Big Events this weekend...

From the PRCA...Zeb Lanham is leading the field into the PRCA's Xtreme Bulls Ride Hard Tour presented by B & W Trailer Hitches...

No two days will be bigger for the PRCA’s Xtreme Bulls than Oct. 27-28, when the Xtreme Bulls Ride Hard Tour presented by B&W Trailer Hitches wraps up its 10-event run in Indianapolis. Two performances featuring 40 of the PRCA’s best bull riders matching wits with top bucking bulls will determine the 2006 Xtreme Bulls National Champion, and there are a host of cowboys in the running for this year’s title.

However, there is one notable exception – reigning World and Xtreme Bulls Champion Matt Austin of Wills Point, Texas, did not enter this weekend’s event because of an injury he recently suffered.

Consistent Zeb Lanham of Sweet, Idaho, leads the Xtreme Bulls standings with $50,221 and is followed closely by Austin with $47,659. Other bull riders, such as two-time Xtreme Bulls event champion JayC Bean of Goldendale, Wash., have outside chances of claiming the hardware.

All of the top riders know the event is going to be a free-for-all of sorts.

“There are a lot of guys who can ride, so it’s anybody’s ballgame,” Lanham said. “It’s just going to be the guy who draws good and rides them. I just want to do well there and win a lot of money. Last year at the finals in Reno, there were some really good bulls, so I imagine in Indy it’ll be the same. It’s going to be pretty tough.”

Both performances will be held at the Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and the Oct. 27 event is a special edition event that is being held in conjunction with the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention. Bull riders will have a great chance to earn big bucks at that performance and jockey for position for the culminating performance the next day.

Forty riders will compete for a share of $125,000 in the Oct. 28 finale, with the top 12 riders from the first round advancing to the championship round. With the race so tight, the championship round will ultimately determine the national champion, who is crowned based on total season earnings.

Travis Sellers of Wentzville, Mo., ranks third in the Xtreme Bulls standings heading into Indianapolis, but broke both bones in his riding (right) arm at on Oct. 11 in Waco, Texas, and will miss the event. The left-handed Sellers had surgery to insert steel rods and plates in the arm on Oct. 13 and was injured after he was hung up on his second-round bull.

The final two performances will air on ESPN2 on Thanksgiving Day in the form of a three-hour Xtreme Bulls programming block beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET. Eight-time PRCA world champion bull rider and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Donnie Gay will handle the color commentary for the telecast. The telecast will re-air on ESPN on Nov. 26 beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

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2. Season nears end with big stakes in Kansas City

It’s that time of the year again.

In January, dreams are created in Denver, and by the time October ends, those in contention to ride and rope at the greatest rodeo on the planet, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, has been pared down considerably.

For some, the third-to-last weekend of the ProRodeo regular season is a chance to move up in the ProRodeo Cowboys World Standings or, perhaps, to heal up from a year’s worth of bumps and bruises.

But for a greater majority, this weekend – highlighted by the American Royal Rodeo in Kansas City, Mo. – gives cowboys one of their last chances at earning the necessary prize money to make the Top 15.

And for those who didn’t qualify for the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship, hosted by the Texas Stampede, Nov. 10-12 in Dallas, it’s their last shot at making their dreams come true.

The American Royal Rodeo in the Kemper Arena has eight performances, climaxing with a final round at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Oct. 28. In its 107th year, the American Royal Rodeo was traditionally one of the first rodeos of the season, but it recently moved to the end of the year, helping it attract the top cowboys still trying to earn a spot in the Wrangler NFR.

Once again, dreams are there for the making in Kansas City.