March 29, 2001:

My bull riding last weekend (the Ty Murray Invitational, March 23-24 at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque) went great. Everything about it went just about as good as it can, from the way the bulls bucked to how the cowboys rode. The crowds were great both nights, and Saturday night was a sellout. This was the event’s fifth year, and it keeps getting bigger and better every year. One of the biggest compliments to that whole deal is how many people come back year after year. That makes me feel really good.

The Mossy Oak Shoot Out bonus was up to $65,000 in Albuquerque. It grows by $5,000 every time it goes unclaimed, and at this point whoever wins it is going to get rich. The Mossy Oak Shoot Out is a one-ride match between the winner of the first round and a preselected eliminator that’s chosen by PBR Vice President and Livestock Director Cody Lambert.

At my event, Chris Shivers won the first round with a 92-point ride on Herrington Cattle Company’s Moody Blues. In the Mossy Oak Shoot Out, he faced off against Herrington Cattle Company’s Blueberry Wine (Note: Ty is the only man ever to ride Blueberry Wine. He was 93.5 points on him in the short round at the St. Louis Open.). That’s about as good as it gets if you’re a bull riding fan. Blueberry Wine bucked Chris off, so as we head to Colorado Springs for stop 14 on this year’s Bud Light Cup Series presented by Las Vegas, the Mossy Oak Shoot Out rises to $70,000. That is so cool.

Justin McBride won my event. He was just out of the money in the first round, then came back and split sixth and seventh in round two. He really brought the house down in the short round with an event-high ride of 95.5 points on Herrington Cattle Company’s Hollywood. What a ride. He had me clapping.

Justin won $27,053, a Ty Murray Limited-Edition Winchester Rifle and a hand-tooled leather photo album courtesy of tymurray.com.

The day after my event, Jewel and I flew to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party. It’s a big dinner and party in Beverly Hills for all the actors and producers. I’d never been to anything like it, so that was interesting.

My mom and dad are getting ready to move to my ranch, and I’m really excited about that. It’ll be so neat to get to see so much more of them, and my mom can hardly wait to have a dog and a horse again.

I’m off to Colorado Springs tomorrow. On Sunday, I’m flying back to DFW, and a helicopter’s going to pick me up and fly me to Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR race there. I’m really looking forward to it, because I’ve never been to a race in person before. And after driving a racecar a few years ago at the track in Las Vegas, I have a huge appreciation for the skill it takes to be great at that sport. My partner in my PBR event, David Allen, is taking me to the race. He’s done all of Dale Earnhardt’s marketing all these years, so I’ll really get an insider’s view on the sport. There are so many correlations between NASCAR and the PBR, so it’ll be fun to see them for myself.
Well, that’s it for now. Take care of yourself.