What a great rodeo. I've always enjoyed those elimination-style formats for rodeo--they're exciting and fast-paced. There were some great performances, too. Luke Branquinho and Lindsay Sears repeated as champs and J.W. Harris continued his unbelievable hot streak in the bull riding.

In the team roping, David Key and Brad Culpepper won it all.

Now, for those of you who don't know, David lost his son, Riley, this summer in a single car accident. It was early in the morning on a Sunday morning. Riley was driving a truck with four other kids in it and only one survived the wreck. Immediately, the assumptions of alcohol being involved were made.

I got to talk with David extensively this weekend and after the toxocology report, it turns out there were no drugs or alcohol in Riley's system. Earlier in the night, at a party, he and his friends were talking to some girls and some other guys who were interested in the girls blindsided them and hit Riley in the temple, knocking him to the ground. Riley and his buddies left, but the girls called and asked them to come back.

They turned around and were headed back when--according to another driver following Riley--they veered into the left lane of a four-lane highway, then overcorrected into a guardrail.

David thinks that the hit at the party gave Riley a concussion and he blacked out, losing control of the truck. (He doesn't think Riley simply fell asleep because what teenage boy would fall asleep in anticipation of visiting some girls.) The other driver said the brake lights never came on. Maybe the passenger in Riley's truck grabbed the wheel and jerked it back to the right.

Regardless, the event was a tragedy, but I felt obligated to try to tell the rest of the story for David, Riley and Riley's mom, Tammy's, sake.

Either way, David says, he's confident Riley was saved by his Lord Jesus Christ, and that's where David's true solace comes.

Before the rodeo, there was a parade and a couple of the steer went into a convenience store. Pickup man Flint Hempstead rode in to get them out. Here's a short report and some video.

The rodeo was great in and of itself. Steve Purcella and Jhett Johnson won it with a 6.0-second final-round time. And while he didn’t make it back to the semifinal round, Travis Tryan rode his great horse Walt—his comeback from colic surgery.

The best stock and the best cowboys are there. The town is fun and unique. If you're ever considering a rodeo vacation, I highly recommend a trip to Ellensburg. The drive from Seattle is beautiful and you won't be let down by the action in the arena.

Anyway, while I was there, I had a chance to sit down with Travis Tryan and visit. His horse Walt, had to undergo colic surgery (we've got great pix and a report from Dr. Santos in the upcoming SWR).

Originally, the schedule for return was the NFR. Now, if everything's perfect, he'll bring him back in Puyallup this weekend. I'll update after this weekend. If not in Puyallup, he'll bring him back for sure in Omaha. Travis said he's exercising him and he bucks and plays. He's ready to go back to work.

There's also a couple top 20 partner changes to update: Ty Blasingame is now roping with Cody Hintz and J.W. Borrego and Kelsey Parchman teamed up. Garrett Tonozzi and Ryan Motes won the average in Ellensburg.

Bremerton is across Puget sound from Seattle. You can drive around, but there's also a ferry that takes you from downtown Seattle to Bremerton. It's a nice way to get over there and relaxing to go across the sound that way--plus it's beautiful.

Seeing rough-and-tumble roughstock cowboys on the boat is a bit of a site unto itself, but one of the world's top saddle bronc riders stepped it up a notch and gave those 'city folk' a show.

He had a big handful of bread in his pocket and went to the top deck, outside, where the seagulls circle. He started innocently enough, feeding the gulls. After a while, they'd get brave enough to eat it out of his hand.

When one came in to take a piece of bread from his hand, he grabbed its legs and held it. I'm sure the bird was surprised and maybe a little scared, but the cowboy held it firmly and gently and it calmed right down. Needless to say, everyone who witnessed it was impressed and he had to take his picture with more than one fellow ferry rider. 

The story is not breaking news or anything, but I got a kick out of it and figured you would too.