COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 10, 2010) - Prior to the start of the final two rounds of the Cooper Tires Invitational, Ryan McConnel promised that Sunday afternoon would become the “Ryan McConnel Show.”
The show had opened Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, with McConnel’s 86.75-point ride on Wild Cat to split third and fourth with Ben Jones in Round 1.
After riding Flash Bang in Round 2 on Sunday, the 23-year-old wrote the ending to the script when McConnel said he was going to select Smack Down in the bull draft for the short round – the same bull that cost him the event win last week in Uncasville, Conn.
“I was supposed to ride him for the event win last week,” said McConnel, who recognized his mistake a week ago was attempting to spur him. “So, you watch me. I’m going to take him this week and this event.”
While he kept both feet in place this time around, he still came up a mere second short of the whistle.
“Dang,” he said with a smile on his face after walking out of the arena, “that should have been two wins.”
While veteran Colby Yates did the winning interview out on the shark cage, McConnel and J.B. Mauney could only laugh with one another about the missed opportunity.
There were no changes amongst any of the Top 10 positions, however, a few of the top contenders moved closer to the top spot in the world standings.
McConnel, who despite his bold prediction is still fifth in the standings, went from 3,025.5 points off the lead to trailing world leader Austin Meier by 2,675 points.
With only the last Final Five Showdown remaining before the PBR World Finals, Mauney – who finished eighth in the average – cut 200 points off of Meier’s lead, and trails him by 506.75 points. Renato Nunes trails Meier by 1,300.75 points.
Valdiron de Oliveira made the short round for the fourth event in a row, and his second-place finish seriously cut into Meier’s lead. He trails the No. 1 rider by 1,734.5 points.
After the event, Mauney talked outside of the locker room, and said that with his choice of Voodoo Child in the short round, he “was trying to go for it.”
It’ll be a busy week for the Top 10 riders in the world standings.
All 10 will arrive in New York on Wednesday, and begin a 48-hour press junket leading up to Friday afternoon’s bonus round in Times Square.
“You forget about everything once you get to the bull riding – everything you been doing, interviews and whatnot – just forget about all that stuff,” Mauney said.
“When you get there, just ride bulls.”
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