A Champion Dies

Sad news came last week; one of my sports heroes, a real champion, passed away at the age of 15. His name was Little Yellow Jacket, a three time World Champion bucking bull. He became a commercial enterprise for his owners here in Mandan, but how can anyone feel sorry for a bull that never had to work more than 8 seconds on an occasional basis, and usually much less than 8 seconds because he threw his wannabee riders in less than that.


We saw this bull during his last North Dakota appearance and it was a thrill to watch him at the Bullarama where he bucked off the rider in short time.


It was quite the sporting event when the world champion rider Chris Shivers climbed aboard during a highly-hyped event where he would have won one million dollars if he had stayed on 8 seconds. He didn't. He lasted all of two seconds. In later years the bull has been bred to many cows to raise more bulls with his genetics.