The Tuff Hedeman Championship Bull Riding event in Hobbs, New Mexico will be televised tomorrow (June 16) at 6 pm on FoxSportsNews. Give yourself plenty of time to search out the right channel, according to who your cable service provider is. (The rest of you people have it easy!)
Let’s support a bull riding organization other than the PBR, and keep your eye on young Cody Teel. He’s won the first two events on the Road to Cheyenne.
From ABC Illawarra (Australia):
But Professional Bull Riders Australian president Troy Dunn says it’s a spectacle that combines showmanship with athletic skill.
“When you add the pyrotechnics and the music it’s a rock and roll atmosphere and it’s pretty full-on for two and a half hours,” he said.
Need I say more?
This Sunday on Fox Sports Network: Week Two of the CBR’s Bud Light Classic from Jackson, Tennessee.
For those in the Cablevision area, the broadcast schedule as stated on the FSN website (if you can find it) is WRONG.
It’s NOT 5 pm on MSG Plus, Channel 72– maybe they mean 6 pm? Stay tuned.
Now I’m not so sure this time is right, either: 11 pm on MSG Plus, Channel 72; and MSGPlus H 72.
On the CBR website, it says 6 pm; they’re probably right.
PS: If anyone knows the results of Week One, please clue us all in.
You think I was mad before? This is what sent me through the roof while I watched The Last Cowboy Standing:
If you’ve read this blog, or you’re one of the PBR headquarters staff who opened mail or pulled incoming faxes off the machine a few years ago, or if you’re the sports editor of The New York Times, you know that for years I’ve been saying “Bull Riders Are the New Rock Stars.”©
In several written communications with PBR executives past and present, I talked about the marketing opportunities of hooking into rock & roll, and I gave very specific ideas about linking bull riding with rock.
But this takes the cake. Here’s some of what I said in my June 2010 fax to PBR execs:
“As a New York-based marketing/management rock & roll business veteran and long-time bull riding fan, I see so many parallels between the rock business and what’s happening with the PBR, I could talk anyone’s ear off…The PBR hasn’t yet tapped into the rock world on a major level…I’d like to talk with you and yours about what I have to offer. I didn’t go into too much detail here, because I know what can happen when I give away my ideas. (Three words: Kiss comic books.)” I also said, “The bulls are rock stars, too, in their own way: many are named after rock stars and songs.”
Editorial Note: Yes, I worked in Kiss’s management office (the old management, not the “Deadbeat Dad” one) for a short while in 1976, and told the #2 guy my idea; I was young and naive, and thought I was being a team player. Instead, I was fired, and in July 1977, voilà! Kiss comic books. Google my name and Kiss, and see what comes up at the top of the Google rankings; even a year later, I was still in touch with them.
So golly gee willikers, who’s the rock band the PBR chooses to hook up with, even having bulls named after the band, with visuals of the bulls’ faces painted like the band’s? KISS. Coincidence? NOT THIS TIME!
And you know what? I’m not going to play nice anymore. In the past I refrained from reporting on the in-person, phone, and/or email discussions I had with any PBR executives, but now I’m naming names, and they’d better not pretend they were in negotiations with Kiss since 2009. These are the people I sent my communications to, even if they deny receiving them (I always keep copies):
Jack Carnefix, Senior Manager of Public Relations (also spoke in person at Mohegan Sun in 2010, on the phone in 2011, and in emails)
Kevin Camper, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer at the time
Jeffrey Pollack, Executive Chairman at the time
M. Dockery Clark, Chief Marketing Officer at the time
Oh, yeah— and then there was the 2011 marketing panel in New York, in which I magically was invited to participate.
I’m sure the PBR would swear up and down that they come up with all their own ideas, they never saw any faxes or letters, and they’ve never read my blog. Yeah, I’m sure that out of the 39,819 visitors to my blog (so far), not one of them was a PBR executive. Not the one who emailed me asking for an “off the record” conversation, and then later bailed. And certainly not the one who called to yell at me for criticizing some of the PBR’s post-Randy moves, such as dumping Justin McKee. (If he tries that again, I will rip his head off, instead of being a perfect professional and responding to his gangsta diatribe with a thoughtful, polite email—which, true to PBR style, was never acknowledged. Hey, maybe someday I should post that.)
And IMHO (or not so “H”), they owe me a lot of money.
I also want extra money for not cussing in this post, because I sure did before I wrote it.
LAST COWBOY STANDING
The first two rounds lost their impact for me because they were broadcast after the fact. (Out of principle I don’t watch the PBR Live Event Center. Why should I pay for what used to be included in the membership fee?) The second half of the event was an adrenaline rush, mostly mostly because of the great bulls.
ROUND 1
HUMMERBLATHER
JB Mauney’s “big ride, big expectations, and big dreams are perfect for this bla bla bla…” If The Bummer kept going, he mighta said one more thing was big, too.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Ryan McConnel’s done a fade, but lil’ bro Joseph is on the scene, having won a Touring Pro event in Denver. Not too shabby, beating Mike Lee, Kody Lostroh, and Guilherme Marchi—although why those guys need to be in a Touring Pro event is beyond me. I still think Built Ford Tough riders should ride in the other division only if they’ve dropped below the cutoff line in the standings. It’s not fair to the new guys coming up, having fewer slots open to them because BFTS riders are moonlighting to collect money.
Another rarely seen face: Josh Faircloth, in as an alternate after winning two Touring Pro events. He scored 82.25 on The Game Changer; kinda surprising. The bull’s score was only 39.75; not a good out for the boy.
HIGHLIGHTS
TRUE DAT
“You keep trying ‘til your head hits the ground” is how Ty Murray described Justin McBride winning a World Championship flying upside down on Camo.
NOT SO MUCH
“That’s when the chutes were made out of wood, and the men were made out of steel.”—Ty talking about the days when McBride was World Champ. And did you walk three miles to school in the snow? That smacks of BOF talk, dude.
HATE IT!
Ben Jones will be out for 3 months until the docs determine that his spleen is definitely healed.
BULLS
JUST SAYIN’
BUT HE CAN’T RIDE BULLS, RIGHT?
Under Alves, Dirty Deals rocketed almost completely out of the chute, getting pretty vertical. Shorty Gorham had the scary view: he said the bull almost came past the point of no return and could’ve flipped over on Silvano. Alves jumped off the bull and onto the dirt—don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. And yet he didn’t ask for a re-ride bull; he just went ahead and knocked out an 86.
CAPTAIN HOOK, AT IT AGAIN
“Cody Nance…has been doing things that other riders just can’t do,” declared Hummer, just begging for me to add, “Yeah— ask him to do them without his spurs in his rope.” At first, Nance was granted a re-ride option, but then one of the judges put on his glasses (or his conscience) and DQ’d Cody for a knot-hold on Yellow Jacket Jr.
PFF
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE CIVILIANS WATCH BULL RIDING
I explained to my friend Liz, as João Ricardo Vieira was wrapping on Jack Wagon, “This guy came out of nowhere, and is winning everything.” Liz: “He’s got the name for it!” I had to tell her Jack Wagon was the bull.
Now that I think about it, there are a lot of bulls she could’ve mistaken for riders: Big Tex. Charlie Bullware. Mick E. Mouse. Stanley Fatmax. Pecos Bill…
YOU DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO
FASHION STATEMENT
Mike Lee’s pretty new silver and blue helmet.
ROUND 2
Ty Murray’s take on the pen: “All the bulls in the second round are man-eaters.”
All the introductory blather was about the American riders, and more harping on last year’s event. Leah Garcia interviewed JB. WTF?? Why are the Brazilian riders invisible, when they’re leading? How about mentioning last night’s winner, from the country that dare not speak its name because people get all bent out of shape about its riders kicking ass up here? The voiceover: “Still to come: fan favorite, JB Mauney.”
The Athlete’s Profile was about Luke Snyder, showing his new house, his wife Jen with him. “This is what we all dream about, is being able to put a career together and having something to show for it.” He credits winning the event last year with setting him up for another leg of his career.
Later, Leah interviewed JB again: “When I’m not sitting in 1st, I’m never happy.” He said he’s gonna get it all fixed over the break: “Keep getting on more bulls.” The confidence looked faked.
Finally Ty Murray mentioned Silvano Alves, saying he’s got to be the favorite going in today. Later in the round, The Bummer proclaims, “The weekend is over for The Brazilian.” Gee, wouldn’t you love to know who “The Brazilian” is? Craig seems to think they all have the same name.
THE BIG MONEY
$100,000 for the event winner; $80,000 for whoever rides Bushwacker or Asteroid. Well, we knew that money was going back into the pot. McBride was right: if one of the two monsters, gets ridden, it’s Asteroid. Bushwacker’s on a 41-buckoff streak.
THAT’S TELLIN’ HIM
“The Canadian gets the job done,” “The best rider to come out of Canada,” bla bla bla. Finally Aaron Roy said he wants to be known as one of the best riders anywhere, not the best Canadian rider. Go on with yo bad self, eh!
ANNOYING
Well, it’s official. As ordained by The Bummer, “JR” is now João Ricardo Vieira’s name.
I’M JUST SAYIN’…
FACTOIDS
“The Brazilian” (in this case, Fabiano Vieira) rode 60 in a row in Brazil.
PFF
YIKES!! Or however you say that in Portuguese
Kiss Psycho Circus truly was crazy. He flew straight out of the gate, did some moves that downed Marchi—all except one spur stuck in the rope— and Guilherme was yanked around, up and down, the bull’s hooves landed hard on his back, and every time the bull yanked, Marchi was dragged and dropped; must’ve been about three times. Out of the hangup, he sat there unable to get up, reaching out one arm, looking dazed, as the bull continued going berserk. We heard Shorty yelling for Julio Moreno to get his rope on the bull; the bullfighters did a fine job of keeping Psycho away from Marchi. I don’t think anyone believed Guilherme could get up and walk. Can’t imagine that nothing’s broken.
ROUND 3
The bulls shut out the cowboys.
JUST SAYIN’
THE DRAW:
Valdiron drew Bushwacker, with a big smile. Unfortunately we had to see a feathered bimbo in ridiculous soft-porn gear standing next to him wearing a frozen grin. Whose dumb idea is that? I mean, seriously, I’d like to know how the conversation went with management: Mandalay Bay: “Look, we’re lettin’ you hold your event here, givin’ you a cut rate on the rooms, and you didn’t sell out. We gotta sex up this thing. That’s what the house broads are for. It’s a package deal: we take your cowboys, you take the bimbos.” PBR: “Okay. We’re ascareda you. The 50% of our fans who are female will just have to STFU. Except for that BullRidingMarketing chick. She’ll never STFU.”
HIGHLIGHTS
ROUND 4
Talk about anti-climactic! Why on earth did they have the two Big Men On Campus buck in Round 3 instead of the final round??
Alves was the only one to score.
FASHION QUIZ
Why is Cody Nance wearing a spoiler on his back?
SCORE ONE FOR HUMMER
Nathan Schaper, who won the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Winston-Salem, faced Lucky You, a bull descended from Lucky Strike. He trounced Nathan. Justin remarked that the bull is the opposite of his name. Hummer went him one better: “This bull’s name should be Lucky Me.”
JUST ASKIN’…
Shepherd Hills Trapper (yes, Ty, we know he’s the Barry Bonds of the bull riding world) dumped LJ Jenkins (in their 3rd match), then slid on his side and had an awkward getup. What’s up with that? Is his signature move out of the gate stressing his front legs too much?
THE LAST COWBOY STANDING
How do you make Smackdown look easy?? Defending Champion Silvano Alves scored 92.50 on him. This was his 10th career win, and I’ve never seen him so happy and noisy! He was a jumping bean until some of the riders lifted him up on their shoulders. “I won it twice!” he yelled into the camera. Yep, his English is getting better. Okay, I’m gonna sound like a “girl” now: it was so cute to see the big hugs his compatriots gave him— Marchi, Nunes, and de Oliveira. Real men hug!
So right now, half of the top 10 bull riders in the world are from Brazil, and rookie Vieira in sitting in 4th place. Everybody else, pull up your socks this summer!
J.W. Hart dared Pistol Robinson to try Bushwacker on June 8 at the J.W. Hart Invitational in Decatur, Texas– and Robinson said yes. Sure, $40,000 is great motivation, but honestly, after you broke both legs and a whole bunch of other things, and were out of action for ages, do ya really want to get on the monster nobody can ride? I’m just rollin’ my eyes.
What is a smart move is for Pistol to become a bucking bull trainer. (That’s what he said.) What’s interesting to me is choosing to train bulls rather than riders; I wonder what makes a rider choose one over the other?
Any thoughts?
Shane Proctor lost his world lead in Round 1 and dislocated his left shoulder in a bad hang-up on Nitro Circus, so Silvano Alves is back to the #1 slot. What a surprise.
The Hummer declared that the event was “standing room only.” And then from my living room window I saw some big ol’ airborne porkers, and they weren’t the inflatables from the old Pink Floyd show, either.
COOL BEANS
Flashback: in 2010, Alves rode all his bulls and won Nampa—his first BFTS event. He’s reached the $1 million, $2 million, and $3 million earnings mark faster than any bull rider in history. As of now he’s earned nearly $3.5 million. But oh no, his strategy is all wrong, he’s picking bulls that are easy to ride (even in the rounds where he has no pick), he’s “soaking” the bulls, he got away with a slap, bla la bla. Money talks, bozos; bullshit walks.
COOL BULLS
• Major Impact sure lived up to his name; 43.75 doesn’t do him justice.
• Hard Knocks, a Mossy Oak Mudslinger son, is a firecracker of a bull.
• Kiss Psycho Circus had some repertoire: digging around corners and undulating—not your ordinary bucker.
• Carrillo Cartel will retire at the end of this season, his sixth; somebody said he’s had 55 outs, but just try to verify that on the PBR website! It’s got every other kind of stat, but not how many outs. Probullstats says 56 BFTS outs.
• This was Hotel California’s son Hang Time’s 1st BFTS out; he scored 46.25,thanks to a cool lowdown move out of the gate that made Eduardo Aparecido desperate in no time.
THUMBS UP
• Brendon Clark, Jordan Hupp, and Austin Meier like the new point system; Austin’s at the bottom of the pack, and says riding in Touring Pro events will help him move back up to the BFTS tour. Then he’ll really have something to put in his journal!
• Asteroid and Bushwacker will participate in a Touring Pro event the first weekend of October, at the Pala Reservation in San Diego County, California. Smart management move to confer some cachet on the Touring Pro Division and create crossover interest. (Heh heh—let’s see you top that, Craig!) PS—Wonder how many members of the Pala Band (or any other Native American nation) will be invited to ride? I’d probably win money if I said ninguno.
JUST ASKIN’…
• How long did we think it would take Craig Hummer to come up with the obvious “JR Vieira,” because it’s too hard to say João Ricardo Vieira?
• Does any other announcer in any other sport constantly mention an athlete’s nationality? Why can’t The Bummer consider riders as individuals instead of fostering the “us vs. them” mentality that causes friction? In he doing it on purpose because he thinks that builds up drama for the Finals? Are those his instructions from the PBR? I wonder if the Canadians do that when American riders show up.
HEADS UP
The rear view of Craig’s hairdo is kinda disconcerting. The short bleached straws are sticking out horizontally above the darker bottom half. Looks like he went to SuperCuts.
SCORING BIG ON THE IDIOT SCALE
• “Aside from a handful of Brazilians, Kody Lostroh is one of the riders getting hot,” Hummer declared. “Aside from a handful of Brazilians”?? What an ass-backwards way of saying that Lostroh is one of the few non-Brazilian riders on the case!
• “The journeyman who has made the world his home…” was his nonsensical intro about Zack Brown. Like Zack had another planet to choose from?
AWWW
Cute moment: Silvano mugging for the camera. He’s so happy now, it’s adorable.
AWW JEEZ
Now JW Hart is harping on re-rides and riders settling for low scores.
BAD NEWS
• Ben Jones is out of competition, badly injured, with a lacerated spleen and collapsed lung. He was rushed to surgical ICU.
• Zack Brown landed on his head, out cold; he was taken out on a stretcher. A later xray showed no fracture—whew!
FLAT BRENDON
Bellagio was banging around in the chute, then on the dirt fell on Brendon Clark and rolled on him; in the process of standing up, the bull accidentally stomped on him. God knows how Clark walked out of there.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Guilherme Marchi had a lockdown on three-year-old Cheap Trick 2 from the start, though the score wasn’t great: 84.24. I couldn’t understand much of Marchi’s breathless interview, but one of the Booth Boys had a great comment about Cheap Trick 2: “Sort of like the Jory Markiss of bulls: wind him up and point him in the right direction and he’ll just charge.”
I’M JUST SAYIN’…
• Blue Gangster—interesting bull, lots of bounce—helped Marco Eguchi to an 81.75. But in Round 1, Eguchi kept a 47.50 for his ride on Red Man, because of confusion about whether he’d get a re-ride. Renato Nunes had to hit the challenge button to make the judges take another look at the ride, because they weren’t going to give Marco a score.
This exploitation of the language barrier is becoming vicious. Why is there always confusion about whether or not a Brazilian rider will get a re-ride? Because the judges haven’t learned any Portuguese and some Brazilian riders don’t understand enough English to speak up for themselves. This is where fans have two choices: you either believe the judges are deliberately taking advantage of this disadvantage, or the PBR is deliberately not using a translator in situations like this. There’s no other explanation— it’s not like they can’t afford one. Well, there is one other possibility: morons are in charge.
• VERY obnoxious that they play JB’s theme song SO FUCKING LOUD! The name of the song is “Bad to the Bone,” not “Bad to the Eardrum.” Didn’t they see Shorty’s tweet about losing his hearing??
• The Bummer is so annoying me with his self-conscious “trying to be Southern” pronunciation of “Loo-a-ville,” instead of the “Looeyville” that non-Southerners really use.
• Sure, Cody Nance’s ride on Buck Off, son of Buckey, looked impressive, so it was scored 88.50, but where were those spurs?
WTF??
Mike Lee apparently was so looking forward to his victory lap that he leaped off Charlie Bullware before he earned it. What was he thinking?? It looked like he deliberately jumped ship (or rather, bull).
LAS VEGAS LUKE
Nice work on Night Rider Six, Snyder! 84.75 doesn’t sound great, but that’s on the bovine: “That’s an old bull; he’s about as old as I am,” Luke said. “That’s a good warm-up bull for the bull to come.” He’s looking forward to the Last Cowboy Standing; he said out of the $1.5M he’s won in his career, about $700K of it was in Las Vegas.
HE’S GOT A POINT
Renato Nunes is now 1 for 14— unthinkable. Shorty Gorham’s astute evaluation: if Renato started out at the front end of the bull and didn’t go to the back of the bull until later in the ride, he’d stay on; being on the back of his arm from the beginning is too much pressure on it. And we all know what happens then: you go 1 for 14.
OUTLAW RENDERED SPEECHLESS
Chase Outlaw’s trip on Dark Shadow was an aggressive ride, with him chopping away. The judges reviewed the ride to see if his spurs were in the knots. TV viewers could see that his right foot was clear, but couldn’t see his left foot. The judges decided not to score him. Too bad; it would’ve been a high score. The audience was pretty PO’d. Leah Garcia had the unlucky job of asking Chase what he thought of that call. He flapped his arms a few times, struggling to suffocate expletives that obviously wanted to fly out of his mouth; he started to walked away, then after a few speechless seconds, came up with, “Uhh—can’t say much.” I’m pretty sure the air turned blue all the way to the locker room. Maybe this turn of events was cosmic payback for his grossness in this month’s Men’s Journal article.
THE BOO-BOO BRIGADE
LJ Jenkins, with his taped-up right arm/dislocated shoulder was obviously hurting, but still rode Jordan’s Jacket, a son of Little Yellow Jacket, for 84.5, apparently it doesn’t matter if the bull was traveling. LJ didn’t make it to the championship round; he may have surgery instead of competing in the Last Cowboy Standing.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE THIS?
Nathan Schaper, who was out 6 months last year after surgery to repair his torn left bicep, should get extra points beyond 84.25, for style: Dawson’s rope wrapped around Nathan’s neck for most of the 8 seconds. For a moment, I thought he was going to be the only bull rider in history to be strangled on a ride. Yipes!
LIKIN’ IT
• JB Mauney, who’s currently #5 in the world, went go-karting with his wife and friends this afternoon. Just thought of something: did he really need to discover yet another way to break something?
• João Ricardo Vieira wearing a “Pray for Boston” badge on his vest.
HE TAKES IT BACK
• JDub’s comment on Good Timer, the bull that got JB a re-ride offer (or a 64.50): “I think I could probably ride that one; he looked pretty easy—” insert bad trip here— “’til they open the gate.”
• Then when Silvano rode Buckey for 87.50, JW started harping on the re-ride thing again, saying Alves should get rid of the low scores and take re-rides that could get him an 85 “and break records besides winning World Titles,”—at which point Hart regained his sanity and started to get embarrassed—“and I just realized how that sounds.”
LOWLIGHTS
Valdiron de Oliveira came to this event as an alternate. He declined a re-ride last night and kept a 76. In Round 2 he was thrown from Stanley PowerLock and knocked out, landing on the back of his head and neck. The bullfighters kept working the bull away; Valdiron had to be dragged out behind the exit chute. Good teamwork by all. I don’t know how he was able to get up and walk, even with help, to Sports Medicine. His concussion makes it questionable whether he’ll ride in the Last Cowboy Standing.
A NAIL-BITER!
Fabiano Vieira, who missed the first 5 events of the year, took a couple of walks in the park: Grinder, for 87.50, and Shaky Waters, for 86.50. Then he got on Nitro Carrillo Cartel, and took a terrible blow to his shoulders and back. The judges decided to review the ride to see when he reached for the rope, trying to find fault. (Meanwhile, they ignored Cody Nance’s spurs all day.) The clock sure looked like he made it to 8. Anyway, if it’s inconclusive, it goes to the rider, right? Even if he’s Brazilian? (That part I’m not sure about.) Even JW was saying, “Come on, judges, show another view.” The crowd reacted in Fabiano’s favor at every replay—and there were plenty of them. (Does anyone think the judges were making a last-ditch attempt to hand the win to Nance?) Finally they scored him: 88.50. They really made him sweat for it. Vieira had taken such a hit, he practically collapsed into the doctor’s arms. But after the judges’ pronouncement, he was whooping. “Tougher than a $2 steak,” was how JDub described him.
Don’t want to ruin your eyes watching the PBR’s Live Event Center? Missing Justin McKee? Try this for a change of pace:
RFD-TV
May 3 | 10:00 pm
“Pro Roughstock 101″
________________________________________
“PRS Host Justin McKee and guests introduce you to the concept of the new Pro Roughstock Series (PRS) taking you behind the chutes to meet the riders and stock contractors of this bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding sports series.”
News from the Rider Relief Fund:
“When my phone rang this morning and it flashed “Ben & Christy Jones” on the ID, I expected to hear Christy’s sweet voice. Imagine my surprise when Ben was on the other end! He was calling to thank the Rider Relief Fund and all of the fans who are reaching out with well wishes and prayers. He hopes to be home early next week, but he had another tough night with lung collapsing again. Even with a little struggle breathing and pain, Ben was full of his humor, appreciation, and a positive attitude. He told me to make sure everyone knows he’s going to be fine and he’ll be back riding very soon, but the most important message was to make sure everyone knows he really appreciates their support and prayers.
We will keep everyone updated on Ben’s recovery. If you’d like to send Ben a card, please feel free to send it our office and we will forward all cards and notes to Ben.
Rider Relief Fund
101 W. Riverwalk
Pueblo, CO 81003
If you have any questions, please contact our office, (719) 242-2900. The Rider Relief Fund is a non-profit organization, and donations are accepted online.” http://www.RiderRelief.org
NOTE FROM YOURS TRULY:
I’d like to send Ben a Get Well card on behalf of the thousands of people who have visited this blog, especially the BullSisters (you know who you are). How about it, folks? I’ll buy the card, and if I can post it on the blog, I will.
ROCKET MAN
João Ricardo Vieira has been shooting to the top of the leader board lately. Excellent performance: 15/15 Bucking Battle, first place. Round 1, tied for first place; Round 2, tied for third; Championship Round, the only score, and it’s a high one—89.25. Has ridden Smackdown twice. Counting this weekend, he’s won 3 of the last 4 events.
LIKING IT
The Brent Thurman spotlight.
ROUND 2:
World #1 Shane Proctor’s 5th straight buckoff. I don’t think he can hold his lead much longer without a concerted effort by the judges to persecute Silvano Alves even more—and I’m sure they’ll do their best.
HIGHLIGHTS
• João Ricardo Vieira’s masterful ride on Alternator (86.75). “Remember, this is called bull riding, not bull hanging on,” Ty Murray said, praising Vieira’s excellent countermoves. Bull stats: this season, ridden 1/3 of the time. Buckoff percentage, 66.67%. Average buckoff time, 4.91. Average score, 42.78. Rating: 21.39.
• Saw the reply of Kody Lostroh’s 84.50 ride on 10 Penny last night, and that bull’s direction change was a monster; Kody’s handling it with ease was amazing. He’s riding like a World Champion again.
• When Ben Jones rode Lil’ Jefe for 86.75, every last person in that arena was ecstatic. Ben’s comment: “Don’t think, just ride… I’m not the smartest dog in the shed!” Wish I could’ve heard what was in between, but the background racket never stops.
• Luke Snyder broke his 6-buckoff streak, handling The Game Changer for 88.25. Ty’s take on it: perfect timing, perfect balance, he couldn’t have done it any better.
• João wins his 3rd of 4 events! He didn’t even have to ride to win, but turned in an 89.25 on Who Dat. Another masterful ride! PS: Alves won 3 events in his rookie season.
I’M JUST SAYIN’…
• Aaron Roy (also coming in with 5 straight buckoffs) rode Mr. Smooth for 87.25. A “lookin’ good” ride, but according to ProBull Stats (because Mr. Smooth’s not even on the PBR website), the bull’s scores for his 2 outs this year are 34 and 40.50. So you can understand my puzzlement as to why Aaron was scored higher than Vieira, whose control was spectacular, and whose bull’s stats say he’s tougher than Mr. Smooth. Oh, wait a minute: could it be that the judges have figured out another way to manipulate scoring: ding the bulls that are under the Brazilian riders?
• Valdiron de Oliveira is back after winning a Touring Pro event. Squirrel Grove’s trip, however, was one long pogo across the arena. There was some confusion about a re-ride, while Valdiron’s ride was reviewed for a nonexistent slap. Renato had to be the translator—like his English is great? Why are they not using a real translator on the dirt, where it counts? Did the PBR run out of money? Are they trying to handicap the Brazilian riders? If Tag was unavailable, they could easily find someone else. Is there any possible logical reason they don’t have a translator? NO. When the American riders went to Brazil a few years ago, I’m sure they weren’t left to their own devices, language-wise.
• Poor Austin! Paired with Lincoln Electric’s Bring It—who has trashed him 5 times already. How did this matchup happen? Who’s the one with the sadistic streak? He got dumped again, and it looked like the bull’s hind hooves stomped on his hip for good measure.
SOMETIMES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS!
Vindication for Valdiron! He did get a re-ride, on My Space, and his 86.25 puts him in the Championship Round. So great to see him smile again!
CAPTAIN HOOK
On Walter Pepper, one of Paige Stout’s bulls, Cody Nance’s hooked spur was so obvious, how could the judges not see it? Or more to the point, why do they refuse to see it? He almost was hung up by it on his way off the bull!
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND
Austin Meier is keeping a daily journal. “Find the good in everything,” he said. “Where’s my happiness brought from…?” Putting feelings on paper! Unheard of! Congrats, Austin. This kind of thing saves lives. More men should cowboy up and try it!
HUH??
Craig referred to Leah Garcia as the PBR’s “Social Media Songstress.” Is there a YouTube video out there that I don’t know about?
LOVE IT!
The Cueball Cam looks like the infant offspring of C-3pio and R2D2.
ARE WE SURPRISED?
Lachlan Richardson is on the bubble.
DEM CLONES
Panhandle Slim’s record of cowboy strikeouts: 7 rides in 42 outs. Cody Lambert said the clones have the same bucking pattern as his, but not as intense, and that the clones “became like pets,” but Panhandle Slim was mean all his life. Ty’s description: “He was really a deranged type of bull.” The first time on him, Ty got bucked off; the last time he had him was at the World Finals, “and he was still as mean as he was at the beginning.”
GREAT MINDS…
When Shaken Not Stirred did just that to Eduardo Aparecido, Ty Murray and I said the same thing at the same time: “What??”
JW Hart picked João Ricardo Vieira to win. So did I. The Twitter people picked Kody. May I quote the great Ralph Kramden: “Har har HARdy har har!”
LOWLIGHTS
• Will it never end? A chesty blonde bimbo with a frozen grin standing behind Clint Adkins and Brandon Bates. As Liz Lemon would say, Blurrgh!
• Gross: the clip of fans getting their photo taken with Renato Nunes, and not one of them saying “Thank you” when it was done; they just walked away. Do they even know who he is? How fucking rude! Or did the idiot parents just say, “Hey, let’s get our picture taken with a cowboy?” Fucking depressing.
ATHLETE PROFILE
To get back on tour, Sean Willingham was riding in Touring Pro events, did 3 weeks in Australia, and admitted to having some bad weeks. His knees were hurting him, “But that’s no excuse; you only need to use your legs when you run.” He’s debating whether to get them fixed now or wait until after the Last Cowboy Standing event. Well, I see two sides of this dilemma: if you get them fixed now, they won’t be as big a mess later, but you’d better be a fast healer to make that event; on the other hand, if you don’t get them fixed soon, you won’t be standing, period.
WTF??
The Evangelist was not happy about being ridden, and charged at Shorty Gorham afterward. 79.50 for Silvano Alves–WHY?? TV viewers were given no explanation or analysis of the score at all, for probably the ONLY time during the broadcast. It figured this would happen to Silvano.
EYE ON THE BULLS
• Western Hauler has some wicked, tricky moves, ducking and dodging and writhing left and right. He dumped 3-time PRCA champ JW Harris at the 2012 WNFR.
• Speckled Ivory’s hump kinda looks like birds pooped all over it, but I never get tired of seeing that bull’s huge jumps out of the gate, with all that forward momentum. He’s like a great [fill in the blank because I don’t know squat about football] barreling into a line of opponents.
• Some fancy footwork from Meat Hook; I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, but that cute bull’s front feet are doing ballerina work.
JUST A THOUGHT
If they didn’t make such a huge fanfare every time JB Mauney gets into the chute, maybe he wouldn’t be so upset when he doesn’t ride. Nobody can be Superman.
FASHION OH-PLEASE-DON’TS
That painful striped shirt on Ty Murray. First of all, pin stripes on a cowboy? Second of all, the camera translates it into headache material. Do we have to ask Ben Jones to give you fashion lessons, Ty?
JUST ASKIN’
• Why the re-ride flags for Jason Malone (a late replacement for Ryan Dirteater) after his failed attempt on Cyber Cat? No explanation from the Booth Boys. “Maybe because the bull bucked him off too fast,” was Shorty’s guess. Or the judges like him; they really, really like him. His re-ride was Prince Albert, whose hind hooves slammed against the gate so hard, it must’ve felt like an earthquake up there on his back. It also might’ve “interfered with the trajectory of the ride” (remember that one?), but giving Malone another re-ride would make it way too obvious that they really, really like him.
• Is there some confusion in the record books as to the highest scoring rides in PBR history? The PBR says Chris Shivers scored 96.50 on Dillinger and Jim Jam, and other sources say Bubba Dunn scored 96.50 Cripple Creek’s Promise Land (1999 PBR Bucking Bull of the Year). Is this version of PBR history part of the campaign to canonize Chris? (Ha! Let’s see Hummer top that one.)
