Professional Bull Riders News and Notes - September 15th, 2008

By Keith Ryan Cartwright, PBR
Posted Monday, September 15, 2008

Grand Rapids proves to be filled with storylines

PUEBLO, Colo. (September 15, 2008)

$5 Million Man: As expected, Justin McBride surpassed the $5 million mark in career earnings when he beat Guilherme Marchi in the Grudge Match. McBride is the first cowboy ever to reach the milestone. “I never thought I would win $5 million,” McBride said, “and I owe it all to the PBR.” McBride, who covered Baby Blue, won the highly anticipated match up by virtue of Marchi being bucked off his grudge match bull.

Ride ‘em Cowboy: It may not have been his best of the season, but when Marchi covered Whirlybird for 83.25 points in Round 1, the Brazilian cowboy set a new single-season record for the most qualified rides. Marchi and McBride set a record last year with 57 qualified rides; however, with five events to go as well as the World Finals, it is apparent that Marchi is on pace to shatter the mark.

Beginners Luck: When you ride as consistently well as the rookie class of 2008, it hardly has to do with luck. For the second consecutive event a rookie – this time Reese Cates – finished in second place. In fact, three rookies made it into the short go this weekend, and at least one rookie has been in 20 of 27 championship rounds. Cates covered all three of his bulls this weekend, while newcomer Ryan Dirteater covered all three two weeks ago in Nashville.

United We Ride: Wiley Peterson made it to Furniture City, but, unfortunately, his gear bag was nowhere to be found. Apparently the folks at United Airlines misplaced his luggage, so the Idaho native borrowed a pair of boots, a helmet and a rope from his friend Austin Meier. As for his chaps-free ride in Round 1, he joked that as far as he could tell there was no brush out in the arena. In any case, he had to keep his 55, because Meier had yet to ride and needed his boots back.

Just Win Baby: There are five more events left before the World Finals, and time is not on the side of former World Champion Ednei Caminhas. Like his Brazilian counterpart Adriano Moraes, the 32-year-old is retiring at the end of the 2008 season. Unlike Moraes, he is only 51st in the qualifier standings so, in spite of currently being ranked 15th in the world in points, he has the next five events to make up $4,400 and move up six spots if he intends the last ride of his career to be in Vegas.