PBR Nashville - Round 1
PBR in Nashville!!
Didn't decide to cover this till a couple rides in, so here's the quick recap of the start - Travis Briscoe bucked off, LJ Jenkins bucked off Scene of the Crash, Brendon Clark is back to competition, although he's apparently been having a hard time focusing when riding practice bulls (not surprising when coming off 4 months off after life-threatening injuries). Justin McKee and Justin McBride are the only booth commentators, with Leah doing interviews as usual - Craig Hummer must be elsewhere.
Heh. Justin's saying how singing at the Grand Old Opry last night was one of the scariest things he's ever done - this from a man who just retired from riding 2000-lb bulls for a living.
Ryan Dirteater gets the first ride of the night! Apparently his first ride since returning from his broken femur. Great ride - bull got some serious air time initially. Score must not be great - nope, 83.75. Heard the crowd booing.
Caleb Sanderson's up now. Wow - thought he was gone, but he got his balance recovered in time. Not great scores at all - 77.50. Bull didn't spin very much and Caleb didn't have very good form, either.
Haha. Ryan's dad told him in the locker room that he needs to get something done - his quiver's getting full! (Referencing, of course, Ryan's victory dance of shooting "arrows" at Flint when he rides.
Clayton Baethge - he who barely got to be here - looks to be heading for DQ for having his spur stuck in his rope. Dude, this is like the third time he's done that! And apparently the fines for it get bigger each time. Too bad for him - he's only even at this event because Reese Cates is hurt and Michael Manes' wife is too close to having their baby.
Irk. Brendon's up. Makes me nervous. They keep showing his wreck - the bull slamming both back hooves down onto his chest and stomach. Broken ribs, internal injuries, not at all good. And he's off in just over 5. Definitely looks hesitant to me - came off on his feet. Which is fairly typical for coming off a major injury, but ... he's also 42nd in money, so he needs to start riding and winning money, quickly.
Cody Campbell, off in 6.8. JW's joined McKee and Justin in the booth.
Rocky McDonald's up. he's also on the borderline - 36th in money right now. It's definitely time to start worrying about Vegas. shit, Rocky's hung up bad. They got him loose, and he stayed on his feet while he was hung up, but that was alarming. Naturally, given that Rocky's the Mexican team captain, they talked to JW about the World Cup a bit.
Cord's coming up!
Ah, I was wondering when they'd talk about him. Update on Matt Bohon, and of course a replay of the wreck. And he's there at the event! Says he's still feeling the effects of his concussion.
Cord!! GO CORD!!!!!! YAY!!!!! 86.25! I think that may only be the second ride so far, and it bumps him to first!! Awesome!!
McKennon Wimberley's up and off quickly.
Back to Matt - he'll be back at Reno in mid-September. He's going to add a helmet, understandably.
Ednei Caminhas rides and gets chased a bit by the bull at the end. 85.75. Justin and JW are cracking jokes at each other and at Ross Coleman (not entirely fairly given that he's not there to defend himself!)
Ty and Jewel are there, being shown in the stands.
JW's World Cup team - JB, Brian Canter, Zack Brown, Austin Meier, Ryan McConnell, and Ryan Dirteater as the alternate. Kody opted not to compete, wanting to save his battered elbow and focus on the championship. JW says while he understands Kody's decision, it's not the one he'd've made in his shoes.
Bah, they're skipping people - Dusty Ephrom rode and didn't get shown. Ah well, as long as they showed Cord, I'm happy. (My other favorites are all major players that they'd never skip.)
Wow, Mike Lee is apparently barely holding on to the top 30. That's gotta be rough for a past champion. Doesn't ride tonight, either - tried, but lost his rope.
Elliott Jacoby went off in 2.3. Ouch - he's 0 for 14 on the BFTS. Bull got a little shot at Frank Newsom - not much, but enough to knock Frank back a couple steps.
Baethge had both spurs in his rope when he left the shoot. Good going, dude.
Shane Proctor got off to a good start, but went off in around 6.
Billy Robinson's up. And basically leapt off in 1.3. What the hell? Commentators thought maybe he hadn't actually called for the bull, but apparently he did and it's actually a buckoff - just a very fast one.
Josh Koschel's up now. Aww, thought he had it, but he slapped at 7.2, looks like. Very obvious - it was like his entire arm laid across the bull's neck, so no challenge or anything.
Cody Ford vs Booger Butt - these two combined for a 90 in Tulsa, great-looking ride. Wow, great ride!! Bull chased Frank a bit. Score's an 88.5, so he takes the lead from Cord with room to spare.
Skeeter Kingsolver makes a great ride! Spurring and everything. 86.5, very solid.
Ah, Adriano's roaming around, cool. Sounds like they'll get him into the booth, too.
And speaking of Adriano - his World Cup team is Guilherme, Robson, Valdiron, Renato (hope he recovers in time from that dislocated shoulder) and newbie Juarez Terra. Watching the one unknown should be interesting - after all, Adriano used an unknown on Brazil's first World Cup team. Said unknown was Valdiron de Oliveira, who is obviously not an unknown any more. Okay, Adriano says Renato will be healthy, and Adriano and JW are now doing a little mild trash-talking. *giggle* JW and Adriano are in agreement that Billy Robinson's rapid buckoff reminds them both of their own rides later in their careers! Heh, Adriano's talking about being glad that Justin is retired and glad that Kody isn't going. Apparently Wiley backed out, too, because his son's birthday is that week and he wants to be home. Austin Meier's returning from an arm injury, so seeing how he does will be interesting.
Bryan Richardson gets bucked off in 2.6 by Blitz - good, fairly new bull.
Luke Snyder's up. And off in 4 even.
Re: WC, apparently there's a judge from every country to keep the scoring even. JW thinks the only big disadvantage for Team USA is not knowing the bulls. Adriano's comparing having the first in neutral territory (Australia), the second in sort-of American territory (Mexico, but the bulls were American), and this one, of course, in Brazil. (JW also comments about the US sending boys to do a man's job the first year, since they didn't get many of the top Americans on the team.) Adriano is pointing out that it won't be as big of an advantage, though, because other than Terra, none of his guys have gotten on many bulls in Brazil in the last few years, since they've been competing in the US. Also pointing out that the Canadians want to prove that they can actually win, since they've done well both years without winning.
Cody Nance, off in 5.1.
Cory Rasch bucks off and gets chased and nearly clobbered by Pistolero.
Hehe, JW and Adriano talking about how the captains all butt heads, while the riders are all buddies. They're in agreement that it's a natural continuation of them occasionally butting heads while they were riding.
Pete Farley bucks off, big suprise. (Pity, cause I kinda like him.)
Kasey Hayes is up. He's bucked off 11 straight, dating back to Worchester. Ouch. And slaps in 1.2. 12 straight.
Aaron Roy's turn - one of the major players on the Canadian team. Hahaha - JW went to Tandy to get his shoulder looked at, and Justin got to Tandy beforehand and got Tandy to be prepping a needle when JW came in - apparently JW's very phobic! (And Justin, very mean!) Aaron went off, but he tried.
Currently, Skeeter's second, Cord's holding onto 3rd, and Dirteater's 5th. Not bad. Although the top guys are still to come, so that'll probably change.
I'm sensing intermission, since they're actually showing Justin and McKee. Wow - apparently JB's also trying to qualify for the NFR, so he's been going to PRCA events during the week and both PBR and PRCA events on the weekends. Damn.
Forgot to mention at the top, when I found out - JB did manage to pass Marchi after San Antonio, by only 30-odd points, so he is now number 2 behind Kody. JB's talking a little about his streaky buckoffs from earlier in the season. ... apparently his goatee is the result of a bet, so he won't cut it till he wins? It was a dare. Also, McKee asked JB if he looks like the dude from Scooby Doo. Justin wants to know what he'll win in the bet - I want to know who he bet. (Brian Canter also appeared to have some form of fur on his chin last week ... I do have to wonder ...)
Leah's tracked down Ty. Looking forward to the World Cup, excited about the championship and how tight the race is.
Wiley's making his usual faces at the camera. He's so goofy. What he said at the shortgo in San Antonio is exactly right - everyone likes him because he's goofy. They're talking to guys about helmets - talking to Chris, Sean, and Ross, who all decided to switch to helmets after injuries, and Mike White, who found when he's tried helmets that they distracted him too much. JW's saying he put his foot down about not wanting helmets mandatory, and that he didn't even like the vests initially - he was one of the last guys to wear a vest. Heh - Justin and Adriano are teasing him that JW has had that many head injuries - he just doesn't remember them cause he didn't have a helmet!
Chris Shivers went up, bucked off, and hung up, but fortunately not for too long and isn't hurt. JW thinks he's starting to get too old for it - he's all of 30. Adriano is pointing out that it's not just physical age - when the guys get families and kids, it makes their priorities start to change.
Austin Meier's up. One of Shorty's matchups - Shorty picks Austin for an 88. Let's see ... nope. Off in 3.7. Bummer, I like Austin.
Sean Willingham rides. Good ride, lousy dismount - landed right on his head, but wasn't hurt.
Brian Canter's up. Damn, off in 3.9. Also, no goatee - either he shaved it off, or I misremembered that he had one in San Antonio, but either way, that reduces the likelihood that JB's bet is with him.
Wiley's turn. Bull stumbles and clock stops at 1.8. Hmm. Looks like he may have slapped before the stumble. Yup, replay shows it, it's fairly clear. Wiley doesn't even bother to challenge it.
Ryan McConnell rides for 87. Great ride - perfect control. Moves him to 3rd. Cord's still hanging on to 5th, and Skeeter's now in 4th.
Robson Palermo's up. And off in 6.3 - I thought he had it. JW's trying to goad Adriano into cutting Robson. (Earlier, Adriano was approving of Kody's decision not to compete, so this is payback!)
Nice - they just had a neat commercial for the World Cup, switching back and forth from riders from all of the countries. Idle question, but I wonder if they filmed it while Brendon was still too hurt to be available, because they used Pete Farley (I think) as the Australian rep.
Zack Brown rode for 87.75! Very good ride, just took 2nd in the round.
Shorty's got a pick for Valdiron vs Alligator Chomp. Picks Valdiron for 87 points. And Shorty's at least right about the ride! Very pretty. And for the score ... holy crap, 87.25. Only missed by a quarter point! That's got Valdiron tied for 3rd. Heh - according to Adriano, Valdiron's a joker - makes them laugh all day long.
Guilherme's up on Money Maker, who's unridden in both his BFTS outs. And Money Maker and Marchi both break their buckoff streaks - nice ride, 85.25 points. He's 9th in the round.
JB's turn! C'mon ... damn! Off in about 7. Shit - JW says JB got stepped on a couple days ago and thinks his collarbone may be broken. That would NOT be good, either for the championship or for the World Cup. He was definitely holding his arm stiffly. JW is concerned - he says JB is who he's got lined up to get on two bulls in one night at the World Cup, if he has two guys get hurt while they're down there. Adriano thinks he's getting on too many bulls, but JW points out that it's what works for JB and it's hard to argue with the guy who's sitting in 2nd in the world.
And now, on to Kody! Who's bull is fairly fractious. But he's out, and spurring, and ... nice! Got off balance towards the end, but hung on and got the score. not a great score - 81, cause the bull tried to change directions and ended up going more straight, and Kody got off-balance, but it's still a score. *snicker* Kody says JW won't leave him alone about the World Cup and that someone should tape his mouth shut. (And Adriano raised his hand to volunteer when Kody made the comment!)
Cord's in 7th, Skeeter 6th, Dirteater 10th, and Kody 12th. Much concern about JB's current state of health. And now, we are done - given the bull power, tomorrow should be awesome!
Didn't decide to cover this till a couple rides in, so here's the quick recap of the start - Travis Briscoe bucked off, LJ Jenkins bucked off Scene of the Crash, Brendon Clark is back to competition, although he's apparently been having a hard time focusing when riding practice bulls (not surprising when coming off 4 months off after life-threatening injuries). Justin McKee and Justin McBride are the only booth commentators, with Leah doing interviews as usual - Craig Hummer must be elsewhere.
Heh. Justin's saying how singing at the Grand Old Opry last night was one of the scariest things he's ever done - this from a man who just retired from riding 2000-lb bulls for a living.
Ryan Dirteater gets the first ride of the night! Apparently his first ride since returning from his broken femur. Great ride - bull got some serious air time initially. Score must not be great - nope, 83.75. Heard the crowd booing.
Caleb Sanderson's up now. Wow - thought he was gone, but he got his balance recovered in time. Not great scores at all - 77.50. Bull didn't spin very much and Caleb didn't have very good form, either.
Haha. Ryan's dad told him in the locker room that he needs to get something done - his quiver's getting full! (Referencing, of course, Ryan's victory dance of shooting "arrows" at Flint when he rides.
Clayton Baethge - he who barely got to be here - looks to be heading for DQ for having his spur stuck in his rope. Dude, this is like the third time he's done that! And apparently the fines for it get bigger each time. Too bad for him - he's only even at this event because Reese Cates is hurt and Michael Manes' wife is too close to having their baby.
Irk. Brendon's up. Makes me nervous. They keep showing his wreck - the bull slamming both back hooves down onto his chest and stomach. Broken ribs, internal injuries, not at all good. And he's off in just over 5. Definitely looks hesitant to me - came off on his feet. Which is fairly typical for coming off a major injury, but ... he's also 42nd in money, so he needs to start riding and winning money, quickly.
Cody Campbell, off in 6.8. JW's joined McKee and Justin in the booth.
Rocky McDonald's up. he's also on the borderline - 36th in money right now. It's definitely time to start worrying about Vegas. shit, Rocky's hung up bad. They got him loose, and he stayed on his feet while he was hung up, but that was alarming. Naturally, given that Rocky's the Mexican team captain, they talked to JW about the World Cup a bit.
Cord's coming up!
Ah, I was wondering when they'd talk about him. Update on Matt Bohon, and of course a replay of the wreck. And he's there at the event! Says he's still feeling the effects of his concussion.
Cord!! GO CORD!!!!!! YAY!!!!! 86.25! I think that may only be the second ride so far, and it bumps him to first!! Awesome!!
McKennon Wimberley's up and off quickly.
Back to Matt - he'll be back at Reno in mid-September. He's going to add a helmet, understandably.
Ednei Caminhas rides and gets chased a bit by the bull at the end. 85.75. Justin and JW are cracking jokes at each other and at Ross Coleman (not entirely fairly given that he's not there to defend himself!)
Ty and Jewel are there, being shown in the stands.
JW's World Cup team - JB, Brian Canter, Zack Brown, Austin Meier, Ryan McConnell, and Ryan Dirteater as the alternate. Kody opted not to compete, wanting to save his battered elbow and focus on the championship. JW says while he understands Kody's decision, it's not the one he'd've made in his shoes.
Bah, they're skipping people - Dusty Ephrom rode and didn't get shown. Ah well, as long as they showed Cord, I'm happy. (My other favorites are all major players that they'd never skip.)
Wow, Mike Lee is apparently barely holding on to the top 30. That's gotta be rough for a past champion. Doesn't ride tonight, either - tried, but lost his rope.
Elliott Jacoby went off in 2.3. Ouch - he's 0 for 14 on the BFTS. Bull got a little shot at Frank Newsom - not much, but enough to knock Frank back a couple steps.
Baethge had both spurs in his rope when he left the shoot. Good going, dude.
Shane Proctor got off to a good start, but went off in around 6.
Billy Robinson's up. And basically leapt off in 1.3. What the hell? Commentators thought maybe he hadn't actually called for the bull, but apparently he did and it's actually a buckoff - just a very fast one.
Josh Koschel's up now. Aww, thought he had it, but he slapped at 7.2, looks like. Very obvious - it was like his entire arm laid across the bull's neck, so no challenge or anything.
Cody Ford vs Booger Butt - these two combined for a 90 in Tulsa, great-looking ride. Wow, great ride!! Bull chased Frank a bit. Score's an 88.5, so he takes the lead from Cord with room to spare.
Skeeter Kingsolver makes a great ride! Spurring and everything. 86.5, very solid.
Ah, Adriano's roaming around, cool. Sounds like they'll get him into the booth, too.
And speaking of Adriano - his World Cup team is Guilherme, Robson, Valdiron, Renato (hope he recovers in time from that dislocated shoulder) and newbie Juarez Terra. Watching the one unknown should be interesting - after all, Adriano used an unknown on Brazil's first World Cup team. Said unknown was Valdiron de Oliveira, who is obviously not an unknown any more. Okay, Adriano says Renato will be healthy, and Adriano and JW are now doing a little mild trash-talking. *giggle* JW and Adriano are in agreement that Billy Robinson's rapid buckoff reminds them both of their own rides later in their careers! Heh, Adriano's talking about being glad that Justin is retired and glad that Kody isn't going. Apparently Wiley backed out, too, because his son's birthday is that week and he wants to be home. Austin Meier's returning from an arm injury, so seeing how he does will be interesting.
Bryan Richardson gets bucked off in 2.6 by Blitz - good, fairly new bull.
Luke Snyder's up. And off in 4 even.
Re: WC, apparently there's a judge from every country to keep the scoring even. JW thinks the only big disadvantage for Team USA is not knowing the bulls. Adriano's comparing having the first in neutral territory (Australia), the second in sort-of American territory (Mexico, but the bulls were American), and this one, of course, in Brazil. (JW also comments about the US sending boys to do a man's job the first year, since they didn't get many of the top Americans on the team.) Adriano is pointing out that it won't be as big of an advantage, though, because other than Terra, none of his guys have gotten on many bulls in Brazil in the last few years, since they've been competing in the US. Also pointing out that the Canadians want to prove that they can actually win, since they've done well both years without winning.
Cody Nance, off in 5.1.
Cory Rasch bucks off and gets chased and nearly clobbered by Pistolero.
Hehe, JW and Adriano talking about how the captains all butt heads, while the riders are all buddies. They're in agreement that it's a natural continuation of them occasionally butting heads while they were riding.
Pete Farley bucks off, big suprise. (Pity, cause I kinda like him.)
Kasey Hayes is up. He's bucked off 11 straight, dating back to Worchester. Ouch. And slaps in 1.2. 12 straight.
Aaron Roy's turn - one of the major players on the Canadian team. Hahaha - JW went to Tandy to get his shoulder looked at, and Justin got to Tandy beforehand and got Tandy to be prepping a needle when JW came in - apparently JW's very phobic! (And Justin, very mean!) Aaron went off, but he tried.
Currently, Skeeter's second, Cord's holding onto 3rd, and Dirteater's 5th. Not bad. Although the top guys are still to come, so that'll probably change.
I'm sensing intermission, since they're actually showing Justin and McKee. Wow - apparently JB's also trying to qualify for the NFR, so he's been going to PRCA events during the week and both PBR and PRCA events on the weekends. Damn.
Forgot to mention at the top, when I found out - JB did manage to pass Marchi after San Antonio, by only 30-odd points, so he is now number 2 behind Kody. JB's talking a little about his streaky buckoffs from earlier in the season. ... apparently his goatee is the result of a bet, so he won't cut it till he wins? It was a dare. Also, McKee asked JB if he looks like the dude from Scooby Doo. Justin wants to know what he'll win in the bet - I want to know who he bet. (Brian Canter also appeared to have some form of fur on his chin last week ... I do have to wonder ...)
Leah's tracked down Ty. Looking forward to the World Cup, excited about the championship and how tight the race is.
Wiley's making his usual faces at the camera. He's so goofy. What he said at the shortgo in San Antonio is exactly right - everyone likes him because he's goofy. They're talking to guys about helmets - talking to Chris, Sean, and Ross, who all decided to switch to helmets after injuries, and Mike White, who found when he's tried helmets that they distracted him too much. JW's saying he put his foot down about not wanting helmets mandatory, and that he didn't even like the vests initially - he was one of the last guys to wear a vest. Heh - Justin and Adriano are teasing him that JW has had that many head injuries - he just doesn't remember them cause he didn't have a helmet!
Chris Shivers went up, bucked off, and hung up, but fortunately not for too long and isn't hurt. JW thinks he's starting to get too old for it - he's all of 30. Adriano is pointing out that it's not just physical age - when the guys get families and kids, it makes their priorities start to change.
Austin Meier's up. One of Shorty's matchups - Shorty picks Austin for an 88. Let's see ... nope. Off in 3.7. Bummer, I like Austin.
Sean Willingham rides. Good ride, lousy dismount - landed right on his head, but wasn't hurt.
Brian Canter's up. Damn, off in 3.9. Also, no goatee - either he shaved it off, or I misremembered that he had one in San Antonio, but either way, that reduces the likelihood that JB's bet is with him.
Wiley's turn. Bull stumbles and clock stops at 1.8. Hmm. Looks like he may have slapped before the stumble. Yup, replay shows it, it's fairly clear. Wiley doesn't even bother to challenge it.
Ryan McConnell rides for 87. Great ride - perfect control. Moves him to 3rd. Cord's still hanging on to 5th, and Skeeter's now in 4th.
Robson Palermo's up. And off in 6.3 - I thought he had it. JW's trying to goad Adriano into cutting Robson. (Earlier, Adriano was approving of Kody's decision not to compete, so this is payback!)
Nice - they just had a neat commercial for the World Cup, switching back and forth from riders from all of the countries. Idle question, but I wonder if they filmed it while Brendon was still too hurt to be available, because they used Pete Farley (I think) as the Australian rep.
Zack Brown rode for 87.75! Very good ride, just took 2nd in the round.
Shorty's got a pick for Valdiron vs Alligator Chomp. Picks Valdiron for 87 points. And Shorty's at least right about the ride! Very pretty. And for the score ... holy crap, 87.25. Only missed by a quarter point! That's got Valdiron tied for 3rd. Heh - according to Adriano, Valdiron's a joker - makes them laugh all day long.
Guilherme's up on Money Maker, who's unridden in both his BFTS outs. And Money Maker and Marchi both break their buckoff streaks - nice ride, 85.25 points. He's 9th in the round.
JB's turn! C'mon ... damn! Off in about 7. Shit - JW says JB got stepped on a couple days ago and thinks his collarbone may be broken. That would NOT be good, either for the championship or for the World Cup. He was definitely holding his arm stiffly. JW is concerned - he says JB is who he's got lined up to get on two bulls in one night at the World Cup, if he has two guys get hurt while they're down there. Adriano thinks he's getting on too many bulls, but JW points out that it's what works for JB and it's hard to argue with the guy who's sitting in 2nd in the world.
And now, on to Kody! Who's bull is fairly fractious. But he's out, and spurring, and ... nice! Got off balance towards the end, but hung on and got the score. not a great score - 81, cause the bull tried to change directions and ended up going more straight, and Kody got off-balance, but it's still a score. *snicker* Kody says JW won't leave him alone about the World Cup and that someone should tape his mouth shut. (And Adriano raised his hand to volunteer when Kody made the comment!)
Cord's in 7th, Skeeter 6th, Dirteater 10th, and Kody 12th. Much concern about JB's current state of health. And now, we are done - given the bull power, tomorrow should be awesome!