PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience III

(I will be doing a seven part series of the seven days in Las Vegas for the PBR finals. Each day in Vegas will be posted for the next seven consecutive days)

The sun rises early in Vegas, especially if you are staying up late and getting up early. Today was the busiest day of any of the days in Vegas. We made our way over to the TeamPBR rider meet and greet at Treasure Island. The meet and greet was only for TeamPBR members. If you have the "toughest" membership, you got to get in a little early. Since we were near the front of the line, I asked Tammie what her "strategy" was for getting her signatures. The main strategy was Kody Lostroh. At a previous auction, Tammie had won an Enterprise shirt that had been donated (and worn) by Kody. She wore the shirt and wanted a picture with Kody and his Enterprise shirt. Since Enterprise will not be a sponsor next year, this was going to be her last shot at getting the picture of both of them wearing the Enterprise shirt.

During the the meet and greet, Tammie was handing out pink ribbons that she had made for the riders to wear for Breast Cancer Awareness. Deana Kinkade and Tammie got together and decided that it would be great if the riders and fans, on the first night of the finals wore pink shirts and pink ribbons. It was "are you tough enough to wear pink" night. This was announced on Twitter, Facebook and Keith Cartwright (the writer for the PBR) put it in an article announcing it on the PBR website. Thanks to all the riders and fans who participated and thanks to the PBR for promoting it.

We made our way around to the different riders and had different conversations with each. There were a number of riders that wanted Tammie to get them copies of her pictures to them. Some were actually taking pictures of the pictures. She did not have a picture of Wesley Lourenco. So she put together a PBR finals logo and his name. He was so excited to sign it and wanted to know how he could get a copy. We brought Valdiron over to interpret. Imagine having Valdiron, with his broken English, interpreting. It was a sight to behold. We were nearly finished, and went up to Flint. He asked were Tammie got the program. She said she made it herself. Flint was impressed, and then said, "I have come to a conclusion about you two. Both of you have way too much time on your hands". Of course he meant that in a respectful way. lol

It was time to head out and grab a quick lunch and make our way over to the Fan Zone at the Hard Rock Hotel. Flint's daily show started at 1:00 pm and we didn't want to miss it. Last year, the weather was pretty hot. This year, out of the seven days in Vegas, the weather was cool, cloudy and rainy. We got to the fan zone and found a seat, for the beginning of the show. We had an umbrella and had to open it as sprinkles came down. When Flint opened his show, he said "for all of those that complained about the sun last year, well here you go. I brought the clouds in just for you". On Flint's show was Aaron Roy, Beau Hill and McKennon Wimberly. The one hour "Tonight Show" format is great and Beau Hill was especially funny. Tammie didn't know that the camera was live, as they were filming for the people that were watching live on the internet. She stepped in front of the camera, to take a picture, and promptly received several texts that she was on TV. Near the end, Flint opened up the microphone for people that wanted to ask questions. Then he said "don't hide behind the comment section like some do, right webpbr" (which is my sign on when I comment on the PBR comment section). I knew he was going to do that, because we talked the night before about the comment section and saying something at his show. He then said both of you are great fans. Again, Flint and I have a great time laughing about what is said on the comment section. I didn't have a question today, but did a few days later (that will be covered in a later blog).

The day was getting late and after a quick walk through the fan zone, we had to get back to the hotel to do a quick change and head to the arena for the first night of bull riding. We got to the arena about 1 1/2 hours before the event started. This time was used to find our seats, talk to other PBR fans and friends, look at what there is to buy in PBR paraphernalia and get something to eat. I have to state this at the risk of getting some mad, but the worst smelling food ever invented is garlic fries. You can walk on the concourse and smell it and the intense smell gets into your nostrils and it's just nauseating. It was finally time to make it to our seats and watch the beginning of the "toughest show on Earth".

The arena was covered with a Kabuki. A Kabuki is a large sheet that covers a stage or area and then drops when it is time to reveal what's behind the curtain. From what I was told, the Kabuki that was used each night was the largest Kabuki drop ever used. The Kabuki was dropped and the riders were standing on four platforms. Each platform was placed in each corner, facing the crowd. After each rider was introduced, the top four riders were then introduced separately. Fireworks were going off, fog was everywhere, spotlights, explosions, loud music and excited rider introductions. Yes, this is the P - B - R !!!

From the first rider out of the chutes to the last, there were rides, wrecks, scores, buck offs, and re-rides. Triumphs and disappointments. Some of the best rides were - Dustin Elliott scoring the highest score of the night, an 89.25 on Hee Bee Gee Bee. Renato Nunes getting an 89.00 on Pit Boss (yes, the old Renato was back!). Douglas Duncan 88.50 on Copp Hou, Beau Hill 88.75 on Flirting With Disaster, Pete Farley 88.25 on Wish This and Ryan McConnel 88.25 on White Velvet.

Some of the scariest wrecks were Travis Sellers on Best Ever, Skeeter Kingsolver on Pistolero, and JB Mauney on Train Wreck. Some riders that you were glad to see them get one to start the event: Guilherme Marchi, Austin Meier, Ross Coleman, Mike Lee, Brendon Clark. Riders that were close but not close enough to getting the 8: Kody Lostroh, Shane Proctor, Skeeter Kingsolver, Cody Campbell. All were 7.3 or higher, with Kody coming down at 7.9. Oh, and I almost forgot, the best bull in the first round was by far Bushwacker. Every time he bucks, the only thing you can say is WOW!!! Harve Stewart only lasted 2.6 seconds before hitting the dirt.

The event went by quickly and then it was over for the first night. Last year, we went to the press conferences after the event and enjoyed it. We decided to go to the press conference again, with one of our favorites, Dustin Elliott winning the round. During the press conference several interesting things came about. A reporter asked Dustin about the draft. Even with Dustin having the first pick, he said he was not a fan of the draft. He said "it's good for the guys at the top and it sucks for the guys at the bottom". He went on to say that even if you are a good rider and through no fault of your own, you buck off or just have a bad night, then you are stuck at the bottom of the draft. Also, there were several questions about Dustin making the PBR finals and the NFR finals. He said that it has been hard on him and his family and he has not had much time at home. That he wanted to earn a trip to both, because that is something that him and his father talked about just days before his father had his wreck and passed away. He also said he would not do it again. It was great to see Dustin smiling again.

We left the arena and headed to the draft, which was at Gilley's in Treasure Island. As we were making our way out of the arena, we noticed Skeeter looked like he was looking for a ride. We offered to drive him, since we were heading that way. In the 15 minute ride over there, we talked about his currect injury, other injuries, family and Ryan Dirteater (his friend that will be back on tour in January). We dropped Skeeter off and parked the car. As we were making our way to Gilley's, we walked with JB Mauney and I asked him about his wreck and how he was feeling. He was limping but said he was ok. His comment was "the bull squished me a little". The draft was supposed to start at 10:00pm, but didn't start until almost an hour later. Also, Dustin Elliott was to have the first pick, but was not even there, because with the late start, he had to go over to the buckle presentation for the round winner. Before the draft started, Matt West (a new PBR announcer) had Kody Lostroh, Brendon Clark and Shane Proctor on the stage and was doing sort of a little interview fun time with the three. They talked about how Shane dresses, Brendon's pink shirt, tattoos, including 2 that Kody has and riding the mechanical bull at Gilley's. It was great impromptu comedy.

The draft started and one by one the riders came up and picked their bulls. This was the rank pen. Dustin called in his pick and it was Top Notch. Renato had the second pick and he went with, who else, Chicken On A Chain. Other great match ups: Kody Lostroh on VooDoo Child, JB Mauney on Bones, Valdiron de Oliveira on Spit Fire, Mike Lee on Big Tex, Guilherme Marchi on Highway 12, Ned Cross on Black Pearl and so on and so on. The list of bulls was amazing and this is what makes the PBR the best. The best bulls against the best riders.

By the time the draft finished it was already close to midnight. It was a long day and time to get to the hotel and relax. Through traffic on Las Vegas Blvd., it was now about 12:30 am. Tammie downloaded pictures from her camera to her computer and I went downstairs for a little table game playing. Since luck was not with me on this trip, I actually made my way back up to the room before Tammie turned out the lights, which this night I think was about 2:00 am.