Bull rider relishes double duty

It has been a busy year for Dustin Elliott. Not just because he has 4-year-old twins and his wife teaches high school business full time while finishing her master's degree. And not because of the ranching business he owns and runs on 600 acres in North Platte, Neb. Elliott is a bull rider, and this year has been one he might never repeat. The 30-year-old is the first in his sport since 2004 to qualify for the Professional Bull Riders World Finals and the National Finals Rodeo in the same year. Each circuit is grueling, but combining both is something he doubts he'll try again. The challenge was something he started to think about two years ago, and his commitment was sealed late last year after talking with his wife and a conversation he had with his father, Wayne, who died in a car crash a few days later in Oregon. "That talk with my dad provided some serious motivation," said Elliott, who used the 2004 NFR to win the world bull riding championship in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. "After I won the world championship, you couldn't knock the smile off my dad's face with a bat." He says he thinks his father would be just as happy with what he has accomplished this year in arenas in each circuit...more