Patrick and his Lil' Sis before he gave up on real horses and bulls
An often quoted saying about pub bull riding is "it's not if you get poked in the cheek, it's when."
Mechanical Bull Riding Information
Otherwise known as...
"PBR" Pub Bull Ridin'
What is Mechanical Bull Riding or PubBR? How to ride without spilling a drop.
Are You Rider? PubBR Platinum Style
Patrick O'Kelley - Professional Mechanical Pub Bull Rider in Acworth, Georgia.
Career Earnings:
5 cases of Guinness, 2 bud kegs, 2 cases of Harp, and $153.37
Years Riding Pub: 7
Seated: Yes, preferred
Card Type: Guinness Pub Card
Back Number: 69
Platinum Patrick O'Kelley does not have a PubBR World Title as of yet; but this fat cowboy is among the most consistent and threatening forces on the pub rider tour. You can bet the platinum belt buckle is in his plan for the near future. “I can’t quit pub bull riding until I win a world title,” says O'Kelley. The third-generation O'Kelley pub bull rider matched skills with his first wild plastic bovine – a mini pub mechanical Bull Riding machine in the O'Kelley family barn – when he was just 4 years old.
Today he’s a standout on pub bull riding’s most elite competitive level and is on a merciless mission to wear the brand of a Pub Bull Rider World Champion. A hunger for success and passion for mechanical bull riding are backwards bred into him. O'Kelley has always considered his grandpappy Leon Michael O'Kelley, Sr. as his role model. Platinum Patrick always wanted to follow in his footsteps as a lifelong pub bull rider. ”I can’t remember when I didn’t want to grow up and do this along with drink Guinness everyday. I get to do what I love - be an irish pub bull rider!” says O'Kelley. He continues with a laugh, “And, I don’t have to have reason to ride. Give me 3 Guinness' and a sexy pseudo bovine and I'm a hootin' and a hollerin' to take that steer to the next round. No B.S. about it (O'Kelley laughs - no pun intended).” O'Kelley’s talent in the pub arena has taken him to the top of every level of pub ridin' competition.
He has been not only a state champion PubBR rider, but Guinness Pint Pitchin' Champion and World know arm wrassin' competitor too. As a high school plastic bareback rider, at Roswell High, and Mechanical Bull Riding, O'Kelley was named the National High School Pre-Pub Rodeo Association’s Teen Riding Champion of Lake City, Acworth. Along with the title he earned a full-ride rodeo scholarship to Georgia Southern University. O'Kelley there took his time studin' artificial bull insemination and communication arts - two things that fit together like round pegs. O'Kelley then accepted the offer and joined his good friend and fellow bull rider, Rip Knight, as a Georgia PubBR Rebel. While O'Kelley and Knight were each competitive at the collegiate level, the World PubBR Circuit was beckoning. In 1999 O'Kelley and Knight both joined the Pub Bull Riders (PubBR) as full-time professionals, a decision that has since paid off to the tune of more than $153.37 in earnings for O'Kelley. Although Rip has still yet to see a dime. Pub Bull Riding is the most recognized and popular of all the pub events. It is also the most dangerous.
Fan Pictures:
See some of the fun at O'Kelley's Sports Bar & Grill -- or go to Cowboy's of Atlanta
Instructions Pub Mechanical Bull Riding:
- GET READY
Staying atop a madly bucking one-ton mechanical bull isn’t as easy as it sounds. Shamus Kennedy, a top rider in Pub Bull Riders
Championship, says that anyone moronic enough to try this needs to wear safety gear: thick leather gloves to prevent rope burns; spurs with dull, loosely locked rowels for traction; and a Kevlar vest to protect against being shot in the parking lot by the bull’s jealous wife. Get your Guinness and Let's Ride!
- GET ON
Mentally prepare before setting fat ass upon pub bull: “Loosen up and visualize the ride - know your surroundings - and especially where the trash cans and closest water closet are located,” Kennedy suggests.When bull mounting, “put your feet on the bu
ll’s back after the operator gives you a knee and never touch his horns or Patrick that fake leather hide.” This makes the pub bull angry—you wouldn’t like him when he’s pissed (not pissed drunk but pissed mad)'. You’ll be handed a cheap covered rope with a fake leather handle to wrap around the bull and your loosened up pint wrist. Sobriety isn’t as important as stupidity.“For every move the bull makes, make a counteractive countermove,” explains Shamus. Never lean back too far, though unless your taking a long sip of suds: That’s the easiest way to get the brown puke flying everywhere. No chicks like gettin' ralphed on. Although you ride long enough you'd be surprised how quick they forget the smell like irish vomit and are hootin' and a hollerin' for you to mount that Pub Bull again.
- GET OFF
After a long eight seconds or more, look for a safe spot to dismount on the padded wuss catcher. When his front is kicked up, turn to the hand that’s not holding on to the Guinness and jump off toward the bull ass. Oh, and make sure you free your other hand from the rope first so you aren’t dragged like Richard Simmons across a all you can eat BBQ wing buffet. Confused? All will become second nature with practice, Guinness, a good woman and a little hard headedness. Shamus claims, “When you’re pub bull riding, there’s no time for thinking.” Which is great, because if you’re trying this, you’re probably not thinking a whole lot anyway. Ride on Brother - good luck!
Pub Bull Riding Basics:
The Ride
The total score possible for a pub bull ride is 100 points. Half of that total is based on the performance of the bull and how difficult he is to ride. Judges look for bulls with speed, power, drop in the front end, kick in the back end, directions changed and body rolls. A body roll occurs when a bull is in the air and kicks either his hind feet or all four feet to the side. The more of these characteristics a bull displays during a ride, the higher the mark is for the bull. Judges are allowed to award a cowboy a re-ride if they feel the bull did not perform at the level of other bulls in the competition and, therefore did not give the rider a fair chance to earn a high score. Only the sport's best bucking bulls are used at the Pub Bull Ride Series events.
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The other half of the ride is determined by the rider's ability to match the moves of the bull beneath him. Judges look for constant control and good body position throughout the ride. Spurring the bull is not required but extra "style points" are awarded for doing so. The rider must stay aboard the bull for eight seconds. The clock begins when the bull's shoulder or hip crosses the plane of the bucking chutes and stops when the bull rider's hand comes out of the rope or he touches the ground. The bull rider must ride with one hand and is disqualified if he touches himself or the bull during the eight-second ride.
Frequently asked questions about pub bull riding rules and scoring:
Q: How is a bull ride scored?
A: The total score possible for a pub bull ride is 100 points or 3 free pints. Half of the ride is determined by the rider’s ability to match moves with the psycho-billy bull beneath him. Judges look for constant control and good body position throughout the ride. Spurring and chugging Guinness is not required but extra ‘style points’ are awarded for doing so. The rider must stay aboard the bull for eight seconds. The clock begins when the bull’s head, hip or shoulder crosses the plain of the the bull riders hip. It stops when the bull rider’s hand comes out of the rope or he gets thrown to the ground. The pub bull rider must ride with one hand and the other on his pint and is disqualified if he touches himself or the bull in any "unnatural" way - with his pint hand during the eight-second ride.
The other half of the score is based on the performance of the mechanical bull and how difficult he is to ride. Judges look for bulls with speed, power, drop in the front end, kick in the back end, direction changes and body rolls. A body rolls occurs when a bull is in the air and kicks either his hind feet or all four feet to the side. The more of these characteristics a bull displays during a ride, the higher the mark is for the bull. A bull is given a score even if the rider does not stay on for the full eight seconds.
Q: What is a ‘reride’?
A: Sport Bar Judges are allowed to award a true Pub Bull Rider "a reride" – a second ride with a different operator - if they feel his first pub bull operator did not perform at the level of other bulls in the competition and, therefore, did not give the rider a fair chance to earn a high score. The reride operators are selected prior to the event and kept with the other operators in the event a reride is awarded and the bull is needed in competition. The reride operators' bulls are usually the plastic ones with big funny horns.
Q: What is the ‘short go’ or ‘short go round’?
A: The ‘short go’ or ‘short go round’ is a slang term for the championship round. This round is reserved for the stupidest riders with the highest total scores in the preliminary rounds.
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