‘Toughest Cowboy’ contest to saddle up in Everett
Published 5:51 pm Thursday, March 5, 2009
Toughest Cowboy is called the triathlon of rodeo, except in this competition the players swim violently through air on top of a 1,800-pound bull that is very angry.
Now that’s entertainment.
The World’s Toughest Rodeo is presenting Toughest Cowboy at Comcast Arena on Saturday. The thrills begin at 6:30 p.m. when cowboys sign autographs during the “Behind the Chutes” pre-show. There are also action-packed antics from Wild Chuck Wagon Races and women’s barrel racing.
After the tournament, fans dance on the dirt to tunes from Whiskey Falls.
Of course the highlight of Toughest Cowboy is just that: watching to see which dude has the grit to endure this one-of-a-kind challenge of three rides in one night — bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding.
“The cowboys are the original myth heroes of our country,” said executive producer Tommy Joe Lucia. “It’s what our history is built on — rugged individuals. And that’s what it takes to survive in our society today.”
The Toughest Cowboy tour springs from “Toughest Cowboy,” a one-hour series on Spike TV. The show searches for a rodeo rock star with cowboys eliminated each week in a sudden-death bull ride match. The champion wins a ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. The winning episode airs March 19.
The Toughest Cowboy tour features cowboys from the television series including dark-horse competitor Charlie Barker, who Lucia said “has the makings to take the ranch.”
Rooting for Barker is like backing the hometown boy: Barker, 27, was raised on a ranch in Longview, Wash.
“I’m a great competitor,” said Barker during a phone interview. “I expect to do well. I worked hard to get where I’m at.”
Click on the Toughest Cowboy Web site, www.toughestcowboy.com, to view the episode where Barker truly earned his rodeo cred:
He was bucked off a horse, landed in a face plant, then immediately talked on camera about the spill.
“The best way to describe the difference between us and football players is we don’t get paid if we don’t show up,” Barker said. “We’ve got to be tough.”
Though kids can witness toughness during the tournament, they can also learn the softer side of cowboys.
“All of our cowboys, they still take their hats off to ladies, and open doors and don’t brag when they win,” producer Lucia said. “They honor the code of the cowboy, and a mother can get to see there’s a little bit of cowboy in all of us.”
“Toughest Cowboy”
7:30 p.m. Saturday at Comcast Arena, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett; tickets are $41, $31 and $18 in advance; $43, $33, $20 the day of the event; children 12 and under are half price: 866-332-8499, www.comcastarenaeverett.com.
