What are they doing out there?
Maybe this ain't your first rodeo or even your first Los Fresnos Rodeo, and while you are familiar with the sport, what's different about the bull riding here? What in the world are the bullfighters, the guys assigned to protect the bullriders, doing out there? What's this about a "protection match"?As you know, rodeo is a competition that started when one cowboy said to another, "I can rope (or I can ride) better than you!" Once that was said, the competition was on to determine who was the best. Soon, some adventurous type determined that he would ride a bull! Probably no sooner than he dismounted or was thrown and scrambled to safety, someone else said that they could do it better.
Eventually, all of these contests were put together in the format we know today as "rodeo", and before long Professional Rodeo emerged, which is what is occurring in Los Fresnos as you read this. You are seeing the best cowboys competing on the best stock to show you "who's best".
It was only natural, then, that the bullfighters, many of whom are cowboys, would think they were better at protecting riders than the next guy. But if you're not being timed, and you aren't going to get bucked off, how can you tell who's doing a better job?
Enter TwoBulls mastermind Jim D. McLain, Jr. and Allen S Nelson, Jr., two professional bullfighters who have not only worked the Los Fresnos Rodeo for years but also professional rodeos and bull riding events all across the United States. Using years of experience and knowledge of bulls, bull riding, and bullfighting, they devised a system whereby the basics and fundamentals of the sport could be quantified in a format that would allow the bullfighter's performances to be displayed in order of superiority. Or, as Jim would say, "We developed a judging system!"
Two, or more, judges score the bullfighters as teams to determine who did their jobs the best. At the level of competition, you are seeing at Los Fresnos, it isn't that one team did a good job and the other team did a bad job. The bullfighters competing in Los Fresnos are experienced professionals at the top of their game, so, to determine who is doing the best job really does require a judging system to separate not just good from great, but great from greater, and greater from awesome!
Your job, as a fan, is to pick a team and help them win! You see, built into the system are bonus points for thrilling the crowd! As close as the scoring has always been at the Los Fresnos Rodeo, those points are enough to determine the winner. So, when you see your bullfighters do something that makes your heart throb or brings you to the edge of your seat, make some noise! You may just help determine the winner of the go-round and the overall competition!