PBR San Antonio - Event Review, Part I

We had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite cities, San Antonio, and see some cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys and the PBR cowboys. On Friday we went to the Dallas Cowboys training camp and watched them, along with about 15,000 other fans. The practice was fun to watch, but the prized rookie wide receiver, Dez Bryant was hurt on the second to last play. He ended up with a high ankle sprain, which may keep him out of the rest of training camp. The other interesting thing that happened was four PBR riders were introduced at the Alamodome, by Brad Sham, the Dallas Cowboys radio announcer. The riders were Ryan McConnel, Harve Stewart, Sean Willingham and Chris Shivers. On this trip we took our two adult children, Cody and Tiffany. This was Tiffany's second BFTS event and Cody's first. We made our way to the Riverwalk, along with cdtucker1 (her PBR comment sign on name) and ate dinner at our favorite restaurant, Casa Rio. Casa Rio was the first restaurant established on the Riverwalk, back in 1946. They have great mexican food and the prices are very reasonable, especially considering you are eating on the Riverwalk.

On Saturday, Tammie and I, along with our son Cody, made our way to the different signings. First was Ryan McConnel, and we spent some time getting to talk to Ryan. We've had the opportunity to talk to Ryan on numerous occasions and he is just so easy to carry on a conversation with. Also, got the chance to meet Adriano Moraes again. He was funny and engaging and really enjoyed Tammie's book that she put together of her pictures. A few minutes later, several other riders walked in and talked to them just a few minutes, because Tammie has to drag us to other signings. Went to see Harve Stewart, which in my opinion, has had a really break out year, despite the broken jaw he suffered earlier this year. Also meet up with txbsa35 and her mom (super nice lady) and a few others. Then over to Shepplers to see Cody Campbell, Luke Snyder, Rocky McDonald and Jody Newberry. I talked to Amanda Newberry for some time. She is not only a pretty woman, but even more so when it comes to her heart and love for Jody, her kids and God. Her face lights up when any of those conversations are talked about. Then off to our last stop, Pro Bass Shop for a number of riders. There were others signing, but due to time, you just couldn't get to all of them. Got the autographs, and we were starving, so a late lunch at a restaurant in Pro Bass.

Back to the hotel, change, pick up Tiffany and head to the arena. We went around some on the concourse, and Tiffany had bought a purse that she wanted the riders to sign. We meet up with some PBR friends and went to the TeamPBR fan zone, more signings and up to our seats. We wanted to catch the opening, as this was Cody's first event.

The event was sponsored by the Air Force, which is appropriate, considering San Antonio has numerous Air Force bases. Here's my rant of the day. I read someones blog recently and they complained about the swearing in of recruits for the Air Force and that the PBR was promoting war. In my opinion, this is complete nonsense. Every event we have been to, when the recruits have been brought out, they have received a standing ovation. These fine young men and women are fighting for our freedom and the freedom of others. The PBR is simply acknowledging these recruits for their service and sacrifice. When the flag is unfurled by the service men that are repelling, it is an awesome sight and one that brings cheers, clapping and sense of pride in this country, which as the PBR says, "is the greatest country in the world". Ok, done with the rant and flag waving. :)

What we came for, the bull riding, was about to start. The previous event in Tulsa was somewhat of a disappointment, because of the number of rides in each round. There was a marked improvement in San Antonio. In flight one, there were eight riders and four rides. Brendon Clark 87.25, Jason O'Hearn 86.00, Aaron Roy 85.75, Michael Manes 85.00. In this flight there were two riders that looked like they were going to make the 8, but somehow came up short. Brendon Clark came off at 7.3 and Jordan Hupp 7.7. In flight two, there were eight riders and six rides. Cody Nance 86.75, Harve Stewart 86.25, Sean Willingham 85.75, Dustin Elliott 84.50, Caleb Sanderson 83.50, Luke Snyder 81.75. The biggest surprise of this flight was Silvano Alves getting bucked off of Linebacker, in 2.4 seconds. Silvano rides just about everything and to not only get bucked off, but in such short time, was shocking. This weekend was not going to go his way.

In flight three, there were eight riders and five rides, including the high score of the night. Paulo Lima rode Segs The Juice for an 88.50. The other rides were Kasey Hayes 87.25, LJ Jenkins 86.75, Sevi Torturo 85.25, Wiley Petersen 84.50. In this flight Beau Hill was hammered by his bull Hammered and was off in 1.9 seconds. Starting with flight four, the bulls had their way with the cowboys. Up to this point the tally board was Cowboys 15 and Bulls 9. The bulls were about to start getting revenge. There were seven riders in flight four and only two rides. Ned Cross rode Depths of Despair for 86.50 and Robson Aragao (Spider Man) rode Bad Moon for a 85.25. Ben Jones looked like he was going to get a score, then the clocked stopped at 7.8. He challenged the ride time, and after a long delay, the replay judge said 7.81 seconds. The crowd sighed and the "no time" stood. Chris Shivers also came close, but was off in 7.0.

In flight five, there were seven riders and NO scores. Zip, zero, nada, zilch. Keep in mind we are getting the top riders, the guys that represented the top 12 riders that are currently riding. Mike Lee came off the quickest, at 2.0 on Mellow Yellow and McKennon Wimberly on Space Chimp and Robson Palermo on Marmaduke lasted the longest at 6.2 seconds. Robson was suppose to ride Clinically Insane, but the bull was acting up and his bull was changed. In flight six, the last and final flight of the night, there were five riders and only one ride. Valdiron de Oliveira rode Directory Assistance for 86.25. However, he paid for it. After the ride, he was getting off and trying to get away from the bull. The bull kept coming and stepped on Valdiron's leg. He limped out of the arena, noticeably in pain. Guilherme Marchi, the 2008 World Champion, has been nursing a surgically repaired riding arm and looked uncomfortable on Hank and came off at 2.9 seconds. The number one and two riders, Renato Nunes and Austin Meier could not hang in and both came off in early fashion. The winner of the first night was Paulo Lima, with his score of 88.50.

We made our way to the dirt and Tiffany and Tammie got their autographs and pictures, with myself and Cody in tow. We hung around talking to some of the riders and then we were being shooed out of the arena as one of the stragglers. So, what do you do after the event? Eat at the Riverwalk of course. Tammie, Tiffany and cdtucker1 went shopping and walking the Riverwalk and host hotel and then ate. Cody and I went back to the Riverwalk and ate some great food and back to our hotel, which was on the Riverwalk as well. It was a full day and by the time Tammie and Tiffany got back it was about 1:00 am and since it was going to be another long day, lights out. After some fun conversation and laughing, the room became quiet and one by one, everyone drifted off (except Tiffany who is a night owl).