ride 'em, cowboys

The bullriders are between 18 and 20 years old; the bulls, youngsters too. They travel around the midwest, wowing the crowds by trying to stick to a wildly bucking, one-ton animal for 9 seconds. It seems like an eternity when you're watching. Most bulls know the drill, and after their moment in the ring, go back into the pens. But once in a while one will will be chased around the ring a few times by a cowboy on horseback with a lasso. And then the announcer will say, secure in the belief that his audience is with him, "We call that bull Obama—we got him in here but we can't get him out!" And the crowd will roar approval.