Bucking Up at the Angola Prison Rodeo

BUCKING UP AT THE ANGOLA PRISON RODEO FULL TRANSCRIPT

 

Jim: Hey, everyone and welcome back to Bloody-

 

Woody: Angola. 

 

Jim: A podcast 142 years in the making. 

 

Woody: The Complete Story of America's Bloodiest Prison. 

 

Jim: And I'm Jim Chapman. 

 

Woody: And I'm Woody Overton.

 

Jim: And we've been wanting to talk about the Angola rodeo for a little while.

 

Woody: Yeah, man, that's some kind of famous. But it's also one place you'll never find Woody Overton.

 

[laughter] 

 

Woody: Because of all the people I put up there and we're going to talk about all the facets. Of course, Jim did the research on it and everything. But just to think about how far Angola is away from everything. And they built this stadium-- They've been doing this since I was a kid. And then, they build a stadium. All these people come every October and now they're so famous, they did one weekend in April. And all tens of thousands of people, that's more than people that will ever be housed in Angola or die in Angola or whatever. This is entertainment.

 

Jim: That's right. And, y’all, we're going to give you a lot of kind of facts today on the Angola rodeo. But to give you a little premise of it, the Angola Prison Rodeo, it's the longest running prison rodeo. It first began in 1965 as a joint effort between offenders, prison employees, and civilians who live in Angola's residential area, what we've referred to as the B-Line. The first two rodeos were in 1965 and 1966 and they were not open to the public.

 

Woody: Right. And then, think about it back then, y’all, it's a natural progression to have a rodeo because what do they do all day long besides work in the fields? They raise their own cattle and they cowboy and that's what they do. And they were like, “Mm, let's have a little competition. Who's the best?”, and da, da, da. But beginning in 1967, a limited number of tickets were offered to the general public for admission to the rodeo. Proceeds of those ticket sales, like today, benefited the Inmate Welfare Fund, which funds recreational and educational programs for inmates. Spectators at the first rodeos had to either sit on pickup trucks or bring seating to view the small rodeo. That's where I was born, a couple of years before I was born. And they brought it in there and, hey, people like a good rodeo. 

 

Jim: Oh, they really do. And look, coming in the back of pickup trucks, there's no-- picture like a football stadium or something. None of that. You just kind of rode out there in the middle of nowhere and watch these-- [crosstalk] 

 

Woody: It's entertainment. It's kind of like a podcast. You got to start a podcast and you got to grow. 

 

Jim: That's right. 

 

Woody: The more people come, the more it grows. 

 

Jim: So, they saw that. Angola saw this popularity, people were talking about it, “You got to go to the rodeo.” So, in 1969, it actually built its very first arena. And that arena seated about 4500 attendees. Now to kind of cross-compare that today, the popularity is so much since that time that this arena will accommodate over 10,000 people now.

 

Woody: That's 10,000. That's 10,000 people that are going to eat, 10,000 people that are going to drink-- they don’t sell any alcohol, but 10,000 people are going to do all of it. But so, as it grew, y’all, it became more popular with the offenders and everybody else. But the rodeo continues as a behavioral incentive to reward offenders with good behavior to compete in various rodeo events, earn money in the competition, and sell hobby craft, inmate furniture, art, and jewelry. Inmate participation is entirely voluntary, and many offenders see the rodeo as a rare opportunity to feel as a part of society outside the gates and take a pride in showcasing their talents. And to talk about there, y'all, they're not saying outside of the gates. They get to go outside of the gates for the rodeo because the rodeo is inside the gates. But with the free people come, that's why Woody Overton is not going, because 90% of the inmates, the convicts get to roam around freely. 

 

We talked about Clifford Etienne. He sells his art, his big paintings there. It's a very, very popular thing. And, of course, it's an incentive. Hey, you're in the hole, you can't go to the rodeo, you can't look at the pretty girls coming in, and you can't sell your stuff to get your kids a pair of Air Jordans or whatever they're going to do. 

 

Jim: That's right. And there's a lot of amazing facts when we were researching this one that some of them, we knew, some of them we didn't know. So, Woody will start it off and tell us one that we kind of already mentioned. 

 

Woody: Right. So, y’all, the rodeo takes place only at two different times, y’all. One weekend in April, but it's every weekend in October.

 

Jim: So, it's going on right now. And let me tell you, it's so busy that people, when they get to the rodeo, if they don't leave at the right time, you'll sit in traffic for three hours trying to get into Angola. That’s common.

 

Woody: I mean, it's still the largest prison in America with the worst criminals that state Louisiana has, and they have to take security procedures because it's human nature. Some people are going to try to get shit in and take advantage of the crowds.

 

Jim: That's right. It's also one of the very few prison rodeos in the country. There's a couple states outside of Louisiana that have a state prison rodeo and that includes Texas and Oklahoma. And it may surprise y'all to know that Oklahoma also has a female-only rodeo in addition to their male rodeo they put on.

 

Woody: How about that? Parlay enough on that.

 

Jim: Yeah. And look, Texas, Oklahoma, that's the first thing I think of is as rodeo, those are two big rodeo areas in addition to Louisiana. They saw what Angola was doing and probably primarily the money they were making. [laughs]

 

Woody: Tons of money.

 

Jim: And they said, “We want to get in on this.” And Oklahoma doubled up on it and said, “Heck, we're going to have female rodeo too.”

 

Woody: Yep, absolutely. So, y'all, each event during the rodeo has trained professional rodeo clowns whose primary job is to save lives by distracting bulls from hurting the offenders. The offenders are also required to wear protective gear and additionally emergency vehicles and personnel are always right outside the arena in case someone is hurt. Well, let me tell you what, somebody's getting hurt. 

 

Jim: Yeah. 

 

Woody: I can remember my daddy telling me when I was a little boy, I heard about the rodeo and he was like the reason the convicts do the rodeo and they want to get in the rodeo and take the chance of getting hurt so bad because they don't mind getting hurt, you know why? Because they won't be sitting in the field. And the only place on Angola at that time besides officers that with air conditioning was the damn infirmary. So, you could break a leg or get gouged by a bull and lay up in the infirmary for six weeks and eat Jello and have AC and look at the pretty nurses.

 

Jim: And ain't got to worry about getting shanked. 

 

Woody: [laughs] Yeah, exactly. You got a soft, comfortable bed and everything else. That was a good deal for them. But they do try to make it as safe as possible. But let's just be honest. Rodeos are like running with the bulls in Spain. You go to a rodeo, you watch that cowboy ride that bull, or in this case, all the different events they do, you're expecting to see a little blood. 

 

Jim: Oh, yeah. 

 

Woody: And that's part of the attraction. You ain't going out there just see who can rope a damn calf fast. 

 

Jim: Yeah. You're not going to an ice-skating event. You know somebody’s going to get popped. 

 

Woody: Yeah, it's not Disney on Ice here. 

 

Jim: And we're going to talk about a little later on in the podcast some of the different events that they have and some of them are pretty dangerous. We'll get into that. But you may wonder, those funds, what do they go towards? Well, in the Angola rodeo's case, they go towards funding the education and the religious facilities and programs that they have inside of Angola. 

 

Woody: Yeah. And then, that's a lot, y'all. I think Angola has more churches than any prison in the world probably. And the educational programs, you got to give them hope or you're just going to have a bunch of badasses killing each other. So, the arena that they built, y’all, seats 10,000 spectators and sells out every year.

 

Jim: Every year.

 

Woody: That's 10,000 people. I wish I could sell out a concert with 10,000 people. I would only work like once a year.

 

Jim: That's right. 

 

Woody: I'd work every weekend in October and one in April and be good.

 

Jim: And you know what's interesting is every year that they do it, they have kind of a different rodeo poster. And I wish I would have started collecting those early on because-

 

Woody: Yeah, that's a big deal.

 

Jim: -especially what we have now with a studio that'd be great to put up.

 

Woody: Absolutely. 

 

Jim: But I bet Woody's family's got some rodeo posters somewhere. Maybe you can find somewhere.

 

Woody: I don’t know. I don’t know if we have any or not. But you know what? I would like to collect some of that.

 

Jim: Yeah, it'd be really neat. And they're always different and artistic. I'll try to find some and put them up on Facebook for you. Now you may wonder, how much does it cost? Tickets sell nowadays for $20 per person. I'm sure when it first started, it might have been a dollar or something like that. 

 

Woody: I just looked that up. $20 person, that's what I was doing on my phone. At 10,000, that's just $200,000 a day in ticket sales. 

 

Jim: Yeah, ticket sales for one--

 

Woody: Food and all that, they're going to be way more than that. 

 

Jim: And we're going to get into some of that food too. Another well-known tradition at the Angola rodeo. 

 

Woody: So, y'all, let's talk about the day at the rodeo. In addition to the rodeo, the arts and crafts, which are produced solely by the inmates, draw massive sales crowds. And look, ex-brother-in-law used to have a shrimp boat. It was all handmade out of wood from one of the things. It was like a big thing, not a live one, but it was a piece of art, and it was just amazing. You wouldn't believe the shit that they can produce. I've seen Clifford Etienne’s posters of the second lines in New Orleans, all paintings and stuff, just world class artists. But anyway, so they have the arts and craft part first. And the gates open at 09:00 AM, for the art show with the rodeo starting at 02:00 PM. So, you've got plenty of time to shop and eat and do whatever you want to do. 

 

And the inmates are allowed to sell their arts and crafts and they get to keep 85% of the profits. They pay a 5% state tax and a 5% federal tax and 5% goes towards the prison fund. In 2016, inmate Justin Singleton had a booth at the arts and craft show and hoped to make $400 to send to his 15-year-old daughter. Singleton said, “The rodeo offers inmates something more than money.” He says, and I'll quote, “Here at Angola, you have very limited contact with the outside world and sometimes it can be a little depressing, so it’s encouraging when you come to the rodeo and see so many faces of people who are so happy to be here, treating you as if you’re just a regular person.” And so that's a big deal. And that's what we're talking about earlier, it gives them an escape, they get to see the outside world and interact with people without handcuffs and shackles on and everything else. 

 

The visitors love the arts and craft show, and for a few days out of the year, the inmates and the community enjoy the day together. People also enjoy Cajun food such as crayfish, jambalaya and gumbo, catfish and more. Several inmate bands play music throughout the day. 

 

Jim: Yeah, it's a huge deal. And I know people that go just for the arts and crafts. They're not big rodeo watchers, but they love to go to those arts and crafts. [crosstalk]

 

Woody: That's amazing the stuff that they can produce, the leather shops to whatever. You think about people that they're locked up and they're down for a reason, but you can get the drugs off the head or whatever, most of them have a trade or they learn the skill inside and they've got nothing else to do.

 

Jim: They've got nothing else to do. And some of the best pieces of, not only art, but wood crafts and leather crafts that you'd ever seen in your life. Now, due to the rodeo being held on prison grounds, one thing you need to be aware of, if you're headed to it, is your car is subject to a search. It's random. They've got the wolfdogs out there and they're kind of smelling for drugs and stuff, because drugs, cell phones, all that stuff get in during the rodeo.

 

Woody: It's coming, no doubt about it. They never stop at all. But lock keeps an honest man honest, I'm not going to try to smuggle you in an ounce of weed if I think going to prison dogs sniff it out.

 

Jim: Especially not-- [crosstalk] 

 

Woody: But there's some dumbasses that do it, that's for sure. You may be curious about what the inmates themselves think about this. So, let's listen to this clip. 

 

Inmate: It makes us be a part of society again. It lets them see that we're all responsible people and that we can interact, that we're not just criminals. We are regular people and that we can all have fun together. 

 

Inmate: It's almost like the whole year is based upon this because October, every Sunday, we're going to come out here. I would say that they look at us and they say, “Maybe these people might have just made one bad decision. They're just regular people like us. They just had one bad day.” But other than that, we're just normal people that like to have fun and like to absorb our talents just like everybody else.

 

Jim: All right, now in that clip you just heard, you heard the inmate and he was explaining really what the importance of the rodeo is to him and how it feels just to feel like a free person, even just for a short time. The inmates love that. And I'll tell you what, that's important to note, because you have people in the past, you'd read things like, “Oh, they're making them out to be gladiators and you're abusing the inmates and all this by putting them in the rodeo.”

 

Woody: All voluntary.

 

Jim: Look, the inmates would be the first one to tell you they look forward to that rodeo, and you just heard one talking about that. And another thing the rodeo is known for is its food, which Woody just brought up. In this next clip, you're going to hear a little about that, not only from legendary Warden Burl Cain, but you'll also hear several of the inmates talking about the food. And they all cook the food themselves and they're going to share a little bit of their personal story with you too. So, here's that. 

 

Burl: I'm Burl Cain. I'm the warden here at Louisiana State Penitentiary. All the inmate clubs and organizations have the concession booths, boudin, shrimp on a stick, sausage [unintelligible [00:16:54], and those crawfish we raise in the pond. And we have frog legs we catch out of the pond. And so, we don't buy any of this stuff. It's all Angola. It's all inmates. We're inside the rodeo arena. Rodeo is traditional to America as apple pie. 

 

Inmate: It's definitely the wildest show in the south. Up here, it is anything goes, so you just hang on for eight seconds. Most guys never seen animals before and they ride. 

 

Inmate: You got a bull that comes out there, you get the token off his head and pick up $100. A $100 is a lot of money in the place where you get four cents an hour. 

 

[audience cheering]

 

Male Speaker: I'll rodeo, you're going to have injury.

 

Male Speaker: Yeah, man. Don't worry about him. He's my boy too.

 

Male Speaker: I'm their daddy. They didn’t have one and I don't want to see him hurt. He's not gladiator. 

 

Israel: My name Israel Ducri. I had enough of it. That bull's broke my leg. I have a rod in my leg. My mom, she worried every time I ride. I gave it up for her really. I promised her once I won at the 2003 rodeo, I would give it up. 

 

Ricky: My name is Ricky Westwall and I'm from North Louisiana and I've been here for 28 years. Around my house, if you didn't know how to cook, you was in trouble. And I can cook basically anything. My mama taught me how to do that and I give her credit for it. I was the only person in my family out of six children that ever got arrested. I'm the only person in the Westwall family that's ever been arrested. I was going with a girl and she and I had an argument and fight. I didn't kill her. But they arrested me for kidnapping. So, that's why I'm here. [unintelligible [00:18:31]. 

 

Clyde: Clyde Dwayne Richard. I am known as Angola's Potato Man. Taking a big old potato and chopping it down the middle and smudging it down with butter. Crawfish, shrimp, in a boudin. You got things here that you can't find in society. I'm from North Louisiana. My plans is to open a potato shack. And I think I have my family is going to help. My mom and my wife. 

 

Woody: So, the event is a voluntary chance to win cash prizes up to $500, like in the case of the Guts and Glory event. And it's a strong economic incentive for inmates to put themselves in harm's way. Like we talked about earlier, that's a lot of money. Especially since inmates wages usually earn them between 2 cents and 75 cents an hour, y’all, they're not making a bunch of money. And you do that times a week, that's nothing. You can't even buy a bag of chips for that hardly from the canteen. But that event, y’all, if you don't know about it, that's when they put the--

 

Jim: Well, we're going to get to it. 

 

Woody: Yeah. [crosstalk] 

 

Jim: We're going to get to it. That's a good one. And you just mentioned what I brought up earlier, which was these guys want, they want to have the opportunity. And the Angola rodeo is completely voluntary. You don't have to do it. They're not forcing those guys out. They want to do it. They want that money and that time.

 

Woody: If I'm not mistaken, y'all, they don't just let anybody out, the worst of the worst.

 

Jim: That's right. 

 

Woody: [crosstalk] 

 

Jim: You have to be a--

 

Woody: You have to do ten years before you can make the status of trusty, and you've got to have that. They're not just know the serial killers and whatever walk around. 

 

Jim: Yeah, Gillis ain't out there like running the--

 

Woody: Eating-- [crosstalk] 

 

Jim: Feeding you jambalaya or something. And that's exactly what one of the side benefits to the rodeo is. It functions as an incentive for good behavior. You can't participate in the rodeo if you're not orderly. You have to have a good track record for a long time in order to even participate. So, it's incentive. Incentive is an important thing in prison.

 

Woody: And think about it, back to the money again, you're making between 2 cents and 75 cents an hour, rodeo, I said it's $200,000 a day in ticket sales, but y’all, it nets, now this is after expenses, around $600,000 a day. Now, a large part of that, we told you is going to the convicts that sell the food or their arts and whatever, minus their state and federal taxes and the 5% that goes into the inmate fund. That's a lot of cheddar, bro.

 

Jim: Yeah, it is. And that's per day. 

 

Woody: Per day. 

 

Jim: So, that event is over a million dollars over the course of October. Matter of fact, close of two--

 

Woody: Shit, it's way over that. It's 2.4 million net.

 

Jim: Net. That's right. 

 

Woody: It's a lot of money. There's even an Oscar-nominated documentary about Angola's rodeo in 1999 called The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo. And it was up for an Academy Award, actually, for best documentary short. 

 

Jim: That's pretty cool.

 

Woody: And inmates participating in the rodeo, like we said earlier, all wear helmets, protective vests, and a mouthpiece. And while there have been some bumps and bruises and broken bones, there have been no serious injuries, according to the warden.

 

Jim: According to the ex-warden.

 

Woody: So, it's a very interesting documentary. Google it and watch it.

 

Jim: Yeah. And some of those guys might be nursing some injuries and just not telling it. A few broken ribs or whatever, no big deal. One of the most popular and successful inmate participants in the rodeo's history is a convent named Tank. I'm going to tell you a little bit about him, and I'm even going to quote this guy. He was serving a life sentence for murder, and Tank has been competing in rodeos since the year 2000. He has snatched the chip, which we're going to tell you what that means, on 15 occasions, which is three shy of the all-time record. He's a country boy. He came up rough, messing with alligators and snakes and all that kind of stuff. He attributes part of his competitive advantage to the familiarity and comfort he feels having dangerous animals in close proximity. He's even said, “If you get scared, you're already defeating yourself. I respect them. I know that I can hurt them or that they can hurt me, but I ain't scared.”

 

He's a skilled horseman. He's a member of the prison's mounted drill team, the Angola Rough Riders, but doesn't compete in any of the rodeo's riding events in an effort to stay healthy for Guts and Glory, which is this dude's event. He moves continuously as he speaks. He holds a T-shirt. He drapes that over his back. And he's just got a whole-- it's almost like a whole routine to how he snatches his chip off of that animal. And he says his motto is, “If he don't break nothing, he doesn't stop me.”

 

Woody: There you go. 

 

Jim: So, he's already in possession of Guts and Glory, which is what we're going to tell you about. He has the record for the fastest time. He actually snatched that chip in 19 seconds.

 

Woody: That's crazy, y’all. But Tank, he plans to do more than just top Angola's all-time win total. He said, “They're going to have to work to get mine,” he says with a laugh. “Whenever I do try to set it down, I'm going to make sure it's up in the 20s.” Still Guts and Glory holds the significance for him beyond the bragging rights it provides. And he says, “I've been locked up going on 16 years. Never sent home for money. I send home to take care of my kids with the money I make. I don't want for nothing but my freedom. I don't want to put a burden on my people. I was always brought up independent. That's why I do what I do.”

 

Jim: And he's one of the most famous rodeo participants at the Angola rodeo of all Tank. 

 

Woody: Tank.

 

Jim: Yeah, but, look, the nickname alone is awesome. 

 

Woody: And say too because we are going to tell you about that event or these events in detail. 

 

Jim: Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact, we'll go ahead and get into them. And the first one is called Grand Entry. And Grand Entry is what we just told you, Tank was a member of the Angola Rough Riders. And they enter that arena at a full gallop and they have the colors, picture the flags just like you see in any rodeo. They got the flags inside the stirrup. 

 

Woody: And they do fancy cuts and stuff while the music's playing, almost like the Blue Angels would do in an air show. And then, you don't ride like these boys can ride without the practice and the drilling and the pride they have in it. 

 

Jim: That's right. That's the Angola Rough Riders. And then you have what's called Bust Out. And that is basically where all six chutes open simultaneously, and they release six angry bulls with temporarily attached inmate cowboys. The last man to remain on the bull wins the event. So, think about regular bull riding except for they all go out at the same time.

 

Woody: Think about if you ever seen regular bull riding. The guy sitting in there and that bull, tying his hand down. There's six of them. Now, there's probably a reason they only do one at a time at regular rodeos. You got six bulls spinning six cowboys and at least five of them are going to go off and they're trying to get gouged by the bulls. And what about the bulls running into each other and whatever? You know what? I'd go just to see that. 

 

Jim: That's right. And then, they have what's called Bareback Riding which is the riders are expected to keep one hand in the air and must stay on the horse for eight seconds to qualify. Your typical bull riding.

 

Woody: Fucking bronco on the wild horses. These are professional animals, y’all. Rodeos, it's just legit. They have actual companies that bring these professional animals in for these shows. 

 

Jim: Yeah, that's right. And they have one called Wild Horse Race. And this is where six wild horses are simultaneously released in the arena with short ropes dragged behind them. And get this, three-man teams attempt to grab the ropes and hold on to the horse long enough for a team member to mount it. The first team to cross the finish line while still on top of the horse is the winner.

 

Woody: They got to give more bumps and bruises for that dude. They got some good gloves. Going to grab [crosstalk] stop a wild horse. Somebody's got to be the hero and get up on it and get across. That's crazy. It got to be one of the greatest shows on earth. I might think about going now.

 

But the next event, y'all, is the Barrel Racing. And this is the only event which inmates do not participate. And it is a tour stop for the Girls Rodeo Association. And contestants race their horses in a pattern between three carefully placed barrels and the fastest time wins. And I think if you've ever seen a rodeo, the barrel race and this precision riding and all that, and guess what? I bet you the inmates don't hate those Girls Rodeo Association. 

 

Jim: Yeah. I guarantee you they're all watching. 

 

Woody: They're cheering them on, they're their biggest fans. 

 

Jim: That's right. 

 

Woody: So y’all have heard me talk about bull dogging before, but this isn't the same thing. This next event is Bull Dogging, and the animal is placed in a chute with two cowboys positioned just outside the chute. Then their job is to wrestle the animal to the ground as quickly as possible. The team with the best time earns points toward the coveted All-around Cowboy Award. I may be wrong, but they don't do this in regular rodeos. They do it off a horseback where they'll throw a rope and get down and pin animal down and tie their legs. But these, you're standing on the chute, they release this pissed off animal and you're going to run them down and-- [crosstalk] 

 

Jim: You got to grab them by the neck and-

 

Woody: That's crazy. 

 

Jim: -Hit your knees real quick. I'd love to do that event. If I did any-

 

Woody: That’s crazy.

 

Jim: You literally wrestle that sucker to the ground, tie him up.

 

Woody: I don't know have y’all ever been around cows, but they're strong as shit. Bulls too. So, let's go to Chariot Race, which is a new event that debuted in 2014. Chariot racing comically employs the principle of centrifugal force that challenges contestant's sense of balance with a twist. It can be likened to being pulled by a boat while riding a wakeboard. Contestants holding a pitcher of water mount a sled that is pulled at top speed the length of the arena by a horse and rider. Gravity takes over in the turn as the contestants try to stay on the sling shot at sled while not spilling the water. The man who holds on and spills the least amount of water is the winner. That's crazy. 

 

Jim: Yeah, it is.

 

Woody: We used to have a hood from a Volkswagen Beetle and we'd get out in a cow pasture and tie the rope to it behind the truck and get on there and sledding like this. When they'd hook those turns, oh, you're going flipping. But now they're doing with a horse. That's crazy. 

 

Jim: And got to be one of the funnest things you'd ever witness, try to watch and probably hilarious. Wild Cow Milking. So, teams of inmate cowboys chase the animals around the arena, and they try to extract a little milk. The first team to bring milk to the judge wins the prize. 

 

Woody: That is hilarious. I don't get it. This is certainly not events you're going to be seeing at the PBR in Vegas, right?

 

Jim: [laughs] No.

 

Woody: Wild Cow Milking? That's awesome. 

 

Jim: Yeah. Bull riding. So, you know bull riding is this dangerous and wide-open event is what the fans come to see. Inexperienced inmates sit on top of a 2000-pound brahma bull. To be eligible for the coveted All-around Cowboy title, a contestant must successfully complete the ride, which is 6 seconds. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rules govern the event. That is the--

 

Woody: That’s the big one.

 

Jim: The big one. That's the finale. And let me tell you, 6 seconds don't seem like a long time but when you're on a 2000-pound brahma bull, it's forever, especially when you're inexperienced. 

 

Woody: Let's talk about the inexperienced part. Look, people locked up in Angola come from every corner of Louisiana. A lot of them come from New Orleans, naturally being the most populous city. But they make trusty and they may have never seen a cow in their life until they got to Angola and then they're going to get on there. “Well, why not?”

 

Jim: Yeah. 

 

Woody: And strap in and ride it. 

 

Jim: That's right. 

 

Woody: I always wanted to ride a bull but just once, and I'm too old now, but just one time. 

 

Jim: Well, we can always do that, Woody. I'll film it and put it on TikTok real quick. 

 

Woody: I did ride one of the urban cowboy [crosstalk]. 

 

[chuckles] 

 

Jim: How long did you last on that?

 

[laughter] 

 

Woody: I don't know. I was pretty drunk. Convict Poker, y'all, it's the ultimate poker game. And I've seen the videos of this and it's actually pretty hilarious. It's the ultimate poker game and even winning has a price. Four inmate cowboys sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing a friendly game of poker. And suddenly, a wild bull is released with the sole purpose of unseating the poker players. The last man remaining seated is the winner.

 

So, let me tell you what happens. They know what's coming. They're sitting at this table, everybody in the arena is watching, and they let this pissed off bull out there. What do you think that bull is going to do? He's not going to just stand there and look at them. He attacks them. Now, if you won't be a little bitch, you get up and run, you just lost out on your chance of the money. So, if he comes in and hits the table and hits the other three and knocks them 20ft in the air and you're still seated, well, then you won. So, it's pretty crazy. 

 

Jim: It is absolutely crazy. 

 

Woody: If you got balls to sit at the table, you're going to get hurt. 

 

Jim: Look, I watched a video just a few days ago on the Convict Poker event. And I mean, the bull's coming from behind one of these guys. So, he don't even know the bull-- he's just sitting there standing, staring at his cards and that bull just smashed him and three of the four went flying. And the other guy's just sitting there holding the cards and then he took off.

 

Woody: He took off running and like crazy. But, Jim, because we talked about Tank and all that, tell them about the event.

 

Jim: So, it's called Guts and Glory and a chip, which is just a regular poker chip, is tied to the meanest, toughest, brahma bull. These bulls, they do these on circuits. And they get reputations. 

 

Woody: They score them on how mean they are. 

 

Jim: Oh, yeah. And as a matter of fact, in a regular rodeo, you draw your bull. There are certain bulls you don't want to get. As a matter of fact, there was a bull back in the day by the name of Bodacious. And Bodacious was the meanest of the mean.

 

Woody: Nobody ever ridden. 

 

Jim: As a matter of fact, he killed Lane Frost. 

 

Woody: Sure did. 

 

Jim: Tough heat him, and he almost killed, which are two famous rodeo—[crosstalk] 

 

Woody: Those events were instrumental in getting the bulletproof vest and stuff they use now. Y’all, when they say tie to it, they put that chip right in the middle of the forehead of this bull. 

 

Jim: They put it right to--

 

Woody: It's not like they put in one of his ass and you run it up behind and they put it right in the center of his forehead and you got to go get it. 

 

Jim: Yeah. The object here is to get close enough to the bull in order to snatch the chip. It's the last event of the day and by far the most exciting right outside of the regular bull riding. And look, it is no joke. You have got to watch, and we'll put some of these videos maybe up on the Patreon or something, but you've got to watch some of these guys trying to pull this chip off this bull. You got to remember, some of them never seen a bull in their life.

 

Woody: They want that 500 bucks.

 

Jim: They want that 500 bucks, that's the big one.

 

Woody: Two cents an hour, you figure out how long it would take you to make—[crosstalk] 

 

Jim: I'd be all over that bull. [laughs] I'd probably be dead. But a serious event that is kind of like the finale of the day for the Angola rodeo. And just a great event all around that about covers all of these different events. 

 

Woody: Keep in mind though, people, they do this, you're doing it inside the United States and probably one of the largest prisons in the world, with some of the worst of the worst in the world for a day. You get to go in there, interact, and see all this, and they get to escape for a day. 

 

Jim: That's right. And if you're in the Louisiana area, Mississippi area, and you want to check it out, there may be still tickets available. It's going on all the rest of this month in October. You can look on their website and see if they have any left.

 

Let's talk for a minute about something that happened recently, which was the clemency hearings that we brought you an episode on those have been completely canceled, if you haven't heard yet. What essentially happened was the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana, along with a lot of district attorneys, probably all—[crosstalk] 

 

Woody: The first was stepped up was Hillar Moore out of East Baton Rouge. He's a great guy. 

 

Jim: Yeah. And so, they basically fought that, as I felt they should. I'm sure Woody felt they should. 

 

Woody: [crosstalk] -shit is Illegal. I mean, fuck, you can't just change the law because you're the governor and you don't want people to die or be executed. 

 

Jim: That's right. So, they have canceled those hearings that were going to take place in October. So, sometime this month, I think October 15th was going to be the first hearing, and that has been canceled. So, they're not going to do these hearings. 

 

Woody: Let me tell you who's got to worry. Those death row inmates. You know why? Because-- I'm not doing politics, although I do know Jeff Landry, and he's a good dude. He is by far in the lead to win governor for the state of Louisiana. And guess what's the first thing he's going to do? He's going to start rolling that execution line again. This whole bullshit, “Oh, I can't get the drugs and we can't do this, and we can't do that,” that John Bel's been doing and then he finally comes out the last minute, "I just want to cancel it because it's wrong." That's your belief, and I respect your belief. But that's not the law, brother. Jeff Landry's been fighting the governor for all these years to get it reinstated.

 

Well, guess what? The boys on the row, I thought they were going to get this clemency hearing, now they got another thought coming. I've seen the carnage and I've seen the murders, and I've seen what these guys do. And I get it. A lot of people are against death penalty, and that's fine. That's your belief. I'm not trying to sway. I'm just telling you, the reason I see what I see is because I've seen what I've seen. 

 

And I say it all the time, especially a horrible homicide, which these guys are up for, the homicide itself, but it has to have aggravating circumstances. But the victims families, they can talk about it or the DAs can talk about it till they're blue in the face, I equate a homicide to a migraine. If everybody knows what a migraine is, everybody knows what a murder is. But if you have a migraine right now, the person you're telling about the migraine, they'll be like, I understand the concept, but unless they have the same migraine, you don't get it. Unless your loved one's been murdered with these aggravating circumstances, you're not going to get it. 

 

Jim: That's right. So, we want to shout out some of our newest patron members. We hadn't done this in a while.

 

Woody: I appreciate y’all.

 

Jim: Cover a couple of those people. Patrons, they keep this show rolling. 

 

Woody: Absolutely. 

 

Jim: We love them to death. And so, we wanted to shout out some of the ones in the past couple months. 

 

Woody: Right. So, we'll start with Melinda. And I'm not going to get out the emails. 

 

Jim: No.

 

Woody: Melinda, you know who you are. We love and appreciate you, farm girl, and thank you so much for keeping us rolling. 

 

Jim: That's right. She didn't put her last name. She goes by Melinda. 

 

Woody: Right. 

 

Jim: That's all you need to know. Shout out Melinda. Emily Blades, thank you for being a patron. 

 

Woody: Thanks, Emily. You rock, Emily. Thank you so much. And Mr. Scotty Johnson. Thank you, brother, for listening and liking and sharing and supporting us through Patreon. 

 

Jim: And we got another one-name shoutout to give, and that is Cam. Cam, that could be-

 

Woody: Cam Newton. It could be a female.

 

Jim: -female, Cammy. We're just going to say shout out Cam. 

 

Woody: Cam, you know who you are. Thank you. And Patricia Surpas. And, Patricia, you rock. Thank you so much for supporting us through Patreon. 

 

Jim: Nina Button. Thank you. 

 

Woody: Thank you, Nina, you are awesome. And John Andrews. Thank you, sir. We do appreciate you supporting us on Patreon.

 

Jim: And Stephanie. I might say it--

 

Woody: Lourmais? I assume that's a Cajun name. L-O-U-R-M-A-I-S.

 

Jim: I like it. Or Lourm-a. Look, Stephanie L. Give us a shout out. 

 

Woody: Thank you. 

 

Jim: Thank you so much. We appreciate all y'all. 

 

Woody: And y'all, if you're not a Patreon member or you can't afford to become a Patreon member, we get it. We love you just as much. It's just they help us pay the bills and keep bringing this to you weekly. We have a plethora of bonuses that they get from commercial-free early releases to Patreon episodes, which I know we have more locked up than probably any other show and everything. Check it out.

 

Jim: Yeah, we just did. Last week, we uploaded the video-- and look, we need to talk about this real quick and really want to thank our guest for last week.

 

Woody: Oh, my God, he's the best.

 

Jim: I can't tell you the amount of comments, folks, we got all night.

 

Woody: I was just listening to it the second time right before we started this. 

 

Jim: Yeah. So, we want to thank him for coming on the show.

 

Woody: Mr. Donald Duck Sharp.

 

Jim: Mr. Donald Duck Sharp. And just sharing a little bit about-- well, a lot about his knowledge of that case.

 

Woody: What a great storyteller.

 

Jim: Yeah, really great storyteller. And we did the video version just for Patreon members. 

 

Woody: And he's definitely confirmed that he's going to come on the original Real Life Real Crime, and we're going to tell cop stories because I listened to him, I was just like flabbergasted. I was like, “Bruh, will you please come on my shit? And you can tell--” He was like, “Yeah, I would do that.” I have to give him that steak dinner. I'm going to take him to give him a good steak dinner. 

 

Jim: All right. We're going to be back next week. We're going to have a brand-new episode for you and we're going to surprise you with it. So, you'll hear it next week. And until next time, I'm Jim Chapman. 

 

Woody: And I'm Woody Overton.

 

Jim: Your host of Bloody-

 

Woody: -Angola.

 

Jim: A podcast 142 years in the making. 

 

Woody: The Complete Story of America's Bloodiest Prison. 

Woody and Jim: Peace.