One for the aged

By Keith Ryan Cartwright
Posted Sunday, October 11, 2009

White returns to form, wins Round 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 11, 2009) - In more ways than one, he looked like the Mike White of old.

He closed out the first flight of Round 1 with an 88.75-point effort on Carolina Cat, which held up over 32 more outs for the early lead in Columbus, Ohio, at the Cooper Tires Invitational.

White has won this event twice (2004, 2007) in his career.

“It felt good,” White said. “Last weekend I rode my second-round bull and really felt good, felt in control and felt back to normal.”

White returned to competition in Ontario, Calif., after sitting out since April with a torn tendon in his rotator cuff.

The 33-year-old cowboy from De Kalb, Texas, initially returned with a helmet, but midway through last weekend’s event in Portland, Ore., he decided go back to riding with a hat instead.

He was again without the helmet Saturday night when he rode at Nationwide Arena.

“I can honestly say I gave the helmet an honest effort,” he said, “I got on six bulls with it and it just it wasn’t working for me. I don’t know if it was a mental deal or what, but I just didn’t feel comfortable and didn’t feel like I had any control. I don’t know if it was throwing my balance off or what, but it didn’t work and, in this game, you gotta do what works for you because it pays the bills.”

Right now White is 31st in the world standings, but he needs money more than points.

He’s 50th in the qualifier standings with $34,743.82 earned, and it’s going to take more than $50,000 earned to qualify for the 2009 PBR World Finals, which start Oct. 30 in Las Vegas and take place through Nov. 8.

“I haven’t looked at it,” said White, “but I’m just going off of years past, and it usually takes $50 to $55,000, so I’m looking at having to win $20,000.”

Saturday night was the first time White won an opening round of an event since doing so in New York City, an event that was won by J.B. Mauney. It’s only his third round win of the season—the other coming in Round 2 of Anaheim.

“I felt confident,” he added, “the bull I got on tonight was a good bull to get on.”

He’s not looking forward to his second-round bull, Silver Wings.

“It ain’t such a good bull,” White said. “He’s been out a bunch of times and only been rode once. He’s a hard bull to get by, but I’ve rode bulls in the past that are hard to ride. As a matter of fact, one of the bulls I rode here in Columbus to win was a bull that’s never been ridden, that was High Tide, and I ain’t saying I can’t do it. Anything is possible.”

White was the top scorer among 21 qualified rides, which were the most qualified rides in an opening round since they cowboys recorded 22 in Tacoma. The 21 rides are nearly four over the season average of 17.24 for the opening round.

Rounding out the Top 5 are Ross Coleman (87.75), Chris Shivers (87.25), Elliott Jacoby (87) and Dustin Elliott (86.75).

White will be contending for the event title along with the Top 3 contenders for this year’s world title.

J.B. Mauney, Guilherme Marchi and Kody Lostroh continued their season-long battle with three consecutive rides to close out the round.

“I think it’s great,” Lostroh said. “I think this is what it’s about—the best guys battling it out, and it’s an exciting deal to be a part of.”

Mauney finished ninth with an 86 on Semi-Automatic, while Marchi and Lostroh were 83.75 and 84 points respectively.

Lostroh, who entered the weekend 962 points ahead of Marchi and 972.5 ahead of Mauney in the standings, is normally calm, cool and collected, but the reserved cowboy from Colorado showed some emotion afterward. Lostroh was 16th and Marchi 17th in the opening round.

Lostroh was clearly fired up after he got off Buckle – a ride in which he worked hard every second of the trip.

“He really made me work,” Lostroh said, “and sometimes that gets me pretty fired up. … I try not to let my emotions get the best of me, but I was fired up there and it’s fun to let it out.”

NEWS and NOTES

Live from Columbus: Be sure to log onto www.pbrnow.com Sunday afternoon and the “Event Center” tab on the left hand side of the Columbus event page, so you can follow along with real-time stats, live commentary and event related Podcasts.

Road to Vegas: All roads are leading to Las Vegas! At this time of the season the PBR is all about the World Finals, which is Oct. 30 through Nov. 8. Call 866-PBR-SHOW for ticket information or log onto www.unlvtickets.com to order your tickets for what will be one of the tightest finishes for the world title.

Tweet, tweet: Be sure to follow the PBR on Twitter at www.twitter.com/teampbr.