MANDAN, N.D. (AP) - Chad Berger’s bucking bulls didn’t give a rip about COVID. For them, 2020 was like the nine years previous and they bucked just as hard as they ever had. Business as usual.
One, Smooth Operator, was as rank as ever. The reigning world champion bucking bull was looking to defend his title at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals over the weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Smooth Operator is one of 17 Berger bulls chosen for the prestigious event pitting the world’s best bull riders against the world’s best bulls. That is a tribute to how the Mandan stock contractor of the year for nine years running has dominated the sport. For Berger, 2020 was anything but business as usual.
“No, it wasn’t,” Berger said. “One thing about it, our CEO (Sean Gleason) worked really hard and we had a lot more events that it looked like we were going to have.”
The 2020 season presented challenges Berger could never have imagined. First, this crazy thing called COVID hit the sports world harder than Bodacious, causing it to scramble for a way to get the cowboys and fans safely back into arenas. Bull riding was one of the first live sports to pick up where it left off, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
“It was the first sport back,” Berger said. “Wouldn’t call it normal, but normal as could be with these coronavirus tests every week and a lot of things out of the normal. But if that’s what you have to do to operate that’s what you have to do.”
The PBR Unleash the Beast tour broke for COVID on March 19 and resumed again in front of live crowds at the Bismarck Event Center in August. It was the first Unleash the Beast event ever to feature stock from one contractor for a full events — that being Berger.
Berger, meanwhile, was sidelined in the summer by two open heart surgeries and other associated ailments.
“I’m a lot better than I was but I still haven’t got all my oomph back yet,” Berger said. “But I’m getting there. I’m a lot better than I was.”
With his health on the mend and a lot of things to look forward to yet, Berger didn’t need a mandate to mask up in the age of COVID 19.
“I’m the only guy with a mask in a lot of places I go to, but I just feel like I have to,” Berger said. “I just made up my mind that I have to do it for my health.”
Through it all, the bulls bucked like they always had.
Smooth Operator goes into the 2020 World Finals Unleash the Beast event within a tail flick of Chiseled, whose average score is 46.16 points. Smooth Operators average score is 46.13 The winning bull following four rounds will be declared the 2020 YETI PBR World Champion Bucking Bull and earning an additional $100,000. Last year, that was Smooth Operator.
Berger said he probably would have taken 25 bulls had the finals not been cut back by a day. He still has more bulls heading to the finals than any other contractor.
This year, five-year-old Chiseled and 10-year-old Smooth Operator will each go twice during the four-day finals. Berger said the cowboys going out with them can make or break the bulls’ scores.
“If they don’t show them real well, they generally won’t score them well,” Berger said. “Chiseled is easy to ride so they show him well each ride, and Smooth Operator isn’t easy to ride.
“He’s going to be ready to go. Whatever happens, happens, and we’ll just hope for the best. If it’s fair and square and he goes to the best of his ability, I’m going to be happy no matter what happens.”
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