Last Sunday, Jake, Henry, Jemi, and I enjoyed a new adventure attending the Professional Bull Riders competition at the T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City. The event was hosted by our hometown Kansas City Outlaws, it was our first experience watching professional bull riding.
Jake, Henry, and I headed out around eleven, making our first stop at Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant in Shawnee. Fritz’s is a unique little hamburger joint where you place your order using a telephone at the booth and your food arrives by miniature train running along tracks overhead. Henry particularly enjoyed the ordering process and watching the trains make their deliveries. After a good lunch, we made our way downtown.
The area surrounding the T-Mobile Center was bustling with activity, with most of the crowd dressed in cowboy hats, boots, and western attire. Outside the arena were several attractions, including a petting zoo and a large livestock trailer housing two of the enormous bucking bulls. Seeing these animals up close gave us a new appreciation for what the cowboys were about to take on.
Once inside, we found our seats and were delighted to discover that although our tickets indicated row two, we were actually sitting in the front row, directly alongside the area where the bulls emerged from the chutes. We couldn’t have asked for a better location!
The opening ceremony was powerful and inspiring, celebrating the western traditions and American spirit that are such an important part of this sport. Shortly afterward, Jemi arrived and joined us for the afternoon.
The competition featured five matches between teams from around the country, with five riders from each team competing for the highest combined score. Two of the local favorites were the Missouri Thunder, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and sporting camouflage jerseys, and of course, the Kansas City Outlaws in their distinctive red and orange.
Henry and I quickly became enthusiastic fans. The objective is simple enough: stay aboard a bucking bull for eight seconds, using only one hand to hang on. Watching these enormous, powerful animals explode out of the chutes, twisting and leaping in every direction, gave us a real appreciation for the skill and courage involved.
Whenever a cowboy completed a qualified ride, we cheered wildly and anxiously awaited his score. And when a rider was thrown off, sometimes almost immediately, we cheered for his effort just the same. Sitting so close to the action made the entire experience that much more exciting.
The final match featured Kansas City against the Carolina Cowboys, and it turned out to be a terrific finish. The outcome came down to the final two riders, with Kansas City’s Hayden Welsh, a cowboy from Gillette, Wyoming, delivering the best ride of the evening. His 91-point performance clinched the victory for the Outlaws and brought the hometown crowd to its feet.
What a great way to finish the afternoon!
Afterward, we made our way through the crowd and back to the truck, enjoying some good conversation about the competition on our drive home.
I’ve come to appreciate that some of life’s best adventures don’t necessarily require traveling to distant places or doing something extraordinary. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of getting out and experiencing something new with the people closest to you.
There is something about sharing a first-time experience that seems to make the memories a little more lasting. I suspect Henry will remember those enormous bulls, the cowboys flying through the air, and the excitement of that final ride for quite some time. I know I will.
And the adventure isn’t quite over. Henry and I have already made plans to watch the next competition in Las Vegas in early November. This time we’ll be watching from the comfort of the basement, with the action playing out on the big screen.
Not quite the same as sitting alongside the chutes, but another good opportunity to spend some time together.
As an Aging Adventurer, I’m discovering that the experiences themselves are only part of the reward. It’s the people we share them with that make them worth remembering.
