September 16th's PBR Prime Time online radio show special guests will be two well-known Jeromes. Jerome Davis and Jerome Robinson. Fans can tune into the Internet radio show at www.pbrnow/radio. Showtime is 8 PM ET and begins LIVE broadcast at 9 PM.
In preparation for the live show which is co-hosted by Wild Bill Palanuk and Keith Ryan Cartwright, Keith asked Jerome Davis the following 8 questions:
Question: You’re quite a busy guy. How closely are you able to follow the Built Ford Tough Series?
Answer: Well, I stay in touch with those guys pretty regularly. Me and J.W. (Hart) are good friends and, of course, J.B. (Mauney) and Brian (Canter) are around the house pretty regularly so I stay on top of it. We all go to those events pretty regularly too. I stay pretty involved and it’s still part of my livelihood, I guess you could say.
Q: Have you ever seen a season like the one Guilherme Marchi is having?
A: This guy is just unbelievable. I’ve said it before, in my opinion, Guilherme is one of the best bull riders I’ve ever seen. He falls back to that Clint Branger-type guy who deserves a world title and has been right in there and just never got it done. He’s been so close so many times and, to me, that’s kind of Guilherme’s deal. I think this year his time is coming.
Q: How much better are Guilherme and (Justin) McBride than everyone else?
A: Well, they are. They’re a step ahead of everybody else. The thing is that this bull riding game is just a matter of seconds, and little things make such a big difference, and right now those two guys are just walking away with it. The next level down you’ve got a guy like J.B. Mauney or Kody Lostroh or whoever it might be and those guys are just a notch right below them. It wouldn’t take much and they’re going to be right there in the same ballgame, but as it is right now, can’t nobody stand with those two guys.
Q: Yeah, McBride is indeed one of the greatest. I was talking with Cody Lambert and he predicted that McBride will finish in the Top 10. I added up some numbers and there’s a good chance that in spite of missing the first six months of the season he could in fact accomplish that.
A: Oh yeah, I don’t doubt that. To me you’re looking at the guy who might win a couple more events before we go into the Finals. He can do that. He’s that good and it wouldn’t surprise me at all. What he’s got on his side right now is that he’s healthy, and everybody else is coming in at half throttle going into these events. Justin is probably not only one of the better guys, but right now he’s not beat up. He’s healthy. He’s fresh. He’s coming full bore and if I was to say who’s going to win the next event, my pick would be Justin McBride.
Q: Let’s talk about some young guns – you know J.B. (Mauney) and Brian (Canter) as well or, perhaps, better than anyone else. What’s it going to take for one of these guys to step up and do what it takes to win a world title?
A: I think it’s just a matter of knowing when it’s their time. Right now Guilherme and Justin are just out-riding those guys right now. You have to be in the right mindset to win a world title. I know they’re a threat, but I know that right now deep down in their heart that those two guys are out-riding them. There’s no doubt about it. It’ll take a hot year when things are really rolling their way that they can win a world title, and then they get in that mindset that they say, “Hey, this is my year to win this title.” Right now I don’t think that they’re in that mindset. I think when they finally say, “Hey, this is my year. It’s time to do it.” Then that’s when it’s going to happen. The guys, they both ride good enough. They’re still maturing. They’re both young and sowing their oats, you may say, at the events. They’re going to these events, having a good time and riding bulls. That’s what life’s all about and they’re enjoying it right now. They couldn’t be doing anything to make them any happier. There will come a time when they buckle up and say, “Hey, it’s time to make this thing work” and that’s when this thing will get done.
Q: Who are some of the other riders that you have mentored?
A: I can’t take credit for the reason why those guys ride as good as they do. I help a lot of guys and there’s only so many who can make it to that level. J.B. didn’t come around as much as Brian did. Brian was at the house all the time—just about every day, and his brother even works for me. J.B., I would see him at the events off and on and he would come over to the house so, yeah, I would help him when I can, but I can’t say that I was one of the reasons they’re where they’re at today. I’d love to take credit for it, but I can’t. I mean, you have to have it in you to get to that level. You can set a seed with those guys, but then from there where they go with it… it’s got to be in your heart. You have to want it. They went on and did something with it.
Q: Of the riders we haven’t talked about yet who really impresses you and why?
A: I think Kody Lostroh, to me, is a guy that just kind of, he’s not a sleeper, but he is a sleeper. He’s that guy that at the end of the day when they come out with the Top 5 standings Kody Lostroh is going to be there at the end of the year. To me, he’s got the right mindset. He’s a little more focused than some of those guys of what his goals are and where he wants to go with it. To me, he’s the guy that nobody is paying as much attention to. He’s right in there. They’re not looking at him to be a threat, but that guy could be a threat. Maybe not this year, but I see – in the future – Kody Lostroh being right in there.
Q: It’s been quite a season – we talked about Guilherme, there’s been a high riding average, a lot of 90-point rides and now McBride is back and, more importantly, winning events – but what should fans expect with the last six events and then on into the World Finals?
A: To me it’s already gotten interesting. You have Guilherme Marchi, who has run away with it all year, and there’s a good chance he’s going to win a world title. Then we’ve seen a little weakness in him a little bit and he could get really cold at these last few events. To me we’ve seen a little bit of a weakness there and could there be more in the future? You could tell he was really fighting himself. When I saw him riding that bull in the short round he was really excited about getting that bull rode because you can tell he had been fighting his head real bad. It was like a relief. If he keeps doing that and having to fight his head that’s how you could lose a world title. You have guys hanging back there and they’re just getting on and bearing down every time and making the whistle and then you’ve got a guy like Guilherme with all this pressure on him. He’s just trying so hard to win that thing that he’s throwing himself off. To me, from an old bull rider’s perspective, it’s already getting interesting. Is he going to be able to take the pressure? I think he wants it so bad that he’ll actually fight himself out of all that to the point that he just says, “Hey, forget it. I enjoy riding bulls and I’m going to get on, bear down and make the whistle and I’m going to be the next world champ.” I think that’s what he’ll do.
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