Round one at Mohegan Sun goes to Cord McCoy

By Mary Rudloff
Posted Saturday, October 18, 2008

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – To some riders in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), this weekend’s Mohegan Sun event is about earning enough dollars to qualify for the PBR World Finals in two weeks.

To a few, it’s one more chance to try and close the gap – at least a little – in Guilherme Marchi’s point lead on the way to a world title.

There is a small but determined cluster of rookies to whom the three-day event is a last ditch effort to win the coveted “Rookie of the Year” title.

And to the last small group of riders, it’s all about the end results of the Mohegan Sun event itself. Qualifying for the World Finals is out of reach and any thought of a world title is a year or more away. To those few it’s the dollars that can be won in this event, and a chance to show the world that yes, they really do belong on the Built Ford Tough Series tour.

Whatever the reason they are there, 47 PBR bull riders made their way to Connecticut this weekend in the final BFTS event before the PBR World Finals kicks off in Las Vegas in just two weeks.

Some riders made their shot at jumpstarting their weekend count, and none more than Oklahoma’s red-headed boy wonder, Cord McCoy. The perpetually smiling McCoy, a big fan favorite, won round one with an 88-pointer on the bull, Road Daddy (Hawks Bucking Bulls).

Road Daddy was McCoy’s second bull of the night, after the bull GQ (Mark Reed) ran him into just about every rail the bull could find.

McCoy’s trip on Road Daddy was one of four rerides, along with two bull riders, veterans Sean Willingham and Ross Coleman, who drew new bulls when their original bulls – Chief of Staff (C Berger/J Rosen) and Buck Cherry (Jeff Robinson) respectively – never even made it out of the chutes. Willingham’s bull refused to stand up, while Coleman’s refused to keep all four hooves on the ground in the chutes. Willingham managed to capitalize on his reride, scoring 84.0 points – enough to put him 17th in the round – while Coleman bucked off reride, Toro Cinco, in 7.1 seconds.

Chief of Staff wasn’t the only nod to the upcoming elections, with other bulls including The Senator (C Berger/J Rosen), which threw Scott Schiffner to the ground in 1.7 seconds, and Joe the Plummer (Chad Berger), which number two man Valdiron de Oliveira covered for 86.25 points, enough for a three way tie for 8th through 10th place. Also scoring 86.25 were Bryan Richardson on Cosmo (Sonny Williams) and Kasey Hayes – riding without the trademark face mask – on The Captain (Jeff Robinson).

At the head of the pack, and gaining at least a little bit of ground on Guilherme Marchi’s points lead, was Kody Lostroh, who finished Friday night’s round in 2nd place with 87.75 points on Gringo (Mark Ward). He was followed by third place finisher Shane Proctor, with 87.25 points on Countersink (Williams/Rothe/Lang) and a tie for 4th/5th, at 87.0 points, for Robson Palermo on Cool Cat (John & Lacey Berger) and Canadian Aaron Roy on Shrek (Mark Reed).

Standing alone in 6th place was Ednei Caminhas, who came into the events in 46th place in the money standings, struggling to make the World Finals even though he is in the top 20 in the points standings. Caminhas announced earlier this year that he would retire from bull riding at the end of the season, but has made statements in the past few weeks that appear to show he is reconsidering that decision, particularly if he didn’t qualify for the World Finals.

Even though he came into the Mohegan Sun event in 46th place, with only the top 45 qualifying for the World Finals, it is likely the 2002 world champ will make it to Vegas again this year. Included in the top 45 riders in the money standings is fellow Brazilian Paulo Crimber, who is out indefinitely and possibly permanently with a broken neck, and three time world champion Adriano Moraes, who has a broken finger on his riding hand.

Moraes is in attendance at Mohegan Sun this weekend, but isn’t riding and a brace could be seen on his hand, immobilizing the finger. Interviewed Friday night during the event, Moraes said the finger will not be healed by the finals, and he has been told that as soon as he rides his first bull, should he ride at the finals, the finger will break again. Whether he rides, Moraes added, is up to how much pain he would be able to ride through.

Also posting qualified rides in Friday night’s round one were:

7th place, Corey Navarre, 86.5 points on Time Machine (Hyland Cattle);

8th to 10th place, at 86.25 points, Kasey Hayes, Bryan Richardson and Valdiron de Oliveira;

11th place, Kolt Donaldson, 86.0 points on Rock Hound (Jeff Robinson);

12th/13th place, at 85.5 points, Dustin Hall on Cold Play (J Robinson/Bar-X), and Renato Nunes on Chrome Illusion (Shane Gunderson);

14th to 16th place, at 85.0 points, Wiley Petersen on Crank (Mark Ward); Billy Robinson on Slim Pickens (J Robinson); and Pim Rosa on Ambush (Sonny Williams);

17th place, 84.0 points, Sean Willingham;

18th place, Ned Cross, 83.25 points on Cool Beans (Hyland Cattle)

19th place, Guilherme Marchi on Nevada’s Nickle (Berger Bucking Bulls);

21st place, at 81.25 points, Jordan Hupp on Easy Button (J Robinson);

22nd place at 81.0 points, Nick Landreneau on Joker (Mark Reed);

23rd, JB Mauney with 79.5 points on Repeat (Hyland Cattle)

24th place, Leonil Santos with 77.75 points on White Lightning (Sonny Williams). Santos, of Brazil, won $70,000 in a single PBR Brazil event, which jettisoned him into the top 30 in the PBR standings.

Scores, even low scores, can play a crucial role, especially in a three-day event. At 11 a.m. on Saturday morning, the bull riders will return to Mohegan Sun for the draft, choosing their bulls for round two, which will take place Saturday night.

Winning round one will give Cord McCoy his choice of the bulls to be bucked Saturday night. He will be followed by the bull riders will qualified rides, in descending order, to be followed by the riders who did not post scores, based on the length of their rides. That will leave Rocky McDonald, who was bucked off Because I Said So (Sonny Williams) in 1.2 seconds, getting the last bull left unpicked, as he had the shortest ride in round one. Going right before him should be Brian Canter, who bucked off Whiplash (Berger) in 1.3 seconds and Scott Schiffner, who came at 1.7 seconds.

While the bull riders are riding with their sights set on the world finals, just two weeks away, they aren’t the only ones with a trip to Las Vegas on the line.

The final list of what bulls will or will not be invited to the Thomas and Mack arena, to buck at the finals, will be set after the Mohegan Sun event.