Champ returns for more bull

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006 | 7:59 a.m.

What: Professional Bull Riders 2006 World Finals

When: 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center

Tickets: $42-$168; www.ticketmaster.com

Justin McBride clinched his first Professional Bull Riders world championship with a gravity-defying ride on the final day of competition at the Thomas & Mack Center last year, which meant, among other things, that McBride didn't have to buy the beers afterward. The gold buckle also allowed the Midwestern cowboy with the quick wit to set his own 2006 schedule, thanks to a PBR rule that grants its champions amnesty from mandatory participation.

McBride had even talked about retiring at age 26, which is what happens when you win the title and become a father in the same six-month period, and your ribs are still smarting from the pounding some 1,800-pound behemoth with bad intentions had given them in Bossier City or Thibodaux or even somewhere where the bars and honky-tonks stay open late, such as Fort Worth or Indianapolis.

But despite the joy that his new daughter, Addisen , has brought, McBride decided he still likes riding bulls too much to quit. That's why he'll be cinching up his bull rope and hanging on tight when the World Finals bursts out of the chute - as only they can - at the Mandalay Bay Events and Thomas & Mack centers over the next two weekends.

First off, what are you doing in New York on Tuesday with the finals beginning on Friday? Looking for a penthouse on Park Avenue? With that million-dollar bonus you earned here last year, you could leave Green Acres behind.

No, I'm still living in Oklahoma (Elk City, population 10,510). Pretty much the same lifestyle. I participate in a sport that is pretty humbling. If you let it get to your head, it'll bring you back to the ground in a hurry. But I still have a lot of sponsor fulfillments I have to meet. You've got to keep the sponsors happy.

Speaking of happy people, your wife, Jill, and new baby daughter, Addisen, had to feel that way when you trimmed your schedule.

Being world champion, you can pick and choose your events. We had a baby last spring, so it (the championship) came at a great time. I got to stay home a bunch.

OK, I have to ask, although I'm sure I know the answer: Becoming world champion or becoming a father, which was the bigger thrill?

Both were great, although becoming a father kind of trumps the world title. They are totally different things. One comes with my sport and the other one, it's pretty much a miracle.

It had to be a big thrill doing a Fritos commercial with Jill and the baby.

It was special. It was also funny; the baby kept trying to get into a bag of Fritos.

Better a bag of Fritos than a can of Skoal.

(Laughing) Yup.

And better than the pep talk from Tommy Lasorda you received before last year's final round?

We met a few years ago in Anaheim when I was coming off a year when I had finished second. He was pretty jazzed when I finally won it.

I also have to ask - again - about the year you spent at UNLV with the rodeo team.

I actually credit a lot of my success to UNLV. I had had a lot of success in Nebraska, locally, but going to school at UNLV, I got around a lot of other guys who had the same goals I did. I got exposed to a lot of good competition.

Besides learning how to play blackjack and party, what else did you learn here?

How to drive in traffic. We don't have traffic where I'm from (Mullen, Neb., population 492).

Yeah, but you're a Cornhusker. Did you ever think about trying out for UNLV's football team? They could have used some tough guys who play hurt.

(Laughing) No, but I tried to talk my buddy John Howell into coming out with me. But he went to Colorado State.

And then he earned a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Bucs. Not bad, a town of 492 producing a Super Bowl champ and a bull-riding champ. But now that you've won two events in a row to climb to fifth in the standings, can you win another title here?

I think so. I couldn't pick a better time to get on a roll. I'm not burned out because of my shorter season, and I've got no injuries to speak of.

But if you win it again, can you be a little more graceful? The last time we saw you, you were almost under your bull, hanging on for what was it, 8.001 seconds?

(Laughing) Naw, I let go when I heard the whistle. Actually I was hung up (in the rigging), so I could have stayed on as long as I needed to. But no, it was not the recommended procedure.