. This year marks the first time the barrel-racing competition is part of the two-night event at La Crosse Center.
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