(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.)Music, snooze, music, snooze. And so our last day of the PBR Finals experience started. The plan was to go to Cowboy Church on Sunday morning. The night before I kept asking Tammie "are you sure you want to go", every time she replied "Yes". We have been to Cowboy Church at every BFTS event and thanks to her faithfulness, we were going again. The room was dark, when we got up, because it was so early, the sun hadn't even come up. So we got ready and left the room and headed to the Thomas & Mack arena. The Cowboy Church service was in the fan zone area, in front of the arena.
It was cold outside, but at least it wasn't raining. There was a good crowd on hand, especially since it was cold and the service started at 8:00am. That's early for anything in Vegas. There was great music and Todd Pierce, the Riding High minister, preached a thought provoking service, as usual. When Todd preaches, not only do you feel good being a Christian, you are inspired to do more for the Lord. After the service we spoke with Cody Nance and his wife, Jordy. Cody is such a polite young man and just watching him around some of the kids at the events that we have seen him, we know he will be a loving and caring father.
By the time the service ended and after visiting with riders, families and friends, it was still about two hours before the event. We met up with some friends in the fan zone and just talked about the event, the next event to go to, and what do the numbers mean for the last day of riding. We finally headed into the arena and of course made our way to the PBR merchandise booth to buy our finals memorabilia. Tammie got a blue jean jacket with the PBR logo on the back and inside lining. I must say, she looked good in it. I decided to go with something different, and bought a Dickies Dura Bullfighter jersey. It's the red sleeve one that Shorty wears (hey, he's a fellow Texan).
Finally to our seats and the opening of the event. In this, the last and final opening of the 2010 BFTS season. The PBR introduced the riders, then at the end, the PBR brought in the 2009 PBR World Champion, Kody Lostroh, and had him in the truck bed on top of the moving platform. Then they introduced the current #2 rider, Austin Meier. He came down the Hall of Champions with an American flag around him and made his way to one side of the truck, on the platform. Then they introduced the current #1 rider, Renato Nunes. He also came down the Hall of Champions, but with a Brazilian flag, and made his way into the arena and on the platform, on the opposite side of the truck. It was a great introduction of the previous year champion and the two guys battling to become the new champion. Gave you chills. 
Time for the riding and the final day of the season. Due to space and not making this last blog on the finals so long, I won't go over each flight in great detail, but just some of the highlights. One of the highlights was the first rider of the first flight. Pete Farley was having a good finals. He had already ridden 2 of 4 bulls and both going for high scores. This time, it would be another. He scored an 88.75 on Deja Blu, and all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the short go. Jordan Hupp and Paulo Lima got their third scores of the event and made it to the short go as well. In flight 2, McKennon Wimberly ended up getting the highest score of the round by riding Hawaiian Ivory for an 89.25. Dustin Elliott continued his hot streak, by riding his fourth bull of the event, with an impressive 88.75 on Zip Code and punching his ticket to the short go. JB Mauney got his first ride of the event by scoring an 86.00on Braveheart, which had only been ridden once before by Austin Meier. In flight 3, there were only two rides, Wiley Petersen getting his second score, an87.00 on Over the Edge. This was not going to be enough to get Wiley into the short go. Also, Silvano Alves rode his fourth bull of the finals. He had an 85.50 on Rewind and it placed him fourth going into the championship round. Also, Austin Meier came down on Pandemic in 6.0 seconds. This sealed Austin's fate and he was going to finish second in the title race. Austin had a great year, but just came up short.
In flight 4, Skeeter Kingsolver got his first score of the finals, an 86.50 on Bible Bender. I'm sure Skeeter was glad the finals was over and he can look to being healthy for the start of the 2011 season. In flight 5, Guilherme Marchi continued to show why he will be a contender next year for his second title. He scored an 86.50 on Buffalo Hump and was going to go into the short go as the number three rider. The ride that people had been waiting for, Renato Nunes on Willie Wilco, did not disappoint. Renato made the 8 and got a score of 87.75. Renato was going to go into the short go as the number one rider and as the World Champion. As Renato was finishing his celebratory back flip, no one noticed that the bull was still in the arena, and when Renato landed on his feet, the bull was coming right at him from his right side. He leaped out of the way and everybody had a great laugh at Renato's "near" accident. In flight 6, there were only two rides, but both memorable because of the bulls that were conquered. Josh Faircloth scored an 86.75 on Big Tex. Big Tex did not have his usual great out, but anytime you can ride him, that's big news. Also, Mike Lee had a great ride on Little Yellow Jacket Jr. and scored an 88.75. The bull had some great moves and Mike made all the right corrections.
The last day of the finals was by far the most fun of any of the days in Vegas and more fun than any live round of bull riding we have ever been to. Flint was as funny as ever, and the riders, at the urging of Flint, really loosened up. Dustin, Shane, Travis Sellers and Guilherme all had fun dancing and playing up to the crowd. Some because they were doing well and having fun, others because even though they were not riding well, decided to have fun anyway, knowing the start of next season is only a few months away.
The PBR Finals Championship Round: These riders lay it all on the line for this, the chance to ride at the PBR Finals and to make it through a grueling number of days riding bulls, to have the opportunity to be in the last short go of the season. A powerful bull pen and the riders fortunate enough to be the ones that made it this far. Out of the 15 riders, there were five successful rides. Mike Lee was the first to get a ride with a 91.00 on Perfect Poison! People were screaming and cheering every jump and, of course, the first time the confetti had been flying today. Not to be out done, Robson Palermo (remember he was carried out on a stretcher the day before with what the doctors said might be broke neck) handled RMEF Gunpowder & Lead for a whopping 91.25!! Just three riders later, Paulo Lima sat atop MoeBandy.com for an 87.50. Paulo could barely walk, as he had tore his PCL in his knee, days before in the competition, but you don't need to walk to ride the bull. Paulo, literally had to drag himself out of the way of the bull once he dismounted. Two riders later, Wesley Lourenco, the new Brazilian sensation, rode Unabomber for a 90.50! The third 90+ point in the short go and the third time the confetti flew. Then Silvano Alves, the number 4 rider coming into the short go came out of the chute on I'm Back. He looked good then started to come off the left side of the bull. I thought for sure his ride was over. However, I don't know how, but miraculously he was able to use his opposite leg and strength and pulled himself back on top of the bull!! He was doing all of this as the bull continued to buck hard. He made the 8 and received an 85.25 which put him number two in the finals. 
The final three had come to the chutes to climb on their beast and beasts they were. Marchi's bull was Bones and he jarred Marchi to the bone when he came out of the chute. The clock read 2.0 seconds. Bones had an outstanding out. Dustin Elliott had Mellow Yellow, a bull he had ridden for 89.25 in San Antonio earlier this year. This rematch went to the bull. Dustin lasted 6.3 seconds but just could not make that last 1.7 seconds. Then the last rider, the World Champion, the leader of the event, Renato Nunes. Renato had already won the title, and the event, but still had some unfinished business - a date with Major Payne. Renato had been the hottest rider in the finals. Major Payne was in the running for Bucking Bull of the Year and had a great out in an earlier round. Everybody was on their feet. The chute opened, Major Payne came bucking hard out of the chute and Renato came off in a quick 1.7 seconds. The bull hit Renato, but he was able to get away, with help from the bull fighters. The event came to an end and even though Renato did not ride his last bull, he became only the second rider in PBR history to win the finals and the title in the same year. Also, Bones, with his stunning out with Marchi was able to squeak by Major Payne and Bushwacker as Bucking Bull of the Year. 
We stood at our seats as Renato was brought up on the center stage and presented the $250,000 check for being the finals winner and the $1,000,000 check for being the World Champion. One thing I noticed as the media was finishing the pictures, Kody Lostroh made his way onto the dirt and to the bottom of the ramp. He politely asked the security if he could go on the stage. He then waited a few minutes, then moved to Renato to congratulate him as the new PBR Champion. They shook hands and gave each other a quick hug and Kody then made his way off the ramp. Also, just a another note, when Renato was bucked off of Major Payne and just before he was carried off to the main stage, Austin Meier, the guy coming in as the world's number 1 rider, came up to Renato and congratualted him. 
We made our way over to the press conference. We had been to every press conference, so why stop now. Renato was introduced as the 2010 PBR World Champion. There were more reporters and camera's at this press conference than had been at previous ones. Renato talked about the finals and he was excited about the win, but it still hasn't sunk in and he doesn't "feel" any different. He said he had a "hump" (instead on lump) on his head from Major Payne and was laughing that he didn't want to ride Major Payne again. There was a question about the back flip in the long go and the bull nearly running him over. He laughed about it and said after the back flip he looked up and said he was surprised and he was ready to get back on the bull and ride some more. Renato talked about retiring to Brazil and getting a big ranch, but not anytime soon. People wanted to see the buckle, and as Renato was showing it, he said "anybody want to buy it". He was really funny, not just in this press conference but all of them. Ty Murry was in the crowd and Renato pointed to him and said that he (Ty) believed in him. Ty came up and the reporters snapped away with the numerous cameras. After saying goodbye to Renato, a group of us made our way to get something to eat. We talked about the entire week and what had just happened. The highs, the lows and the riders, the fans and just about everything in between. I want to say a special thanks to Deana, Dave, Sheryl and Reggie. Your friendship, in and out of the PBR is valued and not only are you great PBR fans, but great people as well.
We made our way back to the hotel and changed as we had a date to go see the play The Lion King. We very much enjoyed the play. I remember watching the animated Lion King with my kids when they were younger, but that had been long ago and wasn't quite sure if a live play would be that good - it was. After the play we went to a nice dinner and some gambling and finally back to the hotel. Our PBR Finals experience was coming to an end. This was our second finals, 2009 and now 2010. Although the finals last year was more meaningful, this finals still had thrills, chills and spills. We will be back next year and know some other friends have already gotten their tickets as well. The new 2011 season starts in January, in New York City. We just made the decision to make the trip to New York. We wanted to see the start of the season, live, and it will be our 29th anniversary, so why not spend the anniversary doing something we both enjoy!!!
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