November 10, 2018
Pearl Harbor left us with a whole lot of memories and a big feeling of emptiness as we await the outcome of the battle for the title of PBR World Champion 2018. He was one of the greatest bucking bulls ever in the history of the sport of bull riding. There’s no knowing how great he could have been.
The fact that he was 10 – 0 on the 25th Anniversary Unleash the Beast PBR Series was more than impressive. His average score for those 10 outs was 46.25 to put him in the lead in the PBR World Champion standings. His last out was an incredible 47.50. No doubt that Pearl Harbor was an amazing bull.
But what set Pearl Harbor apart from all but the very best bulls in the sport was his heart. There was Houdini blood flowing through his veins. Houdini was the sire to champions like Pearl Harbor’s daddy Black Pearl, as well as PRCA BBOY Voodoo Child and a host of ABBI championship bulls. Yet perhaps Peral Harbor’s heart was bigger than all the rest.
For Chad Berger’s great bull, it was all about try. Pearl Harbor put heart and soul into every out no matter who was on his back. There was an air of pride he had in doing his job and doing it better than anybody else. It was like he had something to prove after losing out on the title of World Champion in 2017 to Bruiser. He was on track to redeem the loss at a level threatening to reach new heights.
Sadly, Pearl Harbor is gone and without his World Champion title. We will never know if, in the end, he would have outdone Bruiser or the other bulls hoping to be crowned the best. Maybe that’s not totally a bad thing. At the time of his passing, Pearl Harbor was the best bull in the sport and for all his fans, we can remember him as our champion. Rest in peace Pearl Harbor.
by Terry Lidral
for Bucking Stock Talk Magazine
Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.
