LAS VEGAS (October 22, 2010) - The 2010 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals are, once again, surpassing the hype.
With two rounds down, three of the best professional bull riders on the planet are now within 608.25 points of one another. A fourth is only 1,094 off the lead.
“This thing is getting really interesting really fast,” said Ty Murray in his daily Podcast. “Things can get very complex here in a hurry.”
Renato Nunes, who came to Las Vegas trailing Austin Meier by more than 1,300 points, is 2-for-2, and has closed the gap by almost 700 points. J.B. Mauney is 326.75 points behind Meier.
“It’s not like they’re not coming to the party,” Murray said.
While Nunes has been perfect in the first two rounds – he’s recorded two 89-point rides, including one on Chicken on a Chain – Mauney is 0-for-2, and competing with a mild right shoulder sprain suffered in the opening round when he bucked off of Train Wreck.
Meier is 1-for-2, and wasn’t able to convert on Braveheart last night.
“The guts and the effort and the try is the No. 1 most important thing, but it can’t be the only thing,” said Murray, noting that Meier got caught leaning back on a strong bull. “You’ve got to do something right.”
With four rounds yet to play out, Murray said it looks as though Nunes is as good as he was through the first two-thirds of the Built Ford Tough Series.
Nunes won three events and twice was atop the world standings, only to give way to Meier both times.
“We do know he’s very, very dangerous when he’s on his game,” Murray said. “Now he’s got two rounds behind him with a ton of confidence.”
There’s a heightened sense of urgency building with each passing round, which Murray said is at “a fever pitch right now.”
Although each of the contenders no doubt is anxious, Murray said it’s important for each of them to control his emotions, and enjoy the process and the journey.
But each is experiencing it in very different ways.
“I’m a huge fan,” explained Murray. “If you look at our Top 4 guys, I’ve been in all the positions that I’m seeing them go through, and I was just such a fan last night watching the show. I had goose bumps.
“There were a lot of inspiring things happening.”
NEWS AND NOTES
DUSTIN ELLIOTT AND AARON ROY didn’t have the regular seasons they were hoping for, but that was then, and this is now. They are two of the five riders who have covered their first two bulls at the Finals.
“Every year I come here I seem to excel on these bulls,” said Roy. “I don’t know what it is. It must be the crowd behind you and the adrenaline, but it feels good to have two bulls down.”
Roy added that his goal is to use a strong showing at the Finals to finish in the Top 10 of the world standings.
Elliott, who was the 40th qualifier among the Top 40 riders, said, “Two down … it’s a marathon, baby.” As for his turnaround, he added, “Words can’t explain it.”
NED CROSS knew that if he could make the whistle on Black Pearl, the score would potentially win the round. “The only problem with him,” he said afterward, “is getting out of the chute clean, and I got out good on him. It was just hell bent for leather from there.” He earned 91 points, and it wasn’t until Valdiron de Oliveira scored 91.5 points on Spit Fire that Cross went from first in the round to second. Still, after two rounds, he’s first in the average.
The key to his matchup with Black Pearl was “not rushing things – not getting too jacked up and jumping up on your rope. What I did was just ease up there and make sure he was looking out the chute real good, he turned and he didn’t buck in there one bit like he had been doing.”
JEFF ROBINSON, who was named Stock Contractor of the Year last night and has five of the eight bulls competing for World Champion title, said that he started to feel nervous about 30 minutes prior to the rider introductions Thursday night. “Man, I got butterflies bad,” he said. “The nerves really kick in right about now.” All eight contenders have had one out so far. “We just hope they buck good,” he said, “and the chips will fall where they fall. … As long as they feel good and they’re a little ornery, we’re in pretty good shape.”
J.B. MAUNEY was among the first group of riders to arrive at the Thomas & Mack Center last night. According to Dr. Tandy Freeman, Mauney suffered a mild right shoulder (free arm) separation when he landed on it after being thrown from Train Wreck the night before. A day after the wreck, he couldn’t lift up his injured arm. However, Freeman helped tape and brace it, so that he could use his free arm in Round 2. But he was thrown from Bones in 4 seconds.
PBR EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN JEFFREY POLLACK hosted the annual Rookie Luncheon Thursday afternoon. Along with the rookies were special guests Ty Murray, Adriano Moraes, Cody Lambert and David Fournier. Afterward, Stormy Wing said, “I thought it was great.” It’s the second time in three events he’s met with Pollack, and he added, “I like everything he’s saying.”
Wing said it was motivational and inspirational to listen to Murray, Moraes, Lambert and Fournier, who all explained to the rookies that there are only 40 riders in the world who qualify to compete at a Built Ford Tough Series event. “It just makes you feel good, you know, that yeah, I belong here,” said Wing.
FLINT RASMUSSEN will be hosting his daily talk show for the next three days in the Fan Zone. Today’s show will be at noon PT, and include Renato Nunes, Ryan McConnel and Ben Jones. Saturday’s show is at 1 p.m. PT. All the shows can be seen live by logging onto the Live Event Center at www.pbr.com.
JUSTIN MCBRIDE RELEASED HIS NEWEST CD/DVD, “Live at Billy Bob’s Texas,” this week. McBride will perform with his entire band tonight at The Venetian Showroom. The performance begins at 10:30 p.m.
COMMENTS
