Round One of the New Orleans Classics is in The Books...

...And it hurt. Oregon cowboy Ross Coleman sustained a concussion and possible (and I am going to say, probably most definite) facial fractures, when his bull blew him foward into the front of the chute, where he hit on every possible surface, including the bull's head. Ross was unconscious in the chute, and was pulled up and out by his friends. He did come to and was able to get up, and with some help from Dr Freeman, walked back to sports medicine. Here's hoping his injuries aren't as bad as they seemed. At the very least he will be sitting out the remainder of the weekend, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him sit out at least a couple of weeks.

There were other cowboys who had a better weekend with their first round draws. Oklahoma cowboy Cord McCoy took home the top spot with a 87.50 aboard Smash Hit. I was very pleasantly surprised to see him looking so good on this bull. Cord was really shuffling his feet, and moving that free arm to keep himself not only aboard to the eight, but away from this big bull's head. He did hit his face into the bull's hump, but that isn't as bad as slamming into a big bony face. Good job cowboy.

Following Cord in a tie for 2-3 were Wiley Peterson (Navajo) and the Ironman JW Hart (Thrillville), with scores of 86.25. Then we find our current point standings leader Justin McBride, sitting comfortably in fourth with an even 86 aboard the bull Captian Crook. Trailing behind McBride by just a quarter of a point is our winner from last weekend, Missouri cowboy Matt Bohon, who topped Big Stick. As a result of his win last weekend, and his ride last night, he earned a five thousand dollar bonus, which, if the commentators were right, puts him with a pay check for his week at right around 50 thousand. Not too bad for a 23 year old.