New device captures rodeo bull physics

As badass as most rodeo events seem -- except for barrel racing, that's just lame -- we're about as clueless when it comes to judging most bull rides as we are at judging figure skating. Luckily, rodeos are about to become privy to new technology advancements, similar in spirit to those yellow first-down lines and the much-maligned glowing hockey puck of yore. Winnercomm, largest independent provider of programming to ESPN, has developed a new gadget that can be glued to the back of a bull and provide a "master's thesis on physics" in data about each ride. This can allow the bumpkin or clueless hipster watching at home to know just how fast and hard the bull is buckin', and we're hoping cowboy hangtime and vertical ascent can be measured as well. We're sure there will be purists who will decry the distillation of rodeo action into simple numbers, but we say bring it on.