Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever, used to run with the Bulls at the United Center. The former North Carolina Tar Heel led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA World Championships in the 1990s.

Last weekend, bucking bulls roamed “The House that Michael Built.” And they fared pretty well, too.

The buckers produced five 45-point or better bull scores at the two-day, four-round contest, and 17 scores of at least 44 points.

Cooper Tires Wild N Out contributed 44.75 points toward event champion Robson Palermo’s 91.25 in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round. The Chad Berger and Clay Struve bull also Timothy Hall in Round 2. He tied Smackdown (Berger/Struve/Rosen) for highest bull mark in Chicago.

Robert Borba at last week’s St. Louis Invitational final round. Prior to that, he had bucked off 15 straight riders at PBR events, including two at the 2010 World Finals.

“He’s been a good bull all year and a good one last year as well,” PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert said. “He’s only been ridden six times in his career, which started back in ’08, and three of those times were by Guilherme Marchi [in Wichita, Kan., and Des Moines, Iowa, in 2010 and Oakland, Calif., in 2008], and once by J. B. Mauney, Austin Meier and Robson Palermo.

“So it takes somebody really tough to ride him.”

Wild N Out comes from Steve and Karlene Katich’s ranch on the Colville Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington. Many of the PBR’s top bulls come from Katich Ranch.

“Those Katich bulls from the Northwest – Wild N Out, Yellow Jacket Jr., Smackdown, Super Duty – they were all born on the same ranch,” Lambert said. “They’ve produced some real good ones.”

Smackdown Francisco Garcia. Colby Yates lasted a little more than halfway before losing his rope.

Lambert was basically pleased with the Chicago bulls, who were competing on a white crushed stone from the Great Lakes region. However, he didn’t like seeing another Tar Heel, Brian Canter, have to mount three bulls in the final round

“Brian had Yellow Jacket Jr., and as he came out, he had a spur in the chute and it drug him straight off,” Lambert said. “The judges gave him a re-ride and the re-ride bull, Closet Gangster – who Wesley Lourenço won the first short go on – just ran off with Brian. So he got another re-ride. And then he rode Loaded Gun, who Beau Schroeder in the second round. He didn’t buck near as good with Brian [84.25] for some reason.

“So none of his bulls had a very good day in that championship round. It kind of cost him a little. But up until then I was really happy with the bulls.”

— by Chris McManes