JB Mauney Wins in Winston-Salem NC

The title for the Copenhagen Bull Riding Invitational went to North Carolina's shining star JB Mauney. He beat out 2 time World Champion Chris Shivers by a mere quarter of a point to claim the title, his second of the season. He's proving just how world champion title hungry he is, having ridden over 80% of his bulls so far. Mauney covered the unridden Deja Blu in the short go for 91.00, a tie score with Shivers who chose California Dreaming. Be sure to tune in in 2 weeks to see Mauney take on the unridden 2008 Bull of the Year Bones. Frankly I think my money is on Bones, but we will see. Mauney is riding just about everything. But Bones is one of those stupendous bulls that feels for what his rider is doing, and twists out of it. So where this one will go is anyones bet.

Third place in the event went to Austin Meier...back just another half a point. He selected High Lonesome, a rarely ridden bull, and put up a score of 89.75. Combined with his other rides it put him just a bit ahead of Wiley Peterson. Peterson took on Scene of the Crash (yeah so called that one) for an 89.00 and a tie with Ryan McConnel who chose to attempt Nervous Waters (also called it). McConnel ended up finishing the weekend out a quarter point behind Peterson in sixth.

To me however the highlight of the weekend wasn't the match between Marchi and Bones (Bones won), or JB Mauney winning another title, he's a good rider, he should top 5 every weekend. It was young 19 year old Skeeter Kingsolver's 90.50 on his first bull Big Iron. Big Iron gets ridden pretty frequently compared to a lot of bulls. But they DO NOT put up 90+ point rides on him. EVER. This is his third year on the BFTS and the first 90+ point ride they have put up on him. This kid can ride! He was spurring and looked like he'd been on the BFT for years, not up on his first bull there. Kingsolver is one guy who I'd say is going to stick around for a good while. He's certainly got the style for it.

Dickies American Worker of the Year Event

This last weekends event found Mike Lee sitting in the top spot and the only man to ride all three of his bulls. His pick for the championship round was Mr. Zantrex (D&H Cattle Company), who he successfully covered for 89.75, adding on to his two previous scores of 87.50 in round two on Handsome Jack (Herbert Bucking Bulls), and his round one of 85.50 on Hillstreet (Boyd/Floyd Bull Company).

Following him was Brendon Clark who had the high marked ride of the weekend (92.00) on Gnash. He came into the championship round in 15th position. As the final round for the weekend was a "draw" round where the cowboys, starting with the man leading the event, get to pick which bull they want. As the bottom man on the totem pole Clark got the "leftovers" in Gnash of Rafter 7R Bucking Bulls. He covered him with ease. Putting that score together with his 88.25 from the second go on Rush of Radke Bucking Bulls, he managed to out score the two time World Champion Chris Shivers by .75 points. Shivers covered Cadillac Man (Double R Bucking Bulls) (video) in round two for a 90.00 and Zorro (Lufkin Ranch and Rodeo) in the short go.

Rounding out the top five were Mighty Mike White and Renato Nunes. White covered Wild Life (Boyd/Floyd Bull Company) in round one for a 90.75 and Scary Deal (Diamond S Bucking Bulls) in the second go for 88.25. Nunes made short work of Hellfire (87.25, #10 Bucking Bulls), and Little Bo (88.50, 4C's/Sills/Barker).

My two favorite riders, Kody Lostroh and Cord McCoy both managed to cover one bull a piece. Kody stayed up in the second go round aboard Smokin' Liz of Davis/Wilson/DX3 for 82.00. Kody is still sitting second in the World standings behind Guilherme Marchi who also covered only one bull, Derringer (Lufkin Ranch and Rodeo/ K&K Cattle, video) for 89.00. He then came down off of Spit Fire from C&G Rodeo Livestock, LLC. Cord got his ride out of the way early on in the weekend, covering Clown Attack from Martinez Bucking Bull, LLC for an 87.50 in round one.

But the biggest news of the weekend wasn't Guilherme's lack of rides. Or Lee's win. Or that the people trailing Marchi were unable to really fully capitalize on his lack of riding this weekend (which is exceptionally rare, he's covered over 60% of all his bulls). It was the return of last years World Champion Justin McBride, who has been out all season with surgery on his injured shoulder. He put up some awesome rides to finish seventh for the weekend, covering Fish Creek Bandit (Diamond K Bucking Bulls), and Jefe (Boyd/Floyd/Teague Bucking Bulls) for a combined score of 174.50.

IN other news...the PBR Enterprise tour has an event in Syracuse NY in August on the 9th and 10th. I'll be going the 10th. Get tickets now. It's being held at the State Fair grounds. Mike Lee is the feature rider the 9th, and one of my fav's Kody Lostroh is the feature guy for the 10th. Hope to see everyone there.

It's Here...

It's here, it's here....IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!

The Albany Invitational that is!

I am so excited I can't even handle doing a real post right now!

I will let everybody know how this goes, as I am going to both nights. I simply can't wait!

The Worcester Classic Was One for the Record Books

To say that this event had a lot of good rides would be an understatement in the extreme. 90.00+ rides topped all but the very first round. And I am even starting to enjoy the cowboys getting to pick their bulls for the second and short go rounds for the three day events. Some of them, such as Davey Dyke are really making for exciting rides. He picked the same bull in the second go round as bucked him off and hung him up in New York City, Big Iron, this time covering him for an even 85.00.

Another cowboy in the same round, Colby Yates, had an equally wonderful go with Cat Man Do. He took tops in the go round with a 90.50 and looked real good doing it. Colby later covered Tiger in the third round, but California Dreaming got the better of him in the short go.

Four guys covered all four of their draws, one of them being the new daddy Ross Coleman. He mostly put up rides in the low to mid 80's for the majority of the weekend. But managed to score a 90.50 on Nervous Waters in the championship round to get him a fourth place finish.

Third place went to the Colorado man Kody Lostroh. He put up not one but two 90+ point rides this weekend. The first a 90.75 on Texas in round three, and the second a 90.50 on Live Wire. Kody is now sitting in fifth in the overall BFTS standings.

Guilherme Marchi racked up a second place out in Massachusetts. His one 90.50 ride came in the championship round versus Outsider. His other three rides were in the high 80's though, which gave him a few points advantage over Coleman and Lostroh. (He's also sitting 60.75 points back in second place in the overall standings).

The number one man for the weekend was Travis Briscoe. And for anyone who missed this ride (and one other I will talk about later) I am truly sorry! It was amazing. He couldn't have looked any better aboard Copperhead Slinger. Putting up a 95.00, he is now sitting in first place in the overall BFTS standings, and has the highest marked ride not just for the current season, but for the last several years. I was so glad I stayed up to watch it, as I really enjoy seeing those types of rides. And honestly, the fact that he picked that bull intentionally made it just that much better! While that ride was stellar both in appearance and score, there was one other that made me much much more enthusiastically happy.

And that ride was put up on Big Bucks, who has been ridden just two out of 49 trips. He's a former bull of the year and for good reason. His first, and until this past weekend only ride, was two time World Champion Justin McBride (who is currently out with the surgery for that shoulder injury last summer) for a 93.00 in Columbus of 2006. This weekend Big Bucks was the next to last bull to be selected. AND none other than my favorite cowboy in the whole world Cord McCoy decided to take a chance on him. AND it was amazing. Cord put up a 92.25 on him, and in my personal opinion he deserved at least another point or so. But still, it bounced him up into 20th in the world, which is just fabulous!!

All in all the weekend was amazing. For this coming weekend the cowboys are facing off with the bulls of the west coast in California. Good luck to all the riders! Then the next weekend they are back here in the Northeast, actually in Albany, and yes, I do have tickets, and I am SO excited!

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.

Ford Country Classic

Last night, May 19th, was the first Built Ford Tough Series event for the cowboys of the PBR in two long weeks. The single night event down in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome, was packed with awesome rides. In all, 22 of the top 45 riders in the world covered one bull, with three of the 22 mastering both of their draws for the weekend. First place was taken by young Colorado cowboy Tyler Smith, with a combined two bull total of 176.75. Smith made it to the whistle on Mud Flap (Bonsall Bucking Bulls)in the first go round, making it back to the championship round with a 86.75, sitting in 13th. He then came back to put up the only 90.00 point score of the weekend, aboard Chumley Cattle Company's Re-Vamp. Following Smith in the weekend's standings was Texas's own Mike Lee, the 2004 World Champion, with a two bull total of 176.5 Lee posted a 87.25 aboard Prime Time from Davis/Wilson in the long go, and came back to ride my favorite bull in the PBR, McCoy Ranches Bells Blue with a score of 89.25. That is the first successful ride they have put on Blue since the World Finals last year when Cody Whitney topped him for 92.00. With a combined score of 174.75, which was good enough for third, was Georgia cowboy Sean Willingham. Willingham had a successful trip aboard the Mossy Oak Mudslinger son Lil' Slinger from Page & Teague Bucking Bulls. He came back to top another Page & Teague bull, Sunshine, in the short go for a third place finish in the round. Rounding out the top five were Brazil's Ednei Caminhas and Guilherme Marchi. The next event will be the Jack Daniels Invitational down in Nashville, Tenn. on June 16th and 17th.

The New Orleans Classics is in the Books

When all was said and done in New Orleans Sunday night, Justin McBride sat in first, with young JB Mauney just a few points behind. It gave McBride his third win for the season, and continued his and Mauney's battle for the lead. There is just less than 300 points seperating these two men, and despite how early it is in the season, this has already been an exciting race. Cord McCoy finished out the weekend in 8th after that first go round win. Two weekends of high finishes has pushed him up from the low thirties to 27th in points standings and 24th for money earned. Two of his family's bulls, Warlock, and the short go and very impressive bull Bells Blue, were also present. Silvanei Dias put up a 83.5 on Warlock, while Blue sent Wiley Peterson into the dirt before the eight later Sunday night. I personally think that if Blue can keep up the way he has been recently, he is going to have an honest shot at being a contender for the bull of the year title before too much more time goes by. He put McBride in the dirt back at the World Finals, so we know this animal can really perform. Our cowboys are going to head a bit north this coming weekend, when they will all head on up to Kansas City, MO for the Cabela's Classic. Here's to another good weekend for all of our favorites.

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.