LAS VEGAS (October 24, 2010) - “You can see it in the look in his eye.”
Ty Murray could only have been talking about Renato Nunes.
For the third time this year, Nunes has moved to the No. 1 position in the world. With two rounds remaining Sunday afternoon at the 2010 PBR World Finals, Nunes leads Austin Meier by 118.25 points.
“We’ve talked before about how dangerous he can be, because he can be so electric and he can get on fire,” said Murray. “He’s a very exciting rider to watch.”
“I think right now he feels like he can ride anything here.”
After four rounds, Nunes is the only rider to have ridden all four of his bulls, while Meier has covered two of his four.
Nunes has the top spot in the average, which would give him 2,500 bonus points if he maintains it through today. Meier is 20th, and will need to ride his fifth-round bull and place high in the average to have any chance of catching Nunes.
Valdiron de Oliveira, who is fourth in the world standings and 14th in the Finals average, also has an opportunity to make up 1,206.25 points if he were to finish the event with two strong rides that place high in each round.
“Nothing is a sewn-up deal yet,” Murray said. “Every single guy has his work cut out for him every single time the gate opens. If (Nunes) can just stay focused, keep his mindset where it’s been, and keep doing what he’s doing, he’s definitely your favorite.”
NEWS AND NOTES
J.W. HART looked back on his own career with bittersweet emotions. Saturday night, the PBR honored Cat Man Do, who bucked for the last time in his career. He’s a bull Hart and his father Randy raised and hauled to PBR events. He’s also the last bull Hart got on before he retired in May of 2009.
“My dad put me on my first bull and he bucked me off my last one,” recalled Hart. Cat Man Do is owned by Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington.
Cat Man was the high-money bull for the 2008 season, and as Hart is quick to point out, he bucked off Ross Coleman, Justin McBride andGuilherme Marchi in a year’s time. The bull qualified for the Finals five times.
“The special thing about him,” Hart said, “is that every day that he ever bucked was at a PBR or an ABBI-sanctioned event, so he never (saw) anything less than the best guys in the world.”
ROSS COLEMAN said that electricity of the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center is like going to a UFC fight. “I was just a fan in the stands and I never felt so pumped up,” he said of a recent fight.
But that was before he was reminded of what it’s like to ride bulls at the PBR World Finals. “There (are) about 45 fights a night out there between a bull rider and a bull, so you can feel the atmosphere and feel the energy – it’s just so awesome. I feed off it.”
In recent weeks, Coleman has been at home recovering from a concussion and allowing his riding hand to heal. Coleman has now ridden three of his four bulls in Las Vegas, and is seventh in the average with a combined 260.5 points.
“I swear to you, nothing ever hurts that bad when you’re staying on,” he said. “To tell you the truth, it’s feeling good, too, and I’m just happy to be riding good.
“I’m 31 years old now and I’ve been doing this a long time, but you get down the road and you ride four or five bulls a weekend or three bulls a weekend, I swear to you if something’s bothering you, it (doesn’t) heal up very good. So it was nice to get home, heal up and then get here healthy and confident.”
BEN JONES said the 2010 season has been an emotional journey for him – filled with the highs of winning the Nashville, Tenn., event and round wins throughout the BFTS, and capped by qualifying for the 2010 PBR World Finals. But Friday night, after bucking off his third bull in three nights, he admitted, “Instead of being a professional sportsman, I’ve let it snowball.”
After having a chance to regroup emotionally and physically, he took some time Saturday night to apologize. “I wasn’t happy with my performance in the arena and after, especially for the fans. All the support they’ve given me, I’ve got to hide my emotions a bit more.”
After Thursday night’s wreck, he said he’s feeling better. “They thought I might have a crack in my jaw and then a fracture in my skull, but I went and got CT Scans last night, and we’re all clear there. I’ve just got a few stitches in my head.” Jones suffered lacerations to mouth and right ear.
But that’s not why he wore a helmet in Round 3. Prior to the CT scan, the only way Dr. Tandy Freeman would clear him was if he wore the helmet. Now that he’s received a clean bill of health, he’s back to wearing his customary black hat.
“It’s just been such a big year, emotion-wise, things haven’t gone my way and it’s just time to block it all out,” he said. “I think I just put too much pressure on myself from the start of the week.”
FORD TRUCKS brought Guillermo Rodriguez to the Finals on Friday to film a special segment for Jimmy Kimmel Live. Guillermo came to Las Vegas with the intention of riding a bull, but after a rough go of it with Travis Briscoe and Super Duty, he thought better of the idea. He spent time with bullfighter Shorty Gorham before getting on stage with Flint Rasmussen during one of the commercial breaks. The segment can be seen on ABC on Monday, Nov. 1. Check local listings for show times.
“My mom was here, 72 years old and she’ll hate that I said that,” Rasmussen said, “but after the show she said, ‘That Guillermo is hilarious. I watch him when I fall asleep all the time.’ Of all the people I thought would know of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and Guillermo, it would (not) be my mom.”
He added, “Not only did we do something that will give us exposure on a different level of television, but we entertained the people too, and that’s a big thing.”
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