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FIVE-OF-A-KIND
by Leigh Ann Schroeder
As a living legend among bull men, Jerry Nelson, the fiery oil businessman from Beaumont, Texas who owns five of the best bucking bulls in the business and leads the PBR, CBR, and PRCA with number of bucking bulls on record, has long been renowned for his formidable personality: brash, opinionated, and unfailingly accurate. As a contractor he has a great eye for talent, drafting such bulls to his trailer as Scene of the Crash, Just A Dream, Wildfire, California Dreaming and my favorite, Big Bucks.
He has managed to build a powerful franchise with an abiding legacy. “I appreciate Jerry Nelson because as a bull rider we know that every bull he hauls gives us a chance to win if we ride ‘em. If he does not have the greatest bulls, he has the ability to find the best bulls. As a competitor, we want to ride the best bulls because the high scores come from the good bulls,” said PBR World Champion Justin McBride from the winner’s circle at the BFTS Columbus, Ohio.
Jerry never stands along the sidelines and is never seen without his trademark beard & long hair. Still glowing in the aftermath of the bucking bull boom, his bulls repeatedly lead the game. Jerry, on the other hand, remains a lively part of the game, constantly consulted by the other players and general managers of each and every aspect of the livestock business.
In poker, five-of-a-kind is the hand consisting of five cards all being of equal rank. It is also the hand ranking immediately above a straight flush and outranked by no other hand. But to achieve five-of-a-kind, there has to be a wild card. In October, the leaves fall, pumpkins appear and we all head to Las Vegas …where Jerry Nelson seems to always hold the wildest cards. Just which one of his bulls outranks the other? And how did he stack this oh so difficult deck?
You tell me.
S101 Big Bucks
· 2005 PBR World Champion Bull
· 2007 Alpha Trade Bounty Bull Finalist
Although his is in the blood and mine comes from Starbucks, just like the big guy, I get my kick from coffee, too, and don’t think you can see this bull buck just anywhere. This bull is all about the business. He has a non-compete clause in his contract. He bucks only at the PBR! The first PBR bull to literally live up to his name, this tremendous athlete brought a million dollars in a highly publicized partnership agreement in 2006. What was so special about this 2005 PBR World Champion bull?
100% buck off for the current PBR season and only one qualified ride out of 44 recorded attempts over his career. With talk of his retirement circling the bull groupies, this 7 year-old, 1400 lb. black bull already has one next of kin, More Bucks, whose success is already carrying on the family name in style and earnings as he competes for the ABBI Futurity World Championship this year.
According to Nelson, consistency is what makes Big Bucks such a great athlete. McBride posted a 93 in the 2006 BFTS event in Columbus on Nelson and Teague’s Big Bucks giving him the only qualified ride to be posted on this black bull who lives in the low marshy land of Winnie, Texas.
If you watch the PBR on VS you can’t help but hear Cody Lambert’s consistent remarks on how great this bucking bull is. “Not just one night here or there, but day in and day out on the road this bull just keeps bucking bigger and better,” said Lambert when asked who his favorites were for 2007 Bull of the Year, an award to be announced later this month from Las Vegas. “He is just heads and hands above the rest.. in my opinion,” stated Lambert from the broadcast booth. Lambert, Vice President of the PBR and, more importantly, the livestock director, is the final decision on bull power for the hundreds of PBR events nationwide.
According to one young bull rider watching intensely from the chutes in Columbus, he had a new move this round. “He jumped out about two and then planted his front feet and jumped backwards and then turned into his regular trip. It was like he was protesting not being the bounty bull, he was going to show the crowd he might be the tougher bull to ride.”
BREEDING HINT: Although his offspring are limited on the market, his close relative, More Bucks, purchased by Jerry Nelson for over $40,000 at last year’s Bucks By Design fall sale, is setting the stage for a legacy of bigger bucks.
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F12 Scene of the Crash
· 2006 PBR Co-World Champion Bull of the Finals
· 2007 Alpha Trade National Bounty Bull
Since August, bull riding fans have been voting for their favorite bull from a list of five PBR top bulls and this bull, owned by Frontier, Teague and White, who according to White, stays in a bad mood, came out on top.
“I really hoped this bull would be the one I have the chance to get on for the Alpha Bounty bull because if you ride you are guaranteed a huge score,” said McBride upon hearing Scene of the Crash had won the nationwide contest. “Scene of the Crash (originally named Rocket Man) is a great bull, and that’s what the PBR is all about – riding the best bulls in the business,” elaborated Justin. “Hey, I’d pay $25,000 to ride this bull,” he said prior to the event. “Any time you get a chance at this kind of bull you take it, but especially this one. I have been waiting all year long to get on that bull; he is a great bull, bucks hard every time.. never has a day off, he does the same thing every time and you still can’t ride him”
On Saturday night, October 13th, in Columbus, Ohio “this great bull did exactly as I expected,” said McBride just moments after he became $200,000 richer and proved he deserved not only the 93 point score, but also the latest title of 2007 Professional Bull Riders World Champion, a title gained by having the most points in the 2007 PBR year.
“I have gotten on him before, but did not ride him. He is honest and will give you his best every time, no tricks...no trash…100% honest bull. He is definitely in contention for the PBR’s Bull of the Year,” said McBride, “because he never lets up.”
Going into the final BFTS event of 2007, he posts an average bull score of 44.639. Scene of the Crash is sired by Rock N Roll and out of a Dwight Frick cow.
BREEDING HINT: Owners Nelson, Teague & White have employed Exclusive Genetics to market this great bull’s offspring, so you can quit surfing the net for semen. By the way, for Scene of the Crash fans…don’t miss Ron White’s late night comedy show a Mandalay Bay on November 3. He is sure to talk about owning part of this great bull and how rude he is to the top 45 riders who draw him.
2101 Wildfire
Having a bull score of 47 on his report card, this bull is often overlooked when talking about the rankest bulls in the industry. This red and white spotted muley has cratered such talent as Mauney, Moraes, Marchi, and McBride; but bucking bull riders off whose name starts with M is not his only talent, his average bull score is 44.1 and most don’t last more than three seconds. He jumps out hard and to the right and recently dumped 1999 Champ of the World Cody Hart in his first Built Ford Tough Series short go appearance in over two years. “When he feels a rider out of position, it seems to kick him into high gear,” said a fellow PBR contractor. Wildfire posts a 96.43 buckoff average and is ranked a 90.2 power rating from Probullstats.com.
Hint: He will probably be in the October 27th Saturday night “rank pen”, but hang it up if you are a right hander, he has 100% of you bucked off.
09 California Dreamin
California Dreamin is the tailback of this group. He is the “go to” bull you want to draw. Just ask Sean Willingham who rode this bull for a 90.5 in round 7 of the PBR 2006 World Finals. “Not very big with not much muscle mass, but is lightning quick and likes to buck,” says Jerry of the fourth card in his ideal hand. Only ridden twice this year, California Dreamin has an average bull score of 44.0. With a 90% buckoff rate within the PBR competitions, if you are so lucky as to make 8, you will average an 88.3.
Sired by 497 Automatic of Ray Mataska and out of a Mataska cow, this bull is automatically in the championship rounds at most PBR events.
95 JUST A DREAM
For most bull riders it’s Just A Dream to get a score on this great bull of Frontier and Teague. “Waking up after this ride is usually a nightmare,” laughs one bull rider who claims this is his locker room name. This 11th ranked bovine is wicked. With an average bull score of 45 this bull does buck. “He doesn't JUST get in the air. He moves ahead like crazy, gets up there and then drops straight out from under you. After a couple of those, once he has you strung out and on the end of your arm, he decides to make a corner. However, sometimes he does have the other trip where he just turns back, hangs in the air and makes you rich,” said one most recent PBR champions.
If there was a 90-point club for bulls, Just a Dream would be the president. If you ride him, you have a good chance of being 90 plus. Hart, Oliviera, Palermo are members of that club with their spectacular rides on this bull.
While being ridden a few more times than his traveling trailer companions, this bull seems to favor the killer B’s, as they are known in America, or Brazilian riders. Paulo Crimber and Adriano Moraes are the only two who have posted qualified rides on Just a Dream this season. What is it that makes this bull suit the Brazilian superstars?
“This big bull knocked out the first 5 kids that got on him when he was a young calf. Me being a rock and roll music fan, I named him after the R.E.M. rock and roll classic “Just a Dream” as the first 5 guys had a dream when they tried to ride him. I think he fits the Brazilians better as they ride big bulls, and this bull is bigger than most of mine,” said Nelson
“He was raised by Curt Lyons, sired by Romeo and out of one of Curt Lyon’s cows. Earlier this year, Tom Teague purchased Just a Dreams’ mother for $60,000 from Curt Lyons.”
Hint: Maybe a big check if you ride this one, average score is 89.4.
Jerry Nelson entered the bucking bull business with a friend in l991 because he loved bull riding and rodeo and thought he could make the sport better than it was.
“The sport has changed a lot in 16 years, but it’s still as much fun to me as it was the week we started,” said Nelson on the same day he heard the news of Justin riding Scene of the Crash. Nelson missed the record setting ride. Frontier Rodeo produces over 40 bull ridings a year and he was in Pasadena at one of his own events when he got the news.
If you have never played cards before, you start with learning about the deck. In livestock, if you have never bucked bulls before you start with Nelson’s Five-of-a-Kind.
If you want to play for money, read the betting rules. If you want to buck or ride bulls for cash…your best bet either way is on Frontier bucking bulls.
In poker the rule states, “when multiple players each have five of a kind, the winner is the player with the highest value of the card.” In bucking bulls, where we have no rules, when a contractor has five of THIS kind…he wins.
P.S. To talk to Jerry about his bulls, you can visit Nelson and the Frontier & Teague team on Contractor’s Alley inside the PBR Trade Zone and Marketplace during the PBR Finals, play poker with him at the Palace Station during the NFR, or better yet, improve your hand by attending his annual sale in February in Winnie, Texas.