Arizona
You know one of the best things about having a fan base of four to five million people is that you get that you get a certain amount of time to spend with your heroes. People who are the “Giants” or “Icons” of the particular industry you are in. No, I am not speaking for me of famous Horse Whisperers, Clinicians and other Types. I am talking “Heroes.” People, who have really done above and beyond what there job descriptions were. People, who have made a difference, set an example, put the well being of others above their own. Men and Women who you could and would really look up to. My list quiet frankly is a long one but for today I want to focus on one in particular.
There is a man I have known for many years. A guy who is a local and who grew up in the livestock industry at many levels while trying to find his niche…… and boy did He. Twenty five years a Bull Fighter with twenty of those years with the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA). For those of you who might be vague on what actually a Bull Fighter is in Rodeo. He is one, of the usually two men down close to the chutes when they open. They seem move wildly around when the Cowboy comes out atop the Bull. They do this to give the Cowboy a better chance of scoring a high mark. Then at the point of the riders dismount their job turns to one of protection. At all cost, might I ad. They are to make sure the Bull Rider can exit the arena safely even if it means they take the hit instead of the participant. If he is down and cannot get up they will cover the downed rider with their own bodies to try and make sure he is not injured further. The man I am speaking of is certainly one of the most recognizable figures in and out of the Rodeo arena and also one of the best at what he does. The Man, the Myth, the Legend I am talking about is…………………… Don “Hollywood” Yates.
I have used “Hollywood” on three seasons of my TV Show “Cowboy U” to help out as a Livestock Supervisor, Bull Fighter, Instructor and Friend. He has been a very important part of a well structured team. During a scene in Cowboy U one of the
Contestants froze as a young twelve hundred bull put her in his cross hairs. She was about to be “Freight Trained” into a panel. But just before the moment of impact a well tanned and muscular arm reached down out of frame of the camera, from the top of the fence and pulled her off her feet as the “Bovine Unit’s” forehead just missed it’s target. That is what “Hollywood” and all the other Bull Fighters in the Rodeo Industry do every weekend all over this Country and Canada. Failure is not an option………….. “Do you hear that Washington DC?”
At a Rodeo in Salinas, Ca. a couple of years back a Bull got to do what not many Bulls have done to Hollywood in the last twenty six years. He caught to him. When he did he gored “Hollywood” in an area for lack of a better word I will say his Buttocks. Opened him up bad! The Paramedics rushed him to the Hospital and while doing the exploratory surgery found that “Hollywood’s” Appendix was about to rupture……… Further exploration found a Polyp or two in the area of his colon. Now tell me there is no “God!” Oh yeah just a coincidence.
Many Bullfighters past, present and future have all this Medical and Surgery stuff happen actually pretty regularly. The reason I mention this is that a few months later, after a intense rehabilitation Don “Hollywood” Yates auditions, tries out, competes for a role on a new NBC TV Show called “American Gladiators.” Well, he got the part and for the duration of its airing he was the Gladiator “Wolf.” Hollywood developed the character to the point of him being the most popular Gladiator of all and the favorite of most of the children and adult women who watched the show.
Now being the Renaissance kind of guy that he is he has just come out with a Music CD titled “Like We Used To” by Ghost Note Records. It is a great CD and I ask you all to buy it. Not only because it is good and he is my friend but getting back to the “Hero,” “Icon” thing I mentioned before a portion of the proceeds go to the “Jarred Allen’s Foundation Homes for Wounded Warriors.”
He is one of my heroes. To me he is an Icon. Yet the most important thing is that he calls me “His Friend.” The CD can be purchased at www.HollywoodYates.com
“God Bless and Keep Riding”
www.RoccoWachman.com
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