By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
Image from 2012′s first annual PBR event in Paris, Texas.
The PBR Touring Pro division of the Professional Bull Riders association is returning to Paris next summer.
Last summer’s inaugural visit to Paris with the circuit event attracted thousands of people, many of whom are regular followers of the PBR’s televised “Built Ford Tough Series.”
The Paris City Council will be asked tonight to allow use of the rodeo arena at the Red River Valley Fair Grounds for a professional bull riding event on Friday, May 24, 2013. That’s the same weekend, preceding Labor Day, as in 2012.
Promoter Lee Pedone II will again be putting on the rodeo. He’s a partner with D&H cattle Company of Ardmore, Okla., which provides the stock for PBR events. He was the 2001 national high school rookie bareback rider and the 2002 Florida state champion bareback rider.
Pedone now lives near Detroit, in Red River County.
Last May, about 35 bull riders rode once each, followed by a championship round for the 12 bull riders with the best performances during the go-round, with $10,000 in prize money at stake.
Although some of the country’s top bull riders participate in the Touring Pro Division events, the Paris rodeo won’t be part of the PBR’s televised series, but a lot of those same riders and bulls will be in Paris, Pedone promises.
Pedone said he will also have top-line bullfighters, the specialists who risk their own safety to make sure the b ull riders themselves get out of harm’s way after finishing their rides.
For a successful ride, a rider has to remain atop the bull for at least eight seconds. Both the rider and the bull are judged on their performance , and their scores added. The meaner the bull, the harder the bull bucks, the higher the bullrider’s score – if he stays aboard for the full eight seconds.
Anyone interested in being a sponsor for the event can contact Pedone at 903-219-0886 or his marketing person, Chris Gunn, at 903-272-2925 or chris@ParisPBR.com.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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