PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience V

(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.)

Another day in Vegas, another day to get up early and have a full PBR day. Today we headed out early to the Thomas and Mack arena for the "Behind the Chutes Tour". The waivers were being signed at the entrance and as it turned out, there were several hundred people that showed up for the tour. We had some time to talk to Bobby Sponheimer. Bobby is with TeamPBR and works in setting up the fan zones at events and organizing the meet and greets and tour, such as this. He is a super guy and works very hard. We made our way into the arena and found a seat, in front of the arena production area or the "front of house". The tour was conducted by Clayton Cullen, who is in charge of the in arena production, and his assistant Jim White. They went over what happens during the event from the opening, to music, the announcers and pyro. An interesting tid bit, during the first night opening, a high up member of the PBR pushed the wrong button on the control board and burned the Kabuki that was in the center of the arena. There was a hole in the Kabuki and it had to be replaced for the openings in the coming nights.


We moved on from the "front of house" to the arena floor, through the "hall of champions" and out to the TV production truck. On the way outside, we passed by a pen that had the bull Super Duty. They were preparing to shoot a promo that used him in the promo. As we stopped to take pictures, some were calling Super Duty's name and he seemed to be getting agitated. Later they were not allowing anybody around the bull because they were trying to calm him down for his TV spot. Since we were fortunate to get a personal tour of the TV truck in Springfield (thanks again Todd), we just stayed outside and talked to other fans and asked Jim some questions. One of the interesting things that Jim said is that starting in 2012, the PBR is going to more of a "season", like some of the other major sports. He did not elaborate, but from the way it sounded, there was not going to be the current schedule of five months to start the year, then two months off, then three months on, then two months off, but more of a constant schedule and maybe more time off from season to season. We moved back into the arena and were able to get a look at the chutes and ask questions and then made our way out of the arena.

We drove over to Hard Rock Hotel to eat lunch. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was Mexican food. The food was ok, not as good as Mexican food back home in Texas. We made our way out to the fan zone to catch Flint's show. Today the show was going to be co-hosted by one of the new PBR announcers, Matt West. The two guests were Renato Nunes and Ryan McConnel. Flint asked Renato about riding Chicken On A Chain the previous night, coming out of his slump, not going to New York for the final five chase and of course the famous "pushing the button". Then Flint introduced Ryan, the person that caught the brunt of the challenge button. Flint asked Ryan about the controversy and Ryan said after he calmed down and was told why it was done he was ok with it. He said that Silvano did not touch his bull and Valdiron should not have been DQed and he knew he slapped his bull. The judges were wrong and Renato challenged the judges, not him, and he understood that. Both Ryan and Renato said they were friends and still are friends. An interesting note. Flint asked Ryan if he would ever push a button on another rider and he said no. Then Flint went to audience questions.

Remember I said the other day, I didn't have a question to ask, well, I did this time. I sprang to my feet and headed to the microphone. Flint said "oh no, here he comes". He then went on to introduce me to the crowd as webpbr on the comment section. Thankfully there was clapping, no booing or throwing of sharp objects. First, I thanked Renato for pushing the button, and said that I thought it was the right thing to do. Second, I thanked Ryan for handing the situation in such a professional way. Keep in mind, I have gotten to know both of these guys very well and like and respect both of them. Lastly, I said that I didn't think that the decision by the PBR to have the last of the "final five chase" in New York was a good idea, because it was so close to the finals and what was their thoughts. Ryan said that he would rather have had the rest for the finals and look at what the guy that didn't go (pointing to Renato) is doing in the finals with the rest. Also, Flint said he was asked to go, but turned them down. After another fan question, the show was over and we moved on to mulling around in the fan zone.

After visiting a number of booths in the fan zone, we made our way to a particular booth that Tammie was very interested in. The booth contained auction items donated by the riders and a few fans. One item especially caught Tammie's attention. A Kody Lostroh riding glove. She put in her initial bid and put in a bid for a Cord McCoy shirt. The proceeds from the auction go to a great cause, the Rider Relief Fund. The sale ended the next day, on Saturday and Tammie was really hoping to be the winner on Kody's glove, to go along with Kody's shirt she had from a previous auction.

At this point I was a little tired so we headed back to the hotel. I decided it was time to catch a short nap as Tammie continued to download her pictures and free up space on the memory card for the event that evening. Tammie woke me up (said I was snoring) and we got ready and headed to the arena for the event.

Tonight the opening was honoring our fine young men and women in the US Air Force. When the Kabuki was dropped, there were a number of cadets that were about to be sworn in. After the swearing in, they received a standing ovation from the crowd. Also, in the center stage, the center Kabuki was dropped and there was a huge American flag and Air Force officers standing around it on the center stage. Again, a standing ovation. It gave me chills to see the honor and respect that the PBR gives the US military and the fans standing, cheering and waving the small flags that had been passed out. I read a blog one time by a PBR fan that stated that this was promoting war. Sorry, this is promoting peace. Men and women from all walks of life have sacrificed precious blood to protect our freedom and the freedom of others, so that we might have peace. If you don't understand that, then you don't understand what peace through strength means. It was, too me, the most inspiring opening of the finals.

And then the bull riding started, which is what we were all there for. Ned Cross started the night off, but considering how great Ned had been riding, it was surprising that he was bucked off in a quick 1.3 seconds. In the rest of Flight 1, there were scores by Douglas Duncan, an 86.50 on Marmaduke, Wiley Petersen 87.25 on Pandemic and Sean Willingham getting an 80.00 on Buckey. Sean was offered a re-ride, but chose instead to take his score. In Flight 2, There were seven riders and 3 scores. Chris Shivers continued to have a good finals with an 87.00 on Another Husker. Pistol Robinson got a re-ride on his bull Bad Rock Fire and came back and got an 86.25 on Road Daddy and Brendon Clark scored 85.75 on Cool Spot, which Cool Spot did not have his usual good out.

In Flight 3 there was some controversy. Dustin Elliott came out of the chute on Jiminey Cricket and the bull seemed odd in his bucking and Dustin came off in just 1.9 seconds. Dustin pushed the challenge button saying the bull fouled when he was coming out of the chute. The replay did show that the bull's back leg was caught in the back of the chute as the bull was coming out, however the replay judge said that did not stop the forward motion of the bull, which is the new rule that was instituted this year. The crowd did not agree and there was a chorus of boos. In the rest of the flight Cody Campbell got his first qualified ride with an 87.75 on Depths of Dispair and the same with Jordan Hupp with an 85.50 on Black Powder. Paulo Lima got his second score with an 87.00 on Bad Moon.

In flight 4, there were 7 riders and four scores. Wesley Lorenco continued to have an impressive debut on the BFTS with his third score of the finals. He rode Foolish Pride for an 88.25 and ended up second for the round. Ross Coleman looked good on RFD-TV and received an 87.25 and Jason O'Hearn scored the same 87.25 on Over the Edge. Travis Sellers got his first score of the event with an 86.00 on Rewind. In flight 5 there were three successful scores, all coming right after each other. Silvano Alves started the scoring with an 86.50 on Bring It, then Shane Proctor got his first ride under his belt with an 86.75 on Far West and Guilherme Marchi continued to show that he's back in form with an 87.00 on Little Juicy.

In the last flight of the night, flight 6, the drama of who would be the next World Champion continued to unfold and started to become more clear. Ryan McConnel came off of Bible Bender in 6.4 seconds, all but eliminating him from the title race. Valdiron de Oliveira scored an 82.75 on Ready Freddy and kept his slim hopes alive. Renato Nunes had another impressive ride scoring an 89.25 on Closet Gansgster, which tuned out to be the round winner and garnering him the 400 points for the round win. JB Mauney bucked off in a quick 2.6 seconds on Little Hummer, and all but assured that his quest for a title were gone. That left Austin Meier as the final ride of the night. Austin came in as the number one rider and 1300 points ahead of Renato, but after bucking off in 4.0 seconds, his lead over Renato has been cut to 119 points. Also, Austin had one bull ridden and Renato had three, so it was not looking good for the Oklahoma cowboy.


After the event ended we headed to the press conference. In the press conference was Renato, the round winner and Wesley Lourenco, the new Brazilian sensation who was second in the round and second in the event standings, at this point. There were questions to Wesley about coming to America and he said that he was having fun and "wanted to stay a long time". Renato talked about his riding and that he was having fun and trying to catch the guys in front of him, so there was no pressure on him.

After the press conference we headed to In & Out Burger to meet with some of our friends and we ended up staying for about 1 1/2 hours at a burger joint. The traffic was terrible getting over to the restaurant. From what we were told there was some "big wig" in town campaigning for the Nevada Senator. Someone said the "big wig" lives in a big white house. :) We talked about the event and we calculated that at this point, JB was out of the race, Austin still had a chance, but it was going to be very difficult, and Valdiron still had a shot. Many of the numbers were going to depend on what Renato did, who he chose in the draft (there was not a draft that night, it was held the next morning at the fan zone) and whether he rode and what bulls and scores Austin and Valdiron would get. The bottom line was, at this point, it was Renato's to lose.

We headed back to the hotel and spent time in the casino, but knew with the meet and greet starting at 8:00 am the next morning, it was not going to be a late night. I know they say that Vegas is the city that never sleeps, and if we were here to just "vacation" in Vegas we probably wouldn't be. However, with the busy PBR schedule, the PBR was taking precedence.

PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience IV

(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.)

Before I get started on this blog, I did want to mention that I left something out of the previous blog. When we were leaving the draft on Wednesday night, I got the chance to talk to Cody Lambert while we were waiting in the valet line to get our cars. There were several things that I wanted to ask Cody. Since I'm not shy, I asked away. First I asked Cody why he was judging and doing the replay in Columbus. He said due to a scheduling problem, they were short handed and he had to step in. I talked about his correct call on the Austin Meier ride when he clocked Austin at 8.88 seconds on the replay and one of the judges stopped the clock at 7.3 seconds. I told him that I replayed it and figured the chute judge started the arena clock late and that's why there was a difference and I had explained that on the PBR comment section. He looked at me and said "So, that was you on the comment section that was defending me?" I said yes. He said he got to the office and the PBR people told him that he was getting hit on the comment section, but there was someone who was defending him. He then told me "thanks, I like you." LOL. Also, on the comment section the question came up about riders voting for the finals judges and why would they vote in the replay judge that had been suspended earlier in the year, and missed a call late in the year. Cody said that the riders only vote for the four judges at the finals, not the replay judge. In regards to the replay judge, he said that one replay judge was one of the four judges suspended and they only had one replay judge left. He is training two more judges, but they were not ready to work at the finals.

Now, onto the daily blog. Today was the lightest day for us, by design. If you go to everything the PBR has for the fans, you can quickly get burned out. Although we really wanted to go to the "Stock Contractor Tours", we decided to sleep in and have this day as just "our" day (at least up until the event itself). After sleeping late we got lunch and went bowling. With a swollen knee and not able to use my own ball, I still beat Tammie pretty handily. :) We had a good time and just tried to relax and spend some time together, without bull riding be the main point. I recommend this to anyone. Take time to just soak in Vegas and being on a "vacation". Whether it's a show, movie, bowling, shopping, eating, gambling or just walking the different hotels, it's important to get your mind and body refreshed.

After spending the day at the hotel and spending "us" time, it was time for the PBR. Tammie wanted to get to the arena early and attend the "red carpet" entrance of the riders, starting at 4:00pm. There is a circle drive that is in front of the arena and the PBR has a red carpet the riders walk down and a canopy over head. Many of the riders will stop and take pictures, sign autographs and at the end of the walk, many are stopped and asked a few questions by one of the announcers for the crowd to hear. When a rider gets out of their vehicle, the MC announces the rider or riders and the crowd responds. Tammie was able to get some good pictures and one of our friends ended up on TV as he stepped onto the carpet to get Renato's signature. After awhile I got tired of standing and walked through the fan zone while Tammie continued to click away.

Around 5:00pm the red carpet entrance finished and we made our way into the arena. I went to our seats, as I had to make some business calls and Tammie met me a few minutes later. As you are sitting in your seat and the start of the event continues to get closer (6:00pm) your adrenaline continues to rise. The anticipation of the opening and the first ride builds and you start squirming in your seat wanting the clock to tic a little faster. Then the lights go completely dark and you know the time has arrived.

Just like the night before, Dustin Elliott was the first rider and Dustin, just like the night before, did not disappoint. He started the night with a successful ride on Top Notch for an 87.00. The next rider was Cody Campbell. He had picked Major Payne and has been on him numerous times. The results of this night were just like the previous outs on this bull, no score and a buck off time of 2.3 seconds. Harve Stewart had Ranger Red and when the ride ended, the clock showed 7.8. He immediately went to the challenge button, but after review, the time was actually 7.5. Aaron Roy got his second ride of the finals, in as many rounds, with an 87.25 on Who Dat.

In Flight 2, Colby Yates also had a challenge with his time stopping at 7.7 on Straight Jacket. After review, his fate was the same as Harve, no score, with a time of 7.69. Ned Cross got his second score of the event with an impressive ride on Black Pearl and a score of 91.00, our first 90 point ride of the finals. The confetti was flying. In Flight 3, Wesley Lourenco continued to impress with an 89.50 on Red Hot and Chris Shivers was involved in the scariest wreck of the night. He was banged around by the bull and fell to the ground and was unconscious for a short time. He was helped out of the arena and amazingly came back later in the event and ended up getting an 88.25 on Mission Accomplished.

In Flight 4, the first rider up was Kody Lostroh on VooDoo Child. The night before, Cody Lambert said that Kody's ride on VooDoo Child in last years finals was the best riding he had ever seen, even if it didn't result in a score. However, on this night, VooDoo Child did not have a good out, for him, and Kody didn't either. He was bucked off in 6.4 seconds In Flight 5 there were no scores, with 10 riders not making the 8. Silvano came close with 7.6 on Kabookie and McKennon Wimberly lasting 7.4 on Carrillo Cartel. But, close doesn't mean a thing.


In Flight 6, the last and final flight of the night, Valdiron de Oliveira had the highest score of the night with a score of 91.50 on Spit Fire. Not many riders like Spit Fire, much less ride him, but Valdiron seems to be one of those that can. Renato had chosen Chicken On A Chain the night before and many expected Renato to ride him, and he did. Chicken was a little different out this time but was still good enough to earn Renato a score of 89.00 points. The last two riders, JB Mauney and Austin Meier did not get qualified rides, neither lasting more than 4.1 seconds. Renato, which came into the finals in third and 1300 points behind, continued to close the gap and move closer to the first position.


The event ended and we made our way over to the press conference. In the press conference they had Ned Cross, who was the current event leader, Valdiron, who had the highest score of the night and Renato who was second in the event average. Some interesting points: Ned was asked about the draft and he said he didn't particular care for it. He said "The draft can really mess with your mind trying to figure out if you are making the right choice". When asked how he feels being the leader of the event, he said "it feels great, but there is a long way to go". Valdiron was asked about picking Spit Fire and he said his son told him to pick the bull because he thought he could ride him. Renato was asked about Chicken on a Chain and Renato said that the bull was more difficult to ride this time because he made some different moves than he had before. After the press conference, I talked to Renato and told him that I thought he should have been scored a little higher. He smiled and said with excitement "Yes, me too".

We made our way over to the Hard Rock Hotel and the fan zone as the third round draw was about to take place. Cody Lambert was a hoot most of the week, but especially this night. Many of the guys coming onto the stage were having fun and even some that just weren't riding their bulls. Chris Shivers came on stage and brought his son with him. Chris picked his son up so he could reach into the cup and draw out a chip that corresponded with a number next to a bull. Cody Lambert said "I'm glad Chris picked his son up, because I knew somebody had to pick one of the two of them up to get the chip". Then Stormy Wing came on stage and had Sean Willingham come with him. Sean picked Stormy up so he could help him reach into the cup. Brendon Clark came on stage and Wiley followed him. Brendon is doing some live video feeds, so Wiley had his phone out and pretended to follow Brendon around on the stage and filmed him. Fun had by all and it certainly made it entertaining for the fans.

After the draw, we made our way back to the hotel, but stopped at IHop. Breakfast food at 11:00pm sounded good. After eating dinner/breakfast, we stayed up some on the computer and I spent time working on my calculator trying to figure were everybody stood in points and position. When I finally shut my eyes, all I could hear was Tammie's fingers working away on her pictures and all I could see was my calculator and numbers. So, when I finally fell asleep, I wasn't counting sheep, but I was counting bull rides and scores.

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.

PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience II

(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 night before we left to go to Vegas, I got 2 hours sleep and Tammie got about an hour. So, after spending Monday in a car, plane, airport terminal, and hotel and then saying up late (2:00am back home time), it was time to sleep in. Our room was quite, dark and cold. Just the right situation for staying under the covers and catching up on some needed sleep. After getting up, watching TV and spending time on the internet we made our way downstairs for lunch.


We planned to go to the opening draw late that afternoon and then to the PBR Black Jack tournament. In the meantime, since there was a movie theater at the hotel, why not go to a movie. We went upstairs to see the movie RED. This was Tuesday afternoon around 1:00 pm. Surprisingly, the only tickets left were front row. if you've ever seen a movie in the front row, you know that a neck ache is in order after sitting there staring straight up for two hours. No thank you (just a side note, we have seen the movie since being back home and it was great). What do you do for 2-3 hours while in Vegas? Gamble!!! I made my way to the Craps table. Craps is the fastest, funnest table in a casino, if the table is going good. If not, you can lose and lose quickly. As I stated yesterday, not much in the form of winning at this casino. So, after losing and passing the time, it was time to get ready to go to Freemont Street for the opening draw.


We jumped into the red Charger and dashed to Freemont Street to meet some friends that had already made their way. Ahhh, traffic, traffic and more traffic. There was no charging to Freemont street. But alas, we did make it there in plenty of time to get a good spot for gawking and taking pictures. Freemont Street is a cross between a carnival and walking through the lamp and light section at Lowes. There are vendors, stores, casinos, hotels, street performers, and just some unusual people to watch. One of the main attractions at Freemont Street is an overhead canopy that runs the length of the three streets that make up this area. During the night, the canopy lights up and there are different projections shown on the canopy, usually moving to music that is playing. This night, it was of course country music and the PBR!!!

As we were standing waiting for the riders to arrive, I got a chance to spend some time talking to Keith Ryan Cartwright. I said it before, Keith is an unusual and fascinating guy to talk to. We cover subjects from the PBR to other sports to music and just about everything in between. When the riders were coming in and being announced, Tammie was in her spot, of course fingers poised on top of her camera. Snapping pictures and genuinely excited as each rider was announced. In the meantime, Keith and I were engrossed in our conversation about our favorite football teams and what is going to happen at the PBR finals and who has the advantages coming in. Then we were joined by a friend, Dave Brito (who later got to pick a chip for one of the riders in picking a bull). We started talking about music and current bands and past great bands. Keith's eyes lit up when he found out that Megadeath might be in town. lol When the draw started, it was time to end the conversation.

One by one a fan, sponsor, etc.. would come up and put there hand into the Champions Cup and pull out a chip that had a number on it, which corresponded with a number that was beside a bull name. This was the "classic" bull pen (3 and 4 year old bulls) and a small amount of non classic bulls. Just a few of the bulls that riders would like to have were: Hee Bee Gee Bee, Copp Hou, MoeBandy.com, Ice T&D, Deja Blu. However, there was one bull that nobody wanted Bushwacker. I wish some of the guys would just admit that they would like to ride anybody but Bushwacker but most said, "it don't matter to me". Yeah right. As he's bucking you off in less than 3 seconds and you could have had a bull and a score of 88.00 and maybe a round win and $25,000. One by one the riders came up and sat down and no Bushwacker. Bushwacker's numbered chip was 3. When the rider would come up and the #3 was not drawn, there was a sigh of relief from the fans, but then everybody knew someone was going to get him. That someone turned out to be Harve Stewart. Most of the night several riders would come up and say "I would like to give a shout out to Harve". Brandon Bates finally explained that when a rider would get up to find out what his bull would be, Harve would give a high five and say "give me shout out". It made for some funny moments.

As the draw ended the music started as the riders were leaving and on the Freemont canopy was the PBR logo for the 2010 World Finals. Pretty neat to be standing in Vegas, on Freemont street and look up at this giant canopy and see the PBR logo turning and music blaring. It made you want to go straight to the arena and watch these guys get on the bulls that were just drawn. But alas, that would be the next night.

It was time to make it back to the car and over to Treasure Island hotel and the Black Jack tournament. All of the riders were going to be at different tables and fans, supporters and sponsors had paid money to participate in the tournament. All of the proceeds were going to the Rider Relief Fund.

I got a chance to talk to Flint before the tournament and we talk about the PBR comment section. He's told me before that he rarely reads the comment section, but he does look on there and if it has 50+ comments, he knows that I am involved and he reads them. For those that read the comment section, you will know what I am talking about when I say that Flint told me that you can say that he is "hot" and that he is so good looking that he is "eye candy. :) For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, you need to join in on the PBR comment section and leave comments. Flint and I have had numerous conversations about the comment section, and as he says "folks, this is bull riding, we aren't curing cancer". In other words, don't take this thing so serious.

The first part of the tournament was in three rounds. Tammie got to participate in the second round. When she found out who was going to be at her table she nearly fell to the floor. (well maybe not fall to the floor, but I did have to pull her off the ceiling). At her table was going to be Jason O'Hearn and her favorite rider, the 2009 reigning World Champion Kody Lostroh. Tammie was nervous because she is not normally good at Black Jack, but then having to sit at the same table as her favorite, she didn't want to look foolish and lose all of her money quickly. Not only did she not look foolish, she actually WON!!! There are 15 hands and the person with the highest dollar amount of chips, after the 15 hands, wins the table and moves to the next round. Of course I was instructed to get as many pictures while she was playing.

Tammie moved to the next round and Skeeter Kingsolver and LJ Jenkins were the riders at her next table, who had also won on their first table. This was the semi finals and whoever won the table would move to the final round, with a total of six players at that table. Again Tammie was nervous, but did not show it. She looked like a pro out there. She was kidding with LJ and trying to prod LJ to go "all in" on one of his hands. He did. However, her strategy backfired because he won the hand, doubled his chips and made his lead almost insurmountable. But the fearless Tammie was not not done yet. She continued on and as it turned out, LJ did win the table, but Tammie did come in second at the table. Her magic night of playing the best Black Jack she had ever played came to and end.

We stayed for a few more minutes, but we needed to take someone else back to their hotel and it was already late, so it was time to mosey on along. We got back to our hotel and since we had not eaten dinner, it was time to grab something to eat, at midnight. Nothing like going to bed, early in the morning, on a full stomach. Starting tomorrow I will be blogging about meeting the riders at the TeamPBR meet and greet and the first night of the bull riding!!!

PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience I

(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).

It's been another great year of Professional Bull Riding and this year came to an end with the PBR finals in Las Vegas. If you've never been to a live Built Ford Tough Series event, you have been missing out. With that said, the finals in Las Vegas is even better. The heightened intensity is evident at each night and each buck off or ride. Things are different here. From the opening to the arena set up to the multitude of signings, drafts, draws, press conferences and fan events. There are things to keep a fan busy from sun up to sun down. When you get back home, even as a fan, you need time off for a vacation, to just relax.

Well, our week started before the sun came up on 10/18 as we left the house for the airport. Our bags were packed, man were they packed. Four checked bags and a carry on. We drove to Dallas, got on the plane and had a layover in Albuquerque. Apparently the flight from Albuquerque was over booked, so we volunteered to get bumped. Southwest Airlines gave us two vouchers worth $438 each, to catch a flight just 2 1/2 hours later. Will we use the flight vouchers to go to another event or a vacation? Ahhhh, choices, choices. We had planned to go to a show the first night, but waited to see how we felt when we got to Vegas.

We finally made it to our final destination, Vegas. If you've never been to Vegas, you haven't missed much .... if you look at it during the day. There is desert all around, some mountains, and then BAM, odd shaped buildings that look weird against the desert back drop. With that said, at night the town becomes electric!! There are lights everywhere and it is dazzling. The "hotels" are huge and if you dare try to just walk down the strip, from one hotel to another, what seems like a city block is more like a mile (at least that's what your feet will tell you). We have been to Vegas a number of times, and every time we've been, something has changed and a new experience is found. This trip was no exception.

We got our rental car, a 2010 Dodge Charger. It was candy apple red and I was young again driving in a red "sports car". Ok, well, maybe not young again, but it was fun to drive.
We made our way to the hotel, South Point Hotel and Casino. This was our second time to stay at South Point. The hotel is about 10 minutes south of the strip and you don't want to stay here unless you have a rental car. The hotel is big, has nice large rooms, a bowling alley, movie theater, an arena and of course gaming and restaurants. The main complaint about the hotel is that it is always smokey in the casino and I just never have any luck at the tables there. But hey, what can you expect when you get a four star hotel in Vegas for $44 a night (Priceline).

By the time we got to the room, we were both pretty tired and decided not to go to a show. A PBR friend had text us about having dinner with them at the new PBR Rock Bar and that sounded like a good idea. We relaxed for a few minutes, changed and before heading to eat, decided to go to the first signing which Cord McCoy and Travis Sellers were the riders at the Luxor hotel. We made our way over there and since we have gotten to know both Cord and Travis pretty well, we spent quite a bit of time talking to both. Cord is of course getting married next month and Travis recently got married. If you have never met Cord, you have never met "Mr. Congeniality". He plans on riding bulls for as long as he can, but this guy should go to work in the PR department for the PBR as soon as he gets off his last bull. Last year we met Travis Sellers for the first time and ever since then we've had a running joke with him about who he greets first, me or Tammie. Tammie was talking to Cord and Travis saw us, came running past Tammie, nudging her in the back to come shake MY hand. Hey, he knows who's buying the tickets. LOL

Many that know my wife, know that she takes pictures of the riders and puts books together and has them sign it. Travis was so impressed with Tammie's finals book, he showed it to a PBR guy that works with national sponsors and said they need to work with her. Sorry, got sidetracked there, but I am so proud of Tammie's work that I had to put in a plug for her. (PBR are you listening?) Also, during our discussion with Travis, he said the day before he entered his wife in a bikini bull riding riding contest (mechanical bull of course) and she WON!! He said that the $200 that she got was good money for riding on that bull. lol

It was time to move on and pick up our PBR buddies and head to the PBR Rock Bar to have dinner. We made our way to the mall that the restaurant and bar are at. As with anything in Vegas the mall is huge and we were wondering around trying to find the place and came upon Adriano Moraes and his wife Flavia. Several months ago we had the pleasure of having lunch with the both of them and getting to know them on more of a personal level instead of just seeing them at signings or on TV. The six of us finally found the restaurant and made our way in. There were riders on one side of the restaurant and PBR personnel on the other side. One of our friends works for the PBR and we sat on that side. The resturant/bar is a neat place to go, especially if you are a bull riding fan. The food was good and in good portions, at a reasonable price (anything in Vegas restaurants is still more expensive than your local food establishments). Got the opportunity to see and talk to several riders and some PBR big wigs, including Sean Gleason, the PBR COO (no that's not coo, it means Chief Operating Officer :) ) We talked about the PBR comment section and some of the funny and outlandish things said on there. As I have said to others, the PBR brass knows what I write on this and other blogs and the comment section and doesn't have a problem with it. If I didn't love the PBR, I wouldn't be in Vegas. :) Flavia spent some time at our table and we got to know about her and her children even more.

It was getting late and remember the day started for us in the dark of morning driving almost 2 hours to the airport. Plus there is a two hour difference in time and our bodies were feeling it. We dropped our friends off back at their hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel and made our way back to our own hotel. I passed by the crap tables and for a moment thought about staying up just a little longer to gamble, but since I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open, I decided to just head up stairs. I laid on the bed, closed my eyes and dreamed I was riding a bull. Ok, not true. I closed my eyes and didn't dream about anything. I was out faster than a rider coming off of Bushwacker out of the chute.

The PBR - It's Been A Journey Of Love

One night my wife couldn't sleep. So she got up and as most of us do, turned on the TV and started flipping through channels. Something caught her eye (why don't we say eyes since we have two?) and she stopped on a channel called Versus. On the late night tube they were showing a rerun of some bull riding and the event happened to be the PBR. She started watching and hasn't stopped since. That was two years ago.

With both of us growing up in Texas, we had been to many rodeos in our lifetime. As a matter of fact, our local town has a rodeo and a bull fest each year. So, the idea of bull riding was not new, as we enjoyed the bull riding part of the rodeo the most. But to my wife, the PBR was different. So different that she was becoming a big fan. She would watch the events, tape them and watch them again, late at night. She had to watch them late at night because between myself and our two children, we thought she was just plain nuts and she could only watch her bull riding when nobody else was watching something.

She started to comment on the PBR forum and sometimes on the PBR comment section. My response to her was "I don't understand why you are talking to people you don't know and people that are in another state". My thoughts were, "she's just plain gone off the deep end". Although I liked bull riding, I was more interested in other mainstream sports and I just didn't see the attraction and didn't want to see.

Well, in January 2009, the PBR was coming to Dallas, which was the closet event to us. My wife's birthday was the same weekend as the event. So, for her birthday present, we got tickets to both days of the event and a hotel close to the arena. She was excited, boy she was excited!! We got to the hotel and made our way to the arena. We made our way to some of the signings and found our seats and we were ready to watch our first live Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event.

To be honest (don't you just hate when people say that, as though they lied to you before) I was not prepared for what was about to take place. The intro music came on and it was loud. But you know what, I liked it loud. There were fireworks and a bulls head that blew out flames. At the many rodeos that we had been to, I never say fireworks at the event. I was enjoying the "show" and looked at my wife and she was not just enjoying what she was seeing, she was loving it. They introduced the riders in rock star fashion and then they announced my wife's favorite rider, Kody Lostroh. She was beaming ear to ear.

Then, it was time for bull riding. From the first rider out of the chutes, you could tell that the bulls are not your local rodeo bulls. They are bigger, better and badder. The athleticism of the bulls that buck in the PBR are amazing. The fact that anyone could hang on or ride for 8 seconds was astounding. Who would want to anyway? There were riders that did ride that day and you could tell that these guys are the best bull riders in the world. Just as the PBR advertises.

The next morning we went to Cowboy Church before the event and heard a great sermon from Cody Custer and Dustin Elliott spoke. After that we got something to eat before the second day of the event started. At lunch there was one thing I noticed about my wife, she couldn't stop smiling. A permanent smile was plastered on her face, like the Joker in the first Batman movie. I told her that I was happy for her, because she just seemed to be so happy on her birthday. It made me feel good to see that smile that just wouldn't go away.

Well, we made it back to the arena, and took in the opening, the show, the rides, the bulls and we were just in awe of the entire PBR production. After the event, we chased down her favorite rider, in the parking lot. He was very nice and I joked and apologized for my wife being a stalker. During the 1 1/2 hour ride back home that's all she could talk about. And for the coming months. Although I loved the event, I still was not sold out on the PBR.

Our next event was in Tulsa, a three day event and it was a full six months after the Dallas event. This is where I became hooked as a PBR fan. We got to know the riders more, went to the draft, the signings, Cowboy Church and just had a great time. I then came home and bought tickets to San Antonio and then Springfield.

In the two year time period, since our first BFTS event, we have been to 13 BFTS events, 11 Touring Pro events, and as of next week 2 finals. My wife takes pictures of the riders, does special effects and the riders have gotten to know her very well because of her work. And it is work, considering the time spent to get all the pictures done. She also posts them on Facebook and the PBR forum and has many requests for them. So what about me? The guy that called my wife nuts for being so involved in the PBR and commenting to people she doesn't know. Well ... I started to comment on the PBR comment section back in September of last year and people that have been over there know that I have commented a few times - a few thousand times. I started a blog back in April and then agreed to also blog for a PBR fan Myspace site. I think both of us would be considered PBR junkies. Our kids think WE are crazy. With that said, after my daughter went to her first live BFTS event back in February, she became hooked. She has now been to three events and several Touring Pro.

Just think, all this started from one person up late at night, with nothing else to do but watch TV. My wife now has someone she loves that she can enjoy her favorite sport with. Along the way we have met many great PBR fans. So much so that we have become good friends with some. We meet at the events and spend some late nights just talking about every subject there is, including bull riding. When I say that we have become friends, it is meant with all sincerity. We come from different back grounds, different ages, different states, yet we can have a great time together and getting to know each other and our different families. This is another thing that makes the PBR the great sport it is, the dedicated fans. It has been a long two year journey to get to the PBR fanatics we have become, but it has been a journey of love.