LAS VEGAS (October 26, 2010) - For the second time in three years, Bones won the World Champion Bull title.
After being selected by the riders as one of the Top 8 contenders for this year’s title, he outperformed Major Payne, Bushwacker, Uncle Buck, Voodoo Child, Big Tex, Highway 12 and the venerable Chicken on a Chain.
To illustrate how hard those types of bulls are to come by, Ty Murray shared a story about an uncle who purchased 500 bulls in a year’s time, through a sale barn in Arizona.
After bucking each one of them, “He got zero that could ever be in the PBR,” Murray said,
“That’s what I love about the system,” he added, “the bulls earn it and the bulls win it. They’re really hard to come by, and these guys have put a lot of money and time, and blood, sweat and tears into trying to raise and find these unbelievably great bulls.”
After returning to his hotel room Sunday night, Murray reflected on the quality of the bulls in Las Vegas last week. “There (were) 10 bulls that if you could have bucked all of them in a row and said, ‘Point to the best one,’ I don’t know if I could have.”
“They’re competing for it. It’s not a popularity contest. … I think it’s a true reflection of a Champion.”
This year the best bull was Bones, and the best rider was Renato Nunes, who like his counterpart competed to his maximum potential on the biggest stage professional bull riding has to offer.
Nunes came from 1,300.25 points behind to win his first World Championship by a commanding 2,906 points. He was 5-for-6, whileAustin Meier went 2-for-5, and a banged up, battered and bruised J.B. Mauney was 1-for-5 at the Finals.
In 2011, Nunes will attempt to become the first rider in PBR history to win back-to-back titles, but he’ll have his work cut out for him.
Meier will have the experience of 2010 to go along with his grittiness. A healthy Kody Lostroh will return for a full season, and after his performance last week, Guilherme Marchi looks like he’s ready to contend for a second World Championship as well.
Silvano Alves and Wesley Lourenco have been stellar in their debuts, and should be considered strong contenders.
Alves finished eighth in the world standings despite competing for only half the season, while Lourenco was third in the World Finals event average despite being on a liquid diet for the better part of a month after breaking his jaw at an event in Brazil.
And there are others who are likely to emerge.
“Everybody has to step up their game,” Murray said. “This sport, everything about it is getting better. The competition is getting better, the riders are getting better, the bulls are getting better, the money’s getting better, and it just gets me so excited that I can’t wait for next year.”
Murray’s entire Podcast can be heard here.
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