Posted with permission of Christopher Burkhardt-Publisher
In 1998, Coleman tried to hit every PRCA rodeo he could while working a few PBR events. Last year, Coleman mostly concentrated on the PBR Bud Light Cup events and finished 43rd in the world standings after winning $10,000 at his first PBR Finals.
This year, the light bulb went off.
"When I got my PBR card, I was thinking it was crazy to spend $400 on a plane ticket just ot go to one PBR event," said Coleman, 21 of Molalla, Ore. "I was pretty stupid then."
In 2000, Coleman decided to hit more Copenhagen Bull Riders Tough Company Tour events along with the Bud Light Cups. The result? Well, as of this writing, Coleman was sitting solid in the top 15 in the world standings.
"I used to think it was too much money to spend to go to a weekend PBR event, but now I realized that it's priceless if you get on the PBR Tour," Coleman said. "You have to spend some money to make a lot, and there's a ton of cash up for grabs in the PBR. I love this system now. You have to ride good to stay on the Bud Light Cup circuit. You have to stay sharp. You can't just wait for that nice little spinner to come along. If you ride the best, you'll win. Letting bull riders set this up was very smart. I just with I'd been smart enough to see that right away."
Actually, one reason Coleman went to so few events in 1999 is because he missed five months of the year with a dislocated left (free arm) shoulder and a broken left leg. He returned to action in Houston, and on his first bull back scored 92 points on Rampage, who was owned then by James Harper.
"I got really luck," Coleman said. "He's a tough bull, and not very fun. It ended up being the best ride I ever had. But after that, I wasn't going as hard as I should have. I wasn't going to any Touring Pros (now CTC). By the end of the year, I was slipping down in the ranks pretty bad. That's when I learned that I have to put my whole life into the PBR if I want to accomplish something. Guys like Chris Shivers and Cody Hart can get by just going to the Cups. I can't.
You have to realize that the smaller events have a lot of money up for grabs too."
Coleman's first Bud Ligh Cup win, which came this year in Odessa, Texas, was a surprise. He was in the lead entering the short round after rides of 90 and 88 points and was concentrating on riding Terry WIlliams' Smoke Ring in the finals.
"I wasn't really paying atteniton to what everyone else was doing," Coleman said. "I don't worry aobut calculating points and all that stuff."
Coleman bucked off his bull and stormed out of the arena, disgusted.
"I knew only one person made the whistle, so I figured I was second," he said. "Tuff (Hedeman) comes up to me and says, 'Smile. You won the thing.' I knew only B.J. Kramps had won an event by riding two of three, so I said, 'You sure?' When Pam Minick interviewed me, it hadn't sunk in yet. It was almost like I still wasn't sure."
Coleman became convinced when someone handed him a $20,000 check.
Besides winning big checks, Coleman loves trying new thinks. He likes to go wake boarding on lakes, fly-fishing and was an all-league football player in high school. At 6-foot-1, Coleman isn't the prototypical bull rider.
"I don't care if you're 6'5"," Coleman said. "If you're a bull rider you've gt to ride. No excuses. I look at a guy like Damon Stoudamire of the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA. He's 5'9", but he's a great basketball player."
Competing in bull riding, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding, Coleman won the College National Finalss Rodeo all-around title in Rapid City, S.D., his freshman year at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. However, collegiate success didn't breed excitement.
