In 1982, Cody Lambert was an impressionable young rodeo athletetraveling with Bobby Brown.
He was only a few years into a career that continues today aslivestock director of the PBR, while Brown, who was in his 30s atthe time, was nearing the end of his.
The two were in Greeley, Colo., headed to St. Paul, Ore., whenbad weather conditions forced Brown to land his single-engine planein Salt Lake City. It was then that Lambert learned a lesson hecarried with him until he retired from riding in 1996.
The forecast indicated that there was no way they were going tobe able to continue in Brown's small plane, so they checked withthe airlines - there were two first-class tickets available on thenext flight to Portland, but the $600 or $700 price was steep evenby today's standards. Lambert was recently married and short onmoney, so he told Brown, "There's no way I can go."
Brown, who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo more than adozen times, and had been runner-up for the world title in saddlebronc riding a year earlier, wouldn't take no for an answer.
He explained that Lambert had one of the best horses in the draw- one with which he could win - and that he could not afford tomiss the event.
Lambert went.
"I felt sick paying for that ticket on my credit card," recalledLambert, who maxed out the card, and who didn't even plan to spendthat much for fuel costs during the entire Fourth of July run.
He wound up winning. Brown took second.
"When you draw those good ones, you make sure you're there toget on them," was the lesson Brown shared with Lambert.
To this day, every time Lambert looks at that St. Paul buckle,he thinks about the trip and what it took to get there.
Concentrated talent
Lambert eventually went on to travel with Tuff Hedeman, LaneFrost and Jim Sharp.
In the later part of the 80s, after turning 18, Ty Murray joinedthe troop - a band that is widely considered to have been the mosttalented group of travel partners in the history of the sport.
The things they accomplished are the stuff of legend.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we were the best bull riders,"Lambert said, "we being Tuff, Lane, Jim, Ty and I wasn't that farbehind. I knew that no carload of bull riders was going to win morethan we were."
They knew they were going to win, and on the rare occasion oneof them didn't, it was "disappointing and strange."
Hedeman won the world title in '86, followed by Frost and Sharp.He took a second title in '89. Sharp won again in '90, and Hedemanwon his third title in '91. That year, Murray won his third of sixall-around titles. He added a seventh in '98 to go along with thebull riding titles he won in '93 and '98.
"There was respect and admiration for what everybody could do,"Lambert said.
They're proud to have come from rodeo.
The PBR wasn't meant to compete with the PRCA, so much as it wasan attempt to put bull riding on a bigger stage with a largeraudience.
Of course, it would also provide the best bull riders a chanceto earn the money they deserved.
Then and now, the PBR has made a conscious effort to protect thehistory of July rodeos like the Calgary Stampede. Dates for theBuilt Ford Tough Series are scheduled so they don't overlap, andriders like Shane Proctorand LJ Jenkinshave an opportunity to travel to historic events that have been inexistence for nearly 100 years or more.
In the '90s, Lambert and Murray traveled separately from Hedemanand Sharp, who had added Clint Branger to the fold. While thosethree focused on bull riding, Lambert and Murray competed inmultiple events.
Because of that, Lambert and Murray were generally entered insingle rodeos on back-to-back days, or had to make two trips to thesame event days apart. In bull riding, a rider would only come infor one day.
The bull riders would travel at a fast pace, and althoughLambert and Murray were at an event every day, about a fourth ofthe time it was at a rodeo they had been to already.
Two for the show
Years after traveling to St. Paul with Brown, Lambert joinedMurray to head to a rodeo in Pecos, Texas.
They flew to Dallas, where they planned to catch a connectingflight to Odessa and then drive 76 miles to Pecos. As planned, theyhad a couple of hours to spare. But the flight to Odessa wasdelayed by two hours, and it was too far to drive.
After delaying it for two hours, the airline canceled theflight.
Lambert had drawn the best bronc (Sensation) and one of the bestbulls (Cadillac). He was determined to make the event.
Murray, who would go on to win his fifth all-around title thatyear, made a few calls to find a private jet, but there was nothingavailable. Lambert found DFW Charter Service in the YellowPages.
The company agreed to fly them for $2,800. They nearly missedthe bareback competition when the pilot overflew the Pecos airportand had to circle back.
Murray's draws weren't as good, but give an athlete like Murraythree opportunities, and he's going to win something.
By the time they arrived, Murray's bareback horse was in thechute. Lambert got his rigging ready while Murray changed. Fromwhat Lambert remembers, it was the one time Murray rode without hisknee braces. He won the last hole in both bareback and saddle broncriding, which along with day money in bull riding paid enough forhis share of the charter.
Lambert won first in the saddle bronc and second in the bullriding.
"I offered to pay for the whole thing because I knew he justmade the trip because he knew I had the good ones," Lambert said."I wasn't going to turn out when I had the good ones, and Tywouldn't hear of that."
- by Keith Ryan Cartwright