Jardine: Bulls, with cage-fight chaser

From the e-mails, voice mails and other sources:

MIX 'N MATCHES -- If it were a concert, it would be Toby Keith headlining with Metallica: Country and hard rock, together at last.

Saturday night in Oakdale, bull riding and cage fighting will share separate but equal billing in what promoter Ryan McClure is calling "Extreme Arena Challenge."

It's an unusual pairing of sports for which the Oakdale Saddle Club arena will be sectioned off.

McClure, who supplies several bulls for Professional Bull Riders events, and other stock contractors will bring in more than 30 bulls for the show.

Interspersed between the go-rounds, mixed martial arts promoter Enrique Perez of Placerville will have four cage-fighting matches featuring fighters from all over California.

Cage fighting is sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission, a state official said. The promoter, Enrique Perez, has a solid reputation of following the rules, unlike some of those who promote bandit cage fights in bars and other settings.

Ryan contacted Perez and invited him to bring his cage fighters to the Saddle Club Arena, and Perez thought it might work.

Don't these sports draw entirely different crowds?

Not necessarily, Perez said.

"Lots of cowboys like fighting, too," he said.

Yeah, but they're usually not the spectators. Not so long ago, many a rodeo turned into a John Wayne-wannabe uppercut contest after a hot afternoon of downing St. Louis' or Golden, Colo.'s finest, fights that would match anything you might see in a cage.

"It's a lot more contained now," said Mike Bacigalupi, owner of the H-B Saloon downtown. "Back in the old days, they got wild."

Call 728-7897 for information.

BOUND AND DETERMINED -- In June 2008, I wrote about Turlock resident Dave Truax and his labor of love. When his brother died in Pennsylvania a few years ago, Truax went back to help clean out the home. While in the basement, he found more than 10,000 pages of documents and photos compiled by his father, the late Craig Truax, who had been a player in the pre-1964 Republican Party and served as secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Craig Truax died at 57 in 1985. Dave never really knew him. He does now, having compiled his father's words and photos into "Blackbird Row," a self-published book available online through Lulu Marketplace ($19.78, paperback). Visit www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/blackbird-row/7703461 for more details.

FUR FLYING -- Some people will go to great lengths to save an animal. ColleenRose Mastagni of Modesto went to great distances, as it turned out. While vacationing in Jamaica, she was befriended by "a loving, yet badly neglected 6-week-old kitten," she said.

She decided to adopt him, and with the help of volunteers, the ASPCA, Jamaica's ministry of export and some veterinarians, Mastagni was able to get him on a flight into San Francisco International on Sept. 29. She picked him up that night and brought him to his new home in Modesto. A stranger allowed Appleton -- Mastagni named him for a brand of Jamaican rum -- to fly in the carry-on space beneath the seat in front of her and delivered him to Mastagni at the airport's baggage claim area.

PUBLIC OPTION -- "Secrets in America: The Crisis of Elder Abuse" will debut on KVIE (Channel 6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday and repeat at 6 p.m. Sunday. The show was produced, written and directed by David Jones, Stanislaus County's director of communication and legislative affairs. He hopes PBS will air the half-hour program nationally. Visit www.secretsinamerica.org.

RECOVERING -- A former Delhi girl now living in Missouri is in stable condition after being struck by a car in a crosswalk. Kimberly Armstrong, 16, remains in a medically induced coma after the accident Sept. 22 in Springfield, where she is a junior at Hillcrest High. She suffered a brain injury, broken pelvis and broken shoulder. Armstrong attended elementary school through fourth grade at El Capitan school in Delhi and has family living in the valley. For information on her condition and how to donate to help the family defray medical costs, visit www.careforkimmy.com.

Jeff Jardine's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in Local News. He can be reached at 578-2383 or jjardine@modbee.com