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Mighty Mike White

Bull Riding Video

I'm A Bit Behind

Well, the 2007 BFTS has been over for a few weeks now. However, I have been feeling much too lazy to do a 'report' on them. That, and the showings were on so late that I only ever caught a few rides. So just a quick breakdown. The World Championship buckle came down to whether or not Justin McBride could cover the bull Camo, the same as it had when he won his first title in 2005. This time though, he had to be better than 90.00 points. He, as so many figured he would, did indeed manage it, effectively snagging his second World Title. He's going to have surgery now on his injured shoulder, likely sitting out 6-8 months. With the season being again lengthened he may still stand a chance next year.

Here's to a 2008 season as exciting as 2007 was.

Only Three More Nights...

...Of bucking action are left in the 2007 PBR Built Ford Tough Series year. Right now Justin McBride is still sitting in first in the overall standings. But he just picked up his first score of the weekend last night.

Young gun Kody Lostroh has jumped up to striking range within the virtual standings by covering three of four bulls, and is sitting tied for first in the World Finals standings with Wiley Peterson.

Justin is going to have to really be watching his tail, as JB Mauney, who has sat either first or second for the entire season, and World Champion hungry Guilherme Marchi have picked up 2 and 3 rides respectively. Marchi is sitting third in the overall Finals standings, with Mauney back in 9th.

Brian Canter and Matt Bohon are both in the hunt as well. Matt is sitting in fifth in the title standings, and eighth for the World finals. While Canter is settled in at ninth and tied for 6/7.

One man who isn't showing what he has been throughout the year while in Vegas is Georgia's Sean Willingham. He's dropped down to sixth in the world, and has failed to cover three of his bulls, despite a phenomenal year right up until last weekend. He managed to put up a score last night, but that may not be enough to see him finish where he was heading earlier. Round five kicks off tonight with all the cowboys and bulls in Vegas on Versus.

To Nevada We Go...

The 2007 Built Ford Tough Series is rapidly drawing to a close. With just six regular events left in the season, the cowboys are quickly pulling up to the World Finals in Las Vegas (Oct 26-28, Nov 1-4). This weekend is the Reno Classic. A three day event, it will feature three long rounds, and one championship round. Sadly absent will be our world leader, Justin McBride, whose injuries from the Chihuahua Challenge will keep him out for a few more weeks. That leaves room for JB Mauney, who has been trailing McBride for a few months now, to pick up some more ground on the 2005 World Champion. Round one will find Mauney squaring off against Big Mack a Red Brahman- Katich cross from Chad Berger and Clay Struve. The big red bull isn't likely to give him a go round win, as his average ride score is only 82.5, but if Mauney can stay atop him for the eight, and put together a few other rides, he should have a decent shot at a top 5. One downer for Mauney will be that his number two bull for the weekend, H&H Bucking Bulls' Life's Good, is a brand new bucker for the PBR's BFTS, making it hard to know what kind of action he will show us.

Chihuahua Challange winner Guilherme Marchi, and our current world number three, is also looking to gain some ground on McBride. He's drawn Chug-A-Lug from Chad and Lacey Berger for round one. This bull's only had two previous outs, both of which were unsuccessful, back in the 2006 season. Marchi has been riding really well the past few events, and it will be interesting to see if he can capitalize on the momentum he gained with his win in Mexico. His second draw is much like Mauney's, another rookie bull. This time from Steve Holbrock, a 2004 bull called SH-314.

One ride I am really looking forward to watching is Kody Lostroh aboard Kaycee Simpson's superstar Red Alert. Lostroh drew him back in Laughlin 2005, and stuck him for a 90.00. The big bull has been ridden 17 times now, and has an average score of just shy of 88.00. If Lostroh can stay aboard again with similar results this could prove to be our go-round win.

Another exciting draw is Cord McCoy aboard Spiderman from Chad Berger and Larry Ryken. Eight riders have taken a shot at this bull, and all eight have eaten dust with unsuccessful trips. I'm looking forward to seeing if McCoy, who seems to be staying up on at least one bull a weekend, can put together a multiple ride weekend, and make up some ground on the leaders.

McBride Re-Writes the PBR's Record Books

As usual, world leader and 2005 World Champion Justin McBride has once again managed to re-do the record books. Down in Dallas, TX this weekend at the Dickies Invitational, he put together three stellar rides, to win his seventh event of the season. He now leads the race for this year's championship title by over 1000 total points, with JB Mauney still clinging close to his heels. And just another couple thousand points behind them sit Georgia cowboy Sean Willingham and Brazilian Guilherme Marchi. Mauney lost a bit of ground this weekend, bucking off both of his long go bulls. Willingham picked that ground up covering two of three, with a first go round win aboard Red Man with a 88.25. The other young gun from North Carolina, Brian Canter who is currently sitting fifth in the world, picked up some more points by also covering both of his bulls, including a 88.75 aboard Just A Dream. All in all it was a stellar weekend for the bulls. With only McBride covering all three, and just 18 more men putting up one or more rides. The bull power was so impressive that super star bulls such as McCoy Ranches Bells Blue and Fronteir and Teague Buckin Bulls California Dreaming got bumped down to the long go. But then again, they were in Texas for the weekend. And some of the best bulls in the world come out of the mid west and that area. So it makes a lot of sense.

This coming weekend will find the guys a bit further west, riding in Glendale AZ at the Cheeseburger IslandStyle Restraunts Invitational on June 29th and 30th. Check it out June 30th and July 1st, at 9:00 pm EST only on Versus.

Another Win For McBride

Justin McBride has won another one, and is well on his way to a second world title. He put up some stellar rides this weekend, and is also our Foremost Ride leader with his 93.0 score from this weekend. But watch out, cause despite riding with an injured leg and shoulder, JB Mauney is still putting up the points, and riding like the future World Champ he is.

Moraes Wins in New Mexico

We now have one fewer event til the World Finals in Vegas in October and November. And Adriano Moraes is getting back in the grove with a stellar win this weekend. Our current world number one and two also put up some great rides. But be looking for JB to be putting on a brace on his one knee as he is being plauged by an older injury that is giving him some trouble. No surgery needed, but he's a bit sore. Let's keep the season rolling on. This weekend was also monumental in the return of one of the fan favorites, LJ Jenkins. Jenkins was out with a shoulder injury, but has returned and is working on getting back up into the tops of the standings.

First Cuts- 2007 Season

The first cuts for the 2007 BFTS season were announced late yesterday. Riders dropped include Marcelo Cruz (Brazil), Jody Newberry (Ada, OK), Corey Navarre (Weatherford, OK), Dusty LaBeth (Louisburg, KS), Robey Condra (Dayton, TX), Shane Proctor (Grand Coulee, WA), and Cory Melton (Keithville, LA). Returning to the BFTS will be Ross Johnson (Alvord, TX), and newer riders Harve Stewart (Stephenville, TX) (rookie), Tyler Smith (Fruita, CO) (rookie), Michael Riggs (Claxton, GA), and Matt Werries (Jacksonville, IL). While it will be nice to see new riders and learn more about the riders that are at the top of the challenger tour, I am going to miss the guys who were cut. We just got Dusty back from his injury last season, and to lose him again so quickly as a result of his not being quite back at the top of his game is painful. What is even more shocking is seeing guys like Navarre and Newberry being dropped to the lower tour. They have been two of the most consistent men in the race for the championship. Last season, Navarre finished out in 26th, and Newberry was 11th. That is a really steep drop in position for these two men. Marcelo Cruz also finished very well last season, coming in in 27th, ridding over 47% of his bulls.

Several riders were exempt from this cut as a result of missed events due to injury. You can check out the PBR's home page for more details on that. Also, some riders may still be eligible to ride because of their alternate positions, and they will take the place of guys who are out on injury and unable to perform. We'll just have to wait and see the next set of draws to see who, if any, of the cut riders are still on.