We start at 6am, three hours before the rodeo. All the teams are nervous and excited at the same time. "$25,000 isn't worth me even chipping a tooth," Yancy says.

Rocco wrangles up his cowboy teams to the arena skybox to once again reiterate that half of riding a bull is 90% mental. If they can see it from the skybox, they'll win. If they see it from the ground, and react to it, they'll lose.

An hour before Showtime, the crew looks at the bulls, trying to get a feel of what's going on in their heads. Do they have what it takes to go through "eight seconds in hell?" Judd tries to reassure the team that death has resulted in this sport, that it is the most dangerous sport in the world, and that bulls are the most fearsome animals are on the planet.

Yancy: "Judd, are the black bulls meaner than the brown bulls?"

It's warmup time now. One thing's for sure: Lance is cockstrong, and Eric D thinks that if he and Vicky win, he's going to throw up.

Okay, here's how it's going to go down. Four events, 100 points total. Most points wins. Each event is winning couple take all.

First up: Pole Bending. Each team member will ride separately. Time will be added to make up a final time. Penalties will be assessed for downed poles, and if anyone breaks the pattern, the team will be disqualified.

Tiffany: Breaks the pattern halfways down entry. Both she and Eric D. are DQed.

Yancy: Broke the pattern on the first turn back to the start. Both she and Eric R. are DQed. But she does finish it.

Vicky: Comes in at 38.3 seconds.
Lance: Comes in at a choking 52.1 seconds. (total time: irrelevant. They made the pattern.)

Eric D is sure that once Lance & Vicky lose an event, they'll fall apart. Next on the list, team pennings. Each cow is marked with a number. When Rocco calls out a number, each team will have to corral that number cow into a pen on the opposite side of the arena within five minutes. Team with the fastest time wins 15 points.

Eric R & Yancy... get 5.  They pen their first, but Yancy takes some liberties with a third one. The herd follows their last one... and no points for them.

Eric D & Tiffany get the call for... 3. Tiffany gets one... and loses it. Eric rescues it. Tiffany gets the second. Eric loses the third... and gets it back... but with a few others. No points there.

Lance & Vicky call out... 1. They take it slow and sure. They know that all they need are the three calves... Lance is busy pointing the first cow where to go. They don't get the other two. No points there. Okay, so they did get two.

Next: Rescue Race. It's an old-fashioned horse race. Team that scoops up their partner first and crosses the finish wins 25 points. Winner.. Eric D. and Tiffany! No problems whatsoever! And sure enough, Lance is busting out the excuses.

The final event is worth 50 points... It's bull riding. You win this, you win the whole shoot'n'match. Individual times will be added for a total score. The max time is 16 seconds total.

After a group prayer (you're gonna need it!), Yancy is set on the money right now. She doesn't feel like doing it. Eric says that she can't let her head psych the rest of her out.

Eric is first... 3.8 seconds. "It's an addictive high."
Yancy... rides up. And out at 5.9. Nice. Total of: 9.7 seconds.

Lance is next in the eye of the hurricane. Knocked off at 5.7.
Vicky is next. She needs to last 4 seconds to stand a chance. She lasts... 3.4. Theoretically, I could stop here because the team I DIDN'T want to win isn't going to, BUT since I'm a devoted writer, I'll continue.

Finally, it's Eric D. & Tiffany. Eric D is only in for 2.9, meaning that Tiffany will have to last 6.8 seconds in order to win. She lasts... 3.2, meaning that Eric R & Yancy, the team that NO ONE EXPECTED TO EVEN COME CLOSE, win the rodeo and the $25,000! "We're going shopping, baby!"

Now to the awards ceremony... without Eric D & Tiffany. Tiffany injured her hand at the bull riding. They send their love and will be back as soon as they can. Rocco says that all three teams are winners, because to finish is to win. Meanwhile, Eric R. and Yancy get two custom Cowboy U Moloka'i buckles signifying their victory as all around cowboys. But perhaps more important than that... "Lovin' gets you thrills, but money pays the bills." That's a big-ass check. "I just want to take care of us," Eric R. says. Meanwhile Rocco gives a mental cry: "They changed me as much as I've changed them." And sure enough, Eric D. & Tiffany return with a small fracture in her knuckle, common in bull riding.

Final words from Rocco: "Being a cowboy is a dying tradition. If we can pass on our passion, maybe have a few more people fall in love with the life we've chosen, then I'm fulfilled."

Now who's ready for a luau?!