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They get tossed. They get bashed. They get chased by the most formidable of beasts. Danger from every angle. And they keep coming back for more. Such is the precarious, daring, thrill-seeking life of a bull rider.On Saturday night, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuit came to Sydney, with Qudos Bank Arena -- usually the domain of concerts, functions and feet-on-the-ground sporting events -- transformed into a state-of-the-art rodeo ring for the Australian national finals.Cowboy hats -- the bigger the better -- were all the fashion. As were glistening belt buckles. Country and Western music had them dancing in the stands.The on-screen advertisements focused on welders and machine oil. And the smell of bulls hung in the air.Twenty-two riders from Australia, the United States and Brazil were also in the house with the aim to somehow stay on top of an assortment of bulls -- all with their own special names such as Red Rat, Rude Manners, Pistol Whip, Fox in Socks, Freak Show, Storm Boy, Hillbilly Deluxe and Devils Dance.As you watched over the next three hours -- arms and legs, hoofs and horns going in all directions -- you admired the competitors courage but kept wondering ... Why?What is the attraction of being relentlessly knocked about when on top of a wild, bucking bull, and then after falling or leaping off its back often having to confront a charging beast?The bull riders say its about adrenaline, the challenge, the excitement of trying to conquer the toughest of beasts. They revel in what appears to be a dangerous and lopsided contest.Among the competitors was 24-year-old Justin Paton, who hails from the small one pub, general store and two service stations Queensland country town of Nebo.?His intense passion for bull-riding, which has seen him the past two years be part of the PBR circuit in the United States, has led to a broken leg, a knee reconstruction, muscle tears, cartilage damage and a concussion.But Ive been lucky compared to a lot of people I know, Paton said. This is still something that I always wanted to do. I dreamed about it, but never really had the heart when I was a kid to give it a try. It used to scare me a bit first up, but I built up my courage.I got on my first poddy calf at a rodeo close to home when I was about 8. I hopped on my first bull when 15 or 16, and havent really looked back.Now it all revolves around staying on the bull for eight seconds so they register a score from the four judges.The rider receives a score out of 100, of which 50 of the points are allocated to how the bull performed and whether it provided a difficult or easy ride.Asked what he had to do to impress the judges, Paton said: Well, we have to stay on our bull to begin with.The judges normally start at looking at the bull, how much kick it has, what it does when it turns back, if it spins, how fast it is and so forth. It really depends on what the bull is doing. It also revolves around whether the bull rider is in control or not.Does that eight seconds feel like an eternity?It depends on how youre going with the bull, I guess. You might be having a pretty rough time, and youre thinking When is that buzzer going to go? Then there are other bulls you ride; you hear the buzzer go and you say to yourself: Im having too much fun. I dont want to get off.On Saturday night, Paton was among the leaders after two successful round rides.However, in the championship round, Enemies Everywhere flung him off early, enabling Brazilian Robinson Guedes to push ahead and win the title by virtue of being the only rider to successfully complete his ride three times.Guedes from Sao Paolo has been to Australian twice -- and won two national titles.An interpreter explained: Robinson likes Australia. He says: It is my type of herd.Then there is the fearless team of protection athletes, otherwise known as bull fighters or rodeo clowns.They have the toughest job of all, protecting the rider after they have finished their ride, and come to their rescue if they are hurt or in danger of being charged at.The bull will often go after the rider. The threat of serious injury is overwhelming. Even more so for anyone who is crazy enough to stand in the bulls way.The three-man protection team on Saturday night included Clint Kelly, an underground coal miner from central Queensland.He has had his fair share of injuries during his seven years bobbing and weaving in front of bulls, including a broken collarbone, and I was recently out of action for six weeks after breaking my jaw and some teeth.But I love it. Its good fun.You would think otherwise when watching graphic YouTube footage of Kelly at one PBR event where he was picked up and flung by a bull, and then charged at.Kelly survived that and many other testing moments.Yeah, you need a bit of heart to keep doing it, and also good cattle sense. We are there to distract the bull, which means getting in between the rider and the bull, and making ourselves an easier target.We have to make certain we get out safely as well, but that doesnt always happen. The plan is if anyone is going to be hit, its us.Kelly, a former rider, became a bull fighter by accident, taking up the role when several failed to turn up at a local Queensland bush rodeo.I was asked to give a hand, had a bit of a go at it, and liked it. I did it a few more times, and got hooked.On the circuit, you get to know a lot of the bulls, and they are not all the same. Some will go and look for the bull rider and try to hit him, or one of us, while others dont really want to be part of it, and instead look for the out gate.?You have to be prepared for anything.Their biggest fans are, not surprisingly, the bull riders.In my honest opinion, they dont get paid enough, Paton said. Theyve saved my hide plenty of times. Theyre essentially bodyguards and are jumping in front of bullets. The only thing is a bullet wont come back and get you again. A bull can.In the background are also compelling characters, including those who breed and supply the bulls to the PBR events, such as Jody Ruhland, who went to her first rodeo when just two weeks old.Her father, Darryl Doyle, was a rodeo rider, as was her husband Rick, until focusing on breeding commercial beef cattle and bucking bulls on the side on a 1200-hectare property at Mount Walker, west of Brisbane.The bulls become like your children. You dont like to let them out of your sight, or hand them over to someone else, Ruhland said.?The bulls have to qualify for an event the same way the riders do. There is a selection criteria. You cant just bring any bulls. They have to be bulls who are performing at their best.What they look for is a bull that kicks really well when it comes out of the chute, and also kicks high. Mostly they like bulls who turn back either way. They are looking for agility, speed, strength, all those things you look for in an athlete, I suppose.Jody, who provided five bulls for the Brisbane Last Cowboy Standing event the previous weekend, opted against bringing them to Sydney due to the long transport haul, but also because her focus was on getting the stadium ready for the event.As a member of the PBR production crew, Jody is involved in transforming an all-purpose arena into something resembling a country rodeo. It is an elaborate process.Around 250 tons of dirt, clay and sand is trucked in to provide the required surface. Bull pens, chutes and protection fences have also to be erected.And as soon as the last bull is out of there, we start pulling it all down. The crew usually finish up 9.30-10 a.m. the next morning. They go right through the night.Time was tight as the stadium less than 48 hours later had to be ready for something completely different -- a concert by The Cure.By that stage the riders were also well on their way to their next encounter with a raging bull.In Patons case, it is flying back to the United States for the PBR circuit.Ill be riding all over the place. The first couple of weeks Ill be up in the northern states, then traveling everywhere from Texas to Canada, California to New York City, Paton said.Endlessly pushing his body to the extreme. Yeah, but where else do you get paid to travel the world, and do what you like doing?Definitely a special breed. Alex Bregman Astros Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Jake Marisnick Jersey . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/alex-bregman-astros-jersey/ .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Nolan Ryan Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. J. R. Richard Jersey . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. TOWSON, Md. -- Lucas Woodhouse scored 17 points as Stony Brook rallied in the second period to beat Hampton 76-66 on Saturday.Woodhouse was 5 of 10 from the field, hitting three from distance for the Seawolves (1-4). Roland Nyama added 12 points and four rebounds. Tyrell Sturdivant and Akwasi Yeboah contributed 10 points and eight rebounds apiece.Sturdivant opened the second half with a pair of layups and Nyama added a dunk and a 3-pointer to help the Seawolves take a bite out of Hamptons 10-point intermissionn lead, tightening it to 44-40 with 15:48 to go.dddddddddddd Later, Yeboah sank a pair of free throws to lift Stony Brook into the lead, 54-53, and Woodhouse followed with a layup and a 3-pointer back-to-back to stretch it to 59-53 with 5:59 remaining.Freshman Jermaine Marrow led the Pirates (1-5) with a career-best 25 points. He was 7 of 15 from the field including four 3-pointers. ' ' '