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Saturday, January 24, 1998
All-around cowboy tries for comeback -- again
By SANDY SHORE / Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) -- Ty Murray is tired of being the perennial comeback
cowboy.
After injuries kept him out of the arena for three straight
years, Murray is back in competition, looking better than ever
as he aims for an unprecedented seventh all-around championship
cowboy title.
"He is riding phenomenally well," said Randy Bernard,
chief executive officer of the Professional Bull Riders Association.
"He is in by far the best shape I've ever seen him.
"The seventh all-around title is so important to him.
It proves to him he'll be known as one of the greatest cowboys
of all time, if not the greatest."
At 28, Murray remains an easy-going Texan from Stephenville
whose dedication to the sport began when he rode his first calf
at the age of 2 on his family's Phoenix-area farm.
He burst on the professional rodeo scene two decades later,
competing in bull riding, and saddle and bareback bronc events.
In 1989, he became the first competitor to win both collegiate
and professional all-around cowboy titles in the same year.
And he's been setting records ever since.
He has won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association all-around
title six consecutive times, tying Tom Ferguson's record, and
he became the youngest cowboy millionaire in history at 23.
Murray's bad luck began in 1995 when, at midseason, he underwent
reconstructive surgery on both knees. It kept him out of action
for nine months.
He returned the following year, only to be forced out when
he suffered a partially torn ligament in his left shoulder which
required surgery and sidelined him for the rest of the season.
He made a third comeback attempt last year, but once again
found himself out of action after he dislocated his right shoulder
during a ride at a February event in St. Louis, Mo. He underwent
reconstructive surgery.
If you'd think he would be discouraged or consider retirement,
think again.
"It's bad luck. It was pretty much a letdown, but I don't
think you can sit around and cry and feel sorry for yourself because
that's not going to make you feel better," Murray said in
a slow, soft drawl.
With the same concentration he has for his sport, Murray began
rehabilitating his shoulder, lifting weights and practicing a
form of martial arts called Nippon Kenpo, which emphasizes strength
and agility.
One day last summer, Bernard joined Murray for an exercise
session. At one point, Murray asked Bernard to punch him in the
stomach during every sit-up, continuing nonstop for 15 minutes.
Bernard, who thought he was in fairly good shape, said, "I
could not even come close (to Murray's regimen)."
Murray returned to competition during a PBR event in Guthrie,
Okla., in September.
"I felt a little rusty the first bull I got on, but it
came back real fast," he said.
At the National Western Stock Show this month, Murray won the
Copenhagen Bull Riders Master Pro Series finals and placed second
overall.
Bernard said Murray has earned about $42,000 in PBR competition
this season, which is twice as much as other competitors.
"He's got one year of hard travel, and he realizes he
needs to prove himself," he said.
Murray doesn't believe in ritual or superstition. For him,
every ride comes down to a test of his mettle against the bull
or the bronc.
He has a graceful ability, raising one arm over his head and
arching his back as the bull comes out of the chute.
"What works best for me, it seems like, the more relaxed
I am, the better I ride," Murray said.
"That's the main challenge of the sport, is being able
to put the adrenaline, the money and the title, to be able to
take that and put it to one side and still stay relaxed and focused
enough to do what you've got to do."
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