I just wanted to update a few of you going into tonight’s round 5. Last night we saw a new Dickies Dura bull fighter from Canada. Jesse Byrne has replaced Joe Baumgardner from last week’s accident and there will again be four lifesavers on the floor of the Thomas and Mack arena.
It was reported late last night that there were 2 injuries that needed to be addressed going into the Friday night's round, L.J. Jenkins was listed as probable and has been cleared as of 3 pm pacific to compete. L.J. suffered a broken collarbone earlier this year and has been banged up the last few rounds. However, he knows that to go home from here would not be the right call with all the money left in the go rounds. We know he is capable of pulling off something special for the rest of the week and we'll see how he reacts tonight. Jared Farley has sustained a bruised and separated shoulder from last nights round and was listed as questionable. He has not been cleared by Dr. Tandy Freeman and has taken the advice of the "Doc" and has opted to sit out of round number 5. The PBR rule in the World Finals is that if you decide to medical out of a round you must sit out another round as well. This will eliminate him from tonight and Saturday evenings round but would be eligible to compete on Sunday if he is cleared by the medical staff. Thus, we turn to the first alternate and that would be Vince Northrup from Davidson Sask, Canada by his qualifier earnings on the season. Vince will try to cash in on this opportunity and maybe be a spoiler in the go round chase for the cash.
The draft was this morning and should be some fantastic match ups for the evening. I will go out on a limb and say that there may be as many as 24 bullriders get to the whistle tonight. We'll see how well I can judge and hey, this is Vegas...you got to bet on something so we'll see how close I come after the round tonight. Have a great Friday night and if any of you have never been to Las Vegas in November, you might want to put this on the list of things to do for next year. The weather is terrible at a balmy 70 degrees, and they call this winter in the southwest....ha ha ha. Take care
J.W. Kinder
PRCA Rodeo Announcer & Western Regional Director
