Unrideable Legend: Rodeo Bull Red Rock

On May twentieth, nineteen eighty eight, professional bull rider Lane Fross becomes the first writer to ever stay on legendary bucking bull Red Rock for eight seconds, beating him in the Challenge of Champions in the showdown of one of the greatest bull riders and one of the greatest bulls. Here's the story about how all this happened today on Daily Sports History. Before we tackle today's episode, let's take a brief time out and talk about Sports Social Pro. If your sports social media game is about as coordinated as a three legged race, fear not. We're here to help your online presence from bench warmer to MP, skip the social media stress and score big with us at Social Media Pro. Learn all you need to know at Daily Sports History slash Social Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day, and today we're gonna do something a little different. We're gonna give you a trivia question and to see if you can answer it by the end of the episode. If you listen all the way to the end, we'll give you the answer in case you miss it. Can you name the only bull to remain unridden for his entire PRCA career. Now, for this story, we're gonna tell you a little bit like a boxing match, give you the two competitors how they ended up meeting in the ring for their challenger champions. First, let's start with the bull Red Rock, who was born in nineteen sixty seven and was actually an orphaned calf, as his mother died in childbirth and he had to be raised and milked by another cow. And he was named after the Red Rock Formation near Burnt River Ranch where he was born. And he ended up weighing seventeen one hundred pounds and was eventually sold after he turned two to Mert Honking, who was a local stock contractor for the International Professional Rodeo Association, and he would take Red Rock to rodeos across the northwest United States, and he and Mert saw something in Red Rock. He hadn't seen it a lot, as he somehow knew and could feel how the rider on top of him was feeling, and he would go the opposite. He just had a sense that many bulls do not have. And in nineteen eighty three he was named the Bucking Bull of the Year for the ip R now after this year, Red Rock was ready to make the jump to the top level of bull riding, but Mert, his owner, was experiencing some financial issues and he contacted John Groenie of the Gronie Brothers Rodeo company, as he heard they had treated their animals with respect and quality, and he asked that they wanted to purchase him, and John jumped at the opportunity. He knew that Red Rock was a special bull, he had seen him ride before, and they immediately gave him ten thousand dollars for the bull and took him to the top level of rodeo in the nineteen eighties, which was the Professor, which was the p CRA, which is the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association, which at the time in the nineteen eighties was the largest rodeo association. And he got started with a bang and didn't let go even though he was already eight years old, which is old by rodeo Bowl standards. He came in at the highest level and made it all the way to the national Finals rodeo from nineteen eighty four to nineteen eighty seven, and every year he would buck off that year's riding champion with ease, and when we say buck off for rodeo to be unridden means you didn't make it to eight seconds. For your ride to count, you have to maintain only one hand and grabbing the harness and one hand free for eight seconds. If you don't get to eight seconds, then your ride does not count and you do not get any points for that run. And in nineteen eighty seven, on his last ride, Red Rock bucked off Cody Custer and became the bucking bull of the year and would go on to retire after this with over three hundred outs, meaning no one had ridden him officially by the time of his retirement, with a total of three hundred and seven. In retiring at the age of eleven, he went down as the only bull to go undefeated in PRCA history. Now that year he retired, in nineteen eighty seven, Lane Frost became the rider of the year. And who was Frost? He was your typical rodeo kid. He grew up on the rodeo circuit as a junior, but also participated in other sports such as wrestling and junior high but he won the Oklahoma National High School bull Riding Championship in nineteen eighty one and would continue his bull riding and become a professional after he graduated high school in nineteen eighty two, and he qualified for his first national Finals rodeo in nineteen eighty four, And as we said earlier, he would continue his successful rodeo career and in nineteen eighty seven would be named bull Rider of the Year at the age of twenty four. And then in nineteen eighty eight, Red Rock and Lance Frost's careers would pass. Now after Red Rock had retired, John Groenie thought about a special thought about a special competition he could put together where he would bring two champions from the bullfighting world, the bull in Red Rock and the writer is Frost together to go in a challenge of Champions and they would go from city to city across the West in a series of seven different matches to see who was really the champion, as Red Rock was still in good health and Frost was ready to challenge the bull, as everyone wanted to challenge Red Rock, as he wasn't a massive bull and overpower to you. He was more a technical bull, someone you thought you could beat, but no one ever did. That was the case until the fourth match they had Frost to finally rode Red Rock for that legendary eight seconds, and when the whistle blew it was over. Someone had finally beaten Red Rock and it was Frost. This was a great moment for rodeo. It helped raise the popularity of the sports and these two competitors, Red Rock and Lance Frost were forever connected because sadly, a year later, while riding at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, Frost was riding a bull named taking care of Business, and he had rode him for his eight seconds. Got knocked off, but the bull didn't let him go away, impressed his right horn into Frost's back and pushing him down into the mud, breaking several ribs, and his spite, initially standing up after taking care of Business had removed his horn. He collapsed and was pronounced dead in the arena. He was one of the best bull riders at the time. His life was tragically taken so quickly, and at the memorial service for Frost, the groaning company actually took Redrock to be there with him, as they were connected, and when Frost was inducted into the bull Riding Hall of Fame, Red Rock went with him. Now there was a positive thing to come out of this, as after Frost passed away, one of his best friends, Cody Lambert, devised a device, a vest for writers to wear for the exact thing that took his friend, similar to a kevlar vest that the police wear, or better known as a bulletproof vest. You now see where this vest for this very reason. And the story of Frost and even battling Red Rock was told in a movie starring Luke Perry back in the nineties called eight Seconds, and it's a great story to sad story. And now writers are required to wear this vest. And he may have saved other lives in the process of losing his. And in nineteen ninety four, Red Rock finally passed away from a stroke and is buried at the Groany Ranch. And we'll always be remembered. That's one of the greatest bulls to ever ride. And I think we can all remember a time where these moments are so precious to us. We can be at our highest of heights a Frost was when he had just beaten the unbeatable bull just a year earlier, and out of nowhere, his life was taken tragically too short. We don't know what to head, So be your best at everything you do, and maybe you can reach your mountaintop and be forever remembered. And remember us by subscribing and following Daily Sports History wherever you're listening, so you don't miss any episodes because guess what we got another one come out tomorrow and did you catch the trivia question? The only bull ever in p r c A history to be unwritten was Red Rock. See you guys tomorrow