Numbers: Dirt

It took quite a while, back in the day, when I was but a wee novice, for it to sink in that PBR events do not occur in the great outdoors. Something in me did not want to acknowledge the fact that they take place in stadiums. Stadiums that do not come with a dirt floor. You can imagine that transforming such a place into a bull riding arena takes a lot of dirt, and indeed it does. We're not in Kansas anymore.

Quantity of dirt it takes to cover a stadium floor: 600 cubic feet

Number of truckloads: 60

Thickness of dirt: 8"

Time it takes to put the dirt down and take it out: 5-6 hours

Numbers: The Job

Events: 30
States: 24
Countries: 2
Months: 10
Ride: 8 seconds
Pay: $0.00-$1,250,000+
Benefits: none
Paid vacation: none
Injury rate: 100%
Health insurance: somewhere between none and not enough
Adrenaline production: maximum possible
Job satisfaction: high

We might once again ask why they do it. But I get it now. Here's the question: If you could do it, would you? Or maybe you already have.

Numbers

Number of bulls successfully ridden in the PBR BFTS in 2010: 526 ridden out of 1254 attempts, or about 41%

Number of riders wearing helmets v. cowboy hats: about 50/50

Number of concussions per total injuries: 15%

Youngest rider at PBR's top level: 18

Oldest rider at PBR's top level: 34

Amount of money taken home by this weekend's top winner: $31,604.40

Least amount of money earned this weekend: $0.00

Average buckoff time for Code Blue (4.47 seconds), Voodoo Child (4.04 seconds),Big Tex (4.17 seconds) and Uncle Buck (2.93 seconds)

Number of times Mike Lee has chosen to ride Uncle Buck: 4

Number of times Mike Lee has been bucked off Uncle Buck: 4