PBR San Antonio - Event Review, Part II

When we have gone to two day PBR events, the second day seems to be upon you quickly and then the event is over. This is why we prefer the three day events. However, San Antonio, was a two day event and a two day event is a better than no PBR at all. We arose out of bed, early, well .... early in the day but late in the morning. I think everybody was up and around about 11:00 am. We decided that we would eat at the arena because after the event there was a special concert by Seventh Day Slumber and demonstration by Todd Pierce, the pastor for Riding High Ministries.

We made our way to the arena and again went to the TeamPBR signings, concourse signings and got some yummy (I say that with tongue firmly planted in my cheek) arena food. Actually, the food was not bad, but those prices are just outrageous. The cokes were $4 and they take the caps off the tops of the 20 oz. bottles. I asked them why they do this and was told that some people have thrown them at the athletes or in this case, the riders or bulls, so they make them take the tops off.

As we sat in our seats, I was able to talk to Brandon Bates for a few minutes and then Captain Enterprise himself, Flint, walked by. He stopped and we talked about something I wrote on the PBR comment section. He doesn't read the comments that often, but just happened to be on one day and we discussed something that I wrote, concerning fans coming to the events. He signed Tiffany's purse, then in a flash he was off to get ready to entertain and save the bullfighters. :)

Part of the enjoyment of the opening and the pyrotechnics is watching fans jump when the "PBR" is exploded on the dirt, and the amazement when fireworks, flames, fog and smoke are going off everywhere. The first night Cody was reaching for his drink and almost spilled it all over himself, from the surprise of the explosions. Now it was time to get to the serious business at hand: BULL RIDING.

In flight one there were 10 riders and 5 rides. This flight was one of the best, in regards to rides and scores, that I have seen in some time. Wiley Peterson lead the charge as the first rider of the night, with a score of 89.50 on Top Notch. Dustin Elliott was close behind with a score of 89.25 on Mellow Yellow. J.B. Mauney scored 88.50 on Wrangler, Travis Briscoe 87.75 on Love Machine, and Valdiron de Oliveira 87.25 on Black Smoke. Ryan McConnel was close on Blackie and looked like he was going to make his first ride of the weekend, but the clock stopped at 7.6.

In flight two the bulls said two can play that game. Out of eight riders only one got a score. Brendon Clark scored an 82.75 on MoeBanndy.com. Not a big score, but couple that with the score from the previous night and Brendon, at that time, was fourth in the event standings. Chris Shivers lasted 7.4 seconds on Bucking Machine and looked like the two time champion he is, but just lost control of the ride. Shane Proctor came off Ramble On in 1.9 seconds. Shane has the ability but seems to be in a bad slump and is coming off bulls in short fashion or getting hung up or stomped on.

In flight three there were three rides and a scary fall by a bull. Pistol Robinson made a great ride on Cajun Blast and was rewarded with an 88.00. Paulo Lima made the 8 and took the lead back from last night with an 86.50 on Ground Zero. Ben Jones was 85.75 on Rowdy LJ and we got to see the "Ben Jones dance". Ben is a great guy, nice, funny, respectful and it is fun to watch when he does his "dance". The great thing is that Ben started his dance, finished and was so excited, he started up again. Edimundo Gomes came out of the chute on Speckeled Ivory and the bull made a couple of twists and bucks, then the bull fell to the ground on his right side, penning Edimundo underneath. The bullfighters rushed in and got the bull up and Edimundo was not hurt. It was tense for a few seconds, but it seemed much longer. The bullfighters did a great job of getting to the bull quickly. Edimundo would get a reride and make good on it. He scored an 84.00 on The Rookie. Jordan Hupp was tossed off of Airwolf in 2.9 seconds. The funny part was not the buck off, but the fact that as Jordan ran from the bull, his chaps fell down around his ankles. Watching a tough bull rider run with his chaps down was funny enough, but watching Flint recreate the event was even better.

In flight four and flight five there were a total of 16 riders and only three scores. Renato Nunes 86.50, Kasey Hayes 85.75 and Guilherme Marchi 85.50. Guilherme's ride was great to see, considering his problems dealing with his injured wrist. However, the ride was not without incident. When he started to get off the bull he was hung up. I could see the bullfighters, particularly Frank Newsome, running to the bull. Right as Frank got to the bull, Marchi got away, but was hit by the bull with a glancing blow. Frank, was not as fortunate. The bull, Git R Gone, tossed Frank in the air as the bull hit him head on. Congrats to the all the bullfighters as the only thing that got damaged was Marchi's hat, it was crushed. During flight five Jody Newberry was making a great ride on Texas Blues, but when he came off, the clock said 7.8. Jody challenged the time. If he gets a score, he's in the short go, if not, the challenge will cost him $500. The replay judge's stopwatch said 7.75.

The short go: This short go was almost a carbon copy of the previous short go in Tulsa. There were 15 riders and only one ride in both events. The only ride in Tulsa was a great ride by Renato Nunes, by a bull that was all over the place and fell. In San Antonio, the only ride was a great ride by Cody Nance. The bull was all over the place and although the bull, Perfect Poison, did not fall, he did stumble. Both rides were a testament to the will of the riders to not let go, no matter what. Cody scored an 89.50 and won the event with a two bull combined score of 176.25. the short go was not without controversy. Three rides were bucked off in short fashion, J.B. Mauney, Valdiron de Oliveira and Dustin Elliott. The judges quickly threw out a reride flag for J.B., saying the bull commited a foul. Both Valdiron and Dustin challenged the judges decision saying their bull also fouled. However, both lost $500 as they were told that they would not get a reride.

As I wrote on the PBR comment section, some riders seem to get quick calls, just like what you see in other sports for other athletes. Just like when Michael Jordan went up for a layup, and somebody swiped at him, trying to strip the ball. The ref could not see the foul, but just assumed that a foul was committed. After all, this was Michael Jordan, he couldn't have missed that layup. I think this is the case with J.B. or a few others. The bull must have fouled, he could not have just been distracted and fell off, or just lost his rope. This is not J.B.'s fault, but the judges. I think this needs to be addressed by the PBR, regarding the quick reride flags.

Final Standings for the San Antonio BFTS event: 1) Cody Nance 176.25 2) Paulo Lima 175.00 3) Wiley Petersen 174.00 4) Dustin Elliott 173.75 5) Valdiron de Oliveira 173.50 6) Kasey Hayes 173.00 7) Brendon Clark 170.00 8) J.B. Mauney 88.50 9) Pistol Robinson 88.00 10) Travis Briscoe 87.75

Congrats to Cody Nance. We have gotten to know Cody and his wife Jordan (Jordy). They are expecting their first child and the win and money could not have come at a better time. Cody has pretty much guaranteed himself a trip to the finals and I am happy for him as he has had to deal with injuries this year, being cut and living on the road of the Touring Pro. He has stayed humble and positive. As I stated in a previous blog, God has some great things in store for this young man, in and out of the bull riding arena.

After the event there was a concert and demonstration. Since this blog is already long, and I could not give the proper amount of space to describe what happened after the event on Sunday, I will write another blog about it in a few days. Let's just say it was awesome and inspiring!