Blacktop Cowboys - Hardcover

Phillips, Ty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312330367 ISBN 13: 9780312330361

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006

Synopsis

"Blacktop Cowboys" chronicles the 2004 rodeo season through the eyes of several steer wrestlers trying to make it to the rodeo's version of the Super Bowl, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas. This is a sport that requires a riding cowboy to fly out of a gate, jump off his horse, and pull a 600-pound calf down to the ground - and to do it well, this all takes less than five seconds. The main two characters of "Blacktop Cowboys" are Luke Branquinho, a young carefree cowboy on a quest for his first title, and his best friend, Travis Cadwell, an aging veteran trying to make the NFR one last time. "Blacktop Cowboys" offers a true and intimate portrait of men having the time of their lives while living on the road in pursuit of the dream to be the best.

About this title

About the Author

TY PHILLIPS is an award-winning columnist and features writer for The Modesto Bee. He lives in Hickman, CA. This is his first book. In addition to raising sons, brewing beer and singing in a rock band, he currently is writing his second book.

From the Inside Flap

At any given moment, there are thousands of rodeo cowboys traveling throughout North America in elaborate truck and trailer rigs. Each year, many of these cowboys cover more than 75100,000 miles on the road and in the air. They are men with colorful names like Speed and Jet, Rowdy and Howdy, Rope and Cash. Now they all will grin and tell you they do it because they re too lazy to work and too scared to steal, and that rodeoin s somewhere in between. Of course, it goes much deeper than that. Truth is most rodeo cowboys are born, not made. They are branded at birth for life at two speeds: 85 mph or a standstill. And it s a hell of a ride. from the Introduction

Blacktop Cowboys chronicles the 2004 rodeo season through the eyes of several charismatic steer wrestlers trying to make it back to rodeo s version of the Super Bowl the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas. Steer wrestling is an adrenaline rush like no other, one that entails riding likeas fast as lightning into an arena, sliding off a horse while taking hold of a 500-pound steer, and then wrestling the animal to the ground. The best cowboys often accomplish all of this in less than four seconds.

Blacktop Cowboys follows Luke Branquinho, a young, carefree cowboy on a quest for his first title, and his best friend, Travis Cadwell, a veteran trying to make the NFR one last time. Amid the choking dust of the arena, the broken bones and long drives on lonely roads, are the undying dreams of these cowboys to be the best of the best in one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Blacktop Cowboys is is also is a tale of the ultimate road trip endless nights of beer drinking and carousing with buddies, rowdy rodeo gals, too much Copenhagen overload,, and thegood ole boy hijinks of men being boys.. Blacktop Cowboys offers a true and intimate portrait of men having the time of their lives while living on the road in pursuit of a dream.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312330367
• ISBN 13: 9780312330361
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288