That’s my sister, mister

Monday, Dec. 9, 2002 | 10:21 a.m.

Cow Town, Bodacious and V61 -- who was only ridden twice, by John Quintana, and who graced the cover of Time magazine about 30 years ago -- all wrote notorious rodeo chapters in their careers as steam-snortin' bulls.

Dynamite, however, is no less dangerous when delivered by a two-legged, 12-year-old girl. An unfortunate wannabe fan, ascending in a Gold Coast Hotel elevator, learned that fury during last year's Wrangler National Rodeo Finals.

The twenty-something male spouted to a friend that Vince Stanton, who had begun the NFR atop the money list but had been bucked by the first eight bulls he drew at the Thomas & Mack Center, was a fluke.

A few feet away, Ivory Stanton, Vince's little sister, seethed. She didn't cuss or curl a hand into a fist, but the subject of her scorn might as well have been in that elevator with an ornery bull named Freckles.

"How many times have YOU (ridden) in the Finals?" Ivory Stanton blared. "Maybe the reason he hasn't done very well is that he separated his pelvis!"

Late Saturday night, as he signed autographs after a score of 93 on Freckles won him the second of 10 NFR go-arounds and $13,923, Vince Stanton smirked when he recalled last year's Gold Coast incident.

"She defended me," he said. "She jumped his stuff, I guess. She told him how it was. I thought that was kind of funny."

After Saturday, Stanton could afford to laugh about the past. In the last two NFRs, he didn't last eight seconds on any of the first four bulls he drew. The disappointment of his ignominious eight-in-a-row streak last year had faded, too.

He has entered each of the last three NFRs in the top three of the bull-riding money standings, and his sterling performance Saturday buoyed his prospects for a title. Anyone think he's a fluke now?

"I want to show that it's not a fluke deal," Stanton said. "I've never done this good, this early. You get the momentum kind of in your favor. But I also think I'm as good, if not the best, as any guy here. If I do my deal right, I should ride everything. Nothing should buck me off.

"Being human, you're always going to screw up somewhere along the line. You have to keep that in perspective, that's my big deal. It's kind of arrogant, but I know I'm good. If I get bucked off, I have to come back and win the next night."

That perspective should help Stanton on Monday. Sunday, Johnny Walker Red twisted him around like a helicopter and nearly tossed him back into the chute gate, knocking a horn into the side of Stanton's noggin.

He wearily found his way, with the help of an assistant or two, back up a tunnel to a locker room. Later, Stanton sported a red welt around a temple but reported no further damage to his body.

Dawne Stanton, Vince's wife of nearly nine years, said those are the breaks of a rough game that her husband was born into. Vince's father, Bill, rode bulls five times in the finals, finishing second to the legendary Larry Mahan in 1967.

"To me, if he dies, he dies living," Dawne said. "He's doing what he wanted to do. That would make it OK, instead of never trying and being scared."

Myron Duarte, with $112,311 total earnings this year, took second place (and $11,003) in Sunday's third go-round to increase his lead over Stanton ($92,386). Duarte is the only cowboy to ride his first three bulls this year. Jesse Bail has earned $89,648.

Stanton once recorded a 95 in Washington, and he nailed a 94 at the Copenhagen Cup Finale in Dallas last year. He's also had about half a dozen 93s. Considering the stage and the bull, though, he considered Saturday's one of the best jaunts of his career.

Over the last five years, only three cowboys had been able to stay on Freckles for an official ride. Each one had resulted in scores of at least 92.

"Yeah, I knew they didn't ride him very often," Stanton said. "And when they did, there was a bunch of points."

Freckles tipped his hand early by squatting, telling Stanton that he likely would not jump two or three times out of the chute. So Stanton prepared himself for whirling-dervish twists from the start, and Freckles spun to the left.

Stanton anchors himself to the beasts with a gloved left hand, and most riders favor a bull turning into such a hand. Stanton, however, is unconventional in that he is most comfortable when bulls spin to the right, away from that anchor hand.

"It could have been the best bull ride I've ever made with the bull turning back to the left," he said.

"My big deal is, I know how to do it. And if you do it on reaction, you shouldn't be thinking about anything. You just do stuff ... it's a mind game kind of a deal."

The kind that makes a 12-year-old stick up for her older brother in a heartbeat.