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| Photo by Paul Knight |
Name: B.J. Campbell
Age: 29
Hometown: Benton City, Washington
Event: Team Roping
I got into rodeo because I’ve roped and rode my whole life. My family did it; my dad. I started [competing] when I was about five, but I took it serious at 11. I turned professional at 17.
If I didn’t rodeo I’d probably just live in the middle of the desert and drink beer a lot. Probably Nevada.
I’m on the road 24/7. I’ve blown hundreds of tires going down the road, 85 mph, but I’ve been lucky. I’m taking May off to go down to Mexico, just to hang out. Me and my brother usually take off May.
The crazy thing about rodeo is that this deal is just a rock
star deal, from town to town. I had [contestant] number 69 in Houston
one year. That was a good number to have, because I was single then.
Somebody came up later and offered me $500 for it because they wanted
my 69. That was a damn good year. If you’re single, and if you play
your cards right, it’s a good deal. But not anymore for me. I’ve gotten
older and I can’t hang like I used to, but we drank beer until 5
o’clock this morning.
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2009.