The Colosseum in Rome had lions and gladiators to bring in the crowds.
On Saturday, May 28 in the Prince George Coliseum, bulls and the cowboys will be the stars of the arena at the Prince George Bullriding Challenge.
Thirty riders from the B.C. Professional Bullriders event will vie for a spot in the 10-rider short go-round and they're in a stiff challenge trying to tame the bulls from Roy Call's C-Plus Rodeo in 150 Mile House.
With a capacity of 2,100, Call thinks the Coliseum is a perfect venue for watching bull riding. In addition to the bleacher seats, 400 seats will be set up on the floor to watch the action in the bull ring, which will cover half of the rink. Call has supplied the animals at several bullriding events in CN Centre, which failed to draw enough spectators to create a charged atmosphere. That shouldn't be a problem, he says, at the Coliseum.
"It's a little more intimate, every seat will be right close for the fans, with guys on the floor, and I think we'll fill it right up and have people hanging off the rafters for the one-performance thing," Call said.
Event promoter Stuart Wheele, a former bullriders/steer wrestler/team roper, said there have been rodeos before in the Coliseum 20 years ago, but never a bullriding-only show. He's hoping it becomes an annual show and if it goes over well with the public he'll bring it back for two days in May.
"I think people will like it," said Wheele. "I'd like to put on a full rodeo but you need a big committee to do that and you have to have sponsorships, and that's tough, the way the economy is. Our town is really not rodeo-orientated, like Quesnel or Williams Lake, where the whole town backs it as one of their biggest events."
Call says the added purse of $5,000 and the timing of the event, early in the season, should bring some of the top riders from B.C., Alberta and the U.S. The top rider could collect as much as $4,000. Not bad for one night's work.
"It's a real straightforward formula we've used in a lot of places and I think it will be real successful," said Call. "It's a one-night thing and it's early in the year and it's easy to get contestants. When we start to struggle to get entries is in July, when the guys have been rodeoing hard for 50 to 80 days and they're all broken and beat up. The bulls will be fresher and stronger and we think it will be a lot of fun."
Mark Van Tienhoven will be the rodeo clown and Wheele, 36, is hoping he won't have to lean on him to provide some bail-out help in the arena.
"I'd love to ride, but I'm fat and out of shape," laughed Wheele. "I'm not too old, and if we don't get enough people here I'll probably jump on one. But it's a tough enough job just promoting it, setting it up and tearing it down."
The BCPB tour will return for the Prince George Exhibition, Aug. 12-13 in the outdoor arena at Exhibition Park.
Tickets are $30, available at Spruce Capital Feeds or at the Coliseum on the day of the show. A dance will follow at the Coliseum a half-hour after the last bull leaves the chutes, with live music supplied by local band The Hayrollers. Dance tickets are $15.
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