Bulls decline comment on steroid use

Bulging eyes? Check.

Freakish strength? Check.

Dramatic mood swings? Check.

Significant shrinkage? Hmm.

Maybe all these bulls aren't on steroids, after all.

If you thought you heard everything about sports and performance-enhancing drugs, think again. There is a steady concern within the Professional Bull Riders that more and more of those 1,600-pound cantankerous creatures are being aided by something other than strict training regimens and an Atkins-inspired diet out on those grassy pastures.

That many of these competitive animals should be branded with an asterisk instead of initials from their home ranch, which probably would cause some to pathetically continue denying the obvious truth by snubbing an invitation to their Bucking Bull Hall of Fame induction. Or at least refusing to stand motionless and not urinate on anyone during it.

Sadly, there were no secrets to be uncovered in the space just off the Thomas & Mack Center floor Friday night, where all those uninterested bulls with the dreary expressions stood waiting for their chance to inflict whatever bodily harm they could on cowboys at the PBR World Finals.

It was at the same event here in 2004 when empty syringes were discovered outside a pen holding the bulls. There were none this time. There wasn't even a San Francisco Giants cap lying around so I could try to slip it on a bull or two to measure head size.

One by one, the bulls stared back, undoubtedly thinking the same thing: Who's the idiot with the notebook and pen?

In fact, only one reacted in a hostile nature by ramming his gate as I strolled by, but I'm fairly certain his owner was listed as HAMRICK, so that made sense.

That's not say there aren't pathetic stock contractors out there shooting up their bulls with anabolic steroids because, well, it's just not enough to tightly fasten a flank strap around a massive animal with more testosterone than the combined rosters of the entire NFL and hope it's sufficient to throw a 150-pound cowboy.

It would be funny if it weren't so deranged. There's no excuse for continuing to allow wackos who drug bulls a chance to compete, unless you think being completely out of one's mind a satisfactory one.

It's enough of a worry that PBR officials have met about implementing a random drug-testing program at each event. They insist it's their intention to stay ahead of the curve and be proactive and not delay until the problem forever tarnishes their sport, meaning Bud Selig doesn't sit on their board of directors.

"We want to begin testing the bulls and at the same time continue to educate the contractors about the truth concerning these drugs they might be administering the animals," said Ty Murray, president of PBR and a Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame member. "It's not like with a football player or track athlete. You can't inject a bull with steroids and then take him to the gym and put him under a squat rack. There's just not that much of an advantage for those eight seconds or less of any ride.

"But it's like any part of life -- the bigger the money gets, there's always going to be people looking for an unfair advantage. But what they need to realize is that by doing this, they could very well lose the real value of the bull."

It's like horse racing. Breeding is where the real money is, which becomes a problem when all those steroids render a bull sterile.

Take a cowboy like (I'm not making up this name, honest) Cord McCoy. He raises bucking bulls on a family ranch in southern Oklahoma and sold more than 300 last year.

One of his more successful bulls is Bells Blue, here competing at the World Finals for a third time. I am told this is pretty impressive in the sport, that it means people might be more interested than not in raising his offspring than some lousy bull with no resume.

It will cost you. One straw of semen from Bells Blue is $5,000. The going rate for one of his sons that shows early promise starts around $12,000. Now consider how many bulls you're talking about in such a considerable operation. Do the math.

Now consider a bull that doesn't advance to the championship round here this weekend might not earn more than $4,000.

"Using steroids on the bulls at all could just kill our breeding business," McCoy said. "The money is in the reproduction."

There is one bright side to all this. The bulls can't talk, which means we don't have to hear them make ridiculous excuses about tainted drug samples and being innocent victims in some sort of conspiracy. Just another way bull riding is more legitimate than baseball.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.