NEW YORK (October 15, 2010) - Prior to riding Skyhawk Cut-a-Rug in the middle of Times Square on Friday afternoon, Travis Briscoe had mixed emotions about the matchup.
There was part of him that wanted an opportunity to extract revenge on a bull he singled out as having derailed his season, and another part of him – largely because of all the mounting injuries – that didn’t want any part of the same bull that nearly ended his season in late February.
“He’s not one that a guy likes to get on,” said Briscoe, who won the last Final Five Showdown with an 87-point ride. “That bull, I kind of owed him one, because he started my whole chain of injuries this year when I dislocated all (those) ribs.
“That was the first injury that I had this season. He’s the one who started it, and it made me have a lack of preparation during that week and then come back the next weekend and get hurt again.”
Briscoe’s fortune changed that weekend in St. Louis, and ever since then, it’s been a struggle for the 23-year-old from New Mexico.
Since that event, he’s been unable to finish a third of the events, and missed five other Built Ford Tough Series events all together.
“I was under the impression that I had to get him back this time, because he’s kind of what held me back through this whole deal,” Briscoe said. “I was excited to have him, but after a couple hours of thinking about it, I wasn’t too happy. And then all of a sudden, I got the mentality that, ‘Hey, you’re going to do this in the middle of Times Square. Only 10 guys in the world have ever been able to do this, and go do it, have fun, do your job, and get some revenge.’”
In spite of all the injuries – he’s blown out both knees, his left elbow, his left wrist and had multiple concussions – he came into the Time Square event ranked 10th in the world standings, and his 287 points – which includes 200 bonus points for winning the round – moved him up two spots.
Briscoe will now turn his attention to the World Finals, and heads to Las Vegas trailing world leader Austin Meier by 4,033 points.
While he’s mathematically still a contender for the world title, which pays a $1 million bonus, it would be a tall order, considering there are a maximum of 5,500 points to be earned at Finals. But he could be in position to win the average, which pays $250,000.
“I got to test out my arm and see if I was going to be able to hang on to my bull rope going into the Finals,” he said of Friday’s experience. “And without a doubt, I think I’m going to.”
Afterward, he said he felt fine, and that his left arm – he switched back to his normal riding arm after unsuccessfully using his offhand the past few times he’s competed – was numb, but that the true test will be to see how it feels Saturday morning.
“How it feels after the whistle doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s how it feels during the 8 seconds, because that’s what I live for.”
As frustrating as 2010 has been for Briscoe, in some ways, he has been experiencing a career year.
His riding average of 47.76-percent is a career best, and well over his career average of 39.29-percent. His 10 Top 10 finishes is two better than the eight he recorded the past three seasons.
And with only six bulls left, Briscoe could finish the season ranked in the Top 10 for the first time in his career. He’s currently ranked eighth. His previous-best finish came in 2006, when he wound up 14th.
NEWS AND NOTES
TUNE IN: Watch the Built Ford Tough Road to Vegas on CBS. The last Final Five Showdown, it will be broadcast Sunday afternoon. Check your local listings for times in your area.
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