Interview: Mike Lee

Photo by Chip Rutan

I've always thought he was mysterious, and meeting him in person does nothing to dispel that impression.  He's a man who speaks in a sleepy voice and looks you straight in the eye and you feel that you are in the presence of a genuine man.  At the same time - maybe it's his deep faith, or his almost meditative approach to bull riding - there is something slightly otherworldly about him. I began the interview by asking him something that's been on my mind as I've watched some former world champions kick into action over the past three or four weeks.

Do you think that because you’ve been the world champion before, there is a competitive spirit that just kicks in for you at this time of year?

I don’t think it has to do with me being world champion before.  It’s just that I have the ability and talent to be here and to be a world champion.  It’s just a matter of me using it.  It’s just a matter of me taking my brain out of it and just react and trust God.  Rely on him and not on my own strength.

I've heard you talk about that before and I really like that idea of not letting your thoughts get in the way.  It shows in the way you've been riding the past few weeks.

I got a little weak-hearted tonight.  I lost the rope and I just gave up and got off, and that’s not going to happen again. [He laughs.]

What’s your best bull ride?  One that stands out in your mind as a high point?

It would probably be a tie between Mossy Oak Mudslinger at the World Finals in ’04, and I got on Unforgiven one year in Fort Worth and was like 93 on him.

I saw that ride on Mossy Oak Mudslinger on TV.  That was pretty amazing. 

Thank you.

Now, if you’re picking last in the short round, who do you not want to see left on that list?

Well, there are undesirable bulls.  They’re a lot harder to ride.  They don’t have good timing.  Like Uncle Buck, Spit Fire, Major Payne.  They’ve all got situations they get you in that's a little harder to get by.  Major Payne’s really big, he doesn’t fit in the chute, and it's hard to get started on him, and he’s got a long jump coming out of there.  Uncle Buck hops and skips and it’s like riding a jack hammer.  It’s really hard to get in time with him.  And Spit Fire’s a lot like Uncle Buck, and he waves his head around. 

For a while it seemed like you were picking Uncle Buck every time you had a chance.  Why was that?

Everybody hated him and was a little bit spooked by him.  And that bull kind of scared me – not scared me, but kind of spooked me and made me nervous.  And I love that feeling when I stand out and do something in faith and believe I can do it even though I have fear in me or nervousness in me.  To overcome that, and to be a warrior in that, it feels great and it’s an incredible amount of freedom, and that’s why I ride bulls.

So, you have a couple of kids now, right? 

I have a little boy named Noah, a coming three year old, and a little girl named Loralai, a coming three year old.  They’re twins. 

How has that changed your life? 

It’s been one of the best things to happen in my life, other than God.  He’s blessed me with these kids.  It’s made me a better person.  It’s made me less of a spoiled brat because I have to grow up just as much as they do.  [He laughs.]

It is pretty amazing, isn't it?  Until you have kids you don't really know how much love it's possible to have for another human being.
 
You just want to be around them all the time.  They make you feel down to earth and you can really feel your true self around them.  There’s no faking it around them.

[I laugh.]  No, there's no faking it around them.  Thanks Mike, and good luck in the Finals.

Thank you, ma'am.