In the epic showdown between man – or rather MEDIA – versus machine, there can be only one winner: the spectators.

The best, most beautiful and brighest CTV Regina stars mounted Steve Merchant’s hand-built mechanical bucking machine – called the CYCLONE – and with all the dignity you’d expect, clung to it like champs. Carey Smith deserves a special mention here.

He not only came off that mechanical bull with more style and grace than I’ve seen at Olympic gymnastic events, he did it injured. Yes…that devil of the steer took the mickey out of Carey but he didn’t let that get him down – nosiree!

Molly, Lyndsay and Jon also PWNed that mad bucking machine (which is available for your next party or corporate function – call 403-586-4099 to book; it’s a once in a lifetime chance to see your CEO’s yeehaw face!)

Enjoy the gallery, and give props to your CTV news peeps. It takes a special kind of brave to try this and they did an amazing job!

2012 winners included:

Megan Kemp of Pilot Mound, MB rep. Manitoba Youth Beef Round-up – 1st place, grand aggregate, $2,500 scholarship and an opportunity to judge at the First Lady Classic. She also got a lovely buckle.

Kelsey Dale of Saskatoon representing the U of S – 2nd place, $1,250 scholarship awarded by John Deere, plus a lovely buckle.

Becky Domolewski of Table AB representing Lakeland College – 3rd place, $750 scholarship award by John Deere, plus a lovely buckle

Katelyn Deslippe of St. Mary’s ON representing Ontario 4-H – 4th place, $300 cash, plus a lovely buckle

Mariah Wotten of Little Britan ON representing Ontario 4-H – 5th place, $150 cash, plus a lovely buckle.

Congrats. Their images are in this gallery – holler if you want copies BTW.

Also in this gallery, some of the sights from Agribition. I met Carol Morin, artist-in-residence who  with the help of 7-year-old  Autumn Hamblin and many other children, is working on a very cool art project in the First Nations Pavillion. Please go check it out. Also at Agribition, there are people to meet – like the lovely Maple Creek Rodeo and Indian Princesses – and a few little people are making some pretty big new Belgian friends over at the Morsky’s Roselie Farm pens. All this and more makes for a great day at Agribition. If you haven’t come down yet, get here – it’s a blast!

A steer is a smallish cow. Carey Smith is a giant of journalism and a well-known media personality with CTV. When media meets livestock in the arena, who will triumph?

The little cowboys who gathered above the shute didn’t want to miss a moment and recorded the whole thing on their cell phones. Molly and Lyndsay from CTV were on hand too as Carey’s personal pep squad.

Okay, to be totally fair, that little steer had the devil in him. It wasn’t a fair fight. Carey, classy to the last, had an epic 1.5 second ride – something even some pro bull riders can’t achieve.

Stay tuned…next up: Media vs. Mechanical Bull!

What’s better than being around livestock all day? Not much…in fact, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing this week than be the CWA newsroom’s photographer for the week.

Now, to kick off a great week I give you some shots from the official ribbon cutting.