CALGARY, Alberta, Canada (July 9, 2010) - The Calgary Stampede opens its 10-day run on Friday, and there are 11 riders who have competed in a Professional Bull Riders elite Built Ford Tough Series event this season, including Cord McCoy (Ada, Okla.), among the 20 entrants in the bull riding.
Cord McCoy and his brother, Jet, were honorary marshals of the Calgary Stampede parade Friday. The two gained worldwide fame during the CBS television show “The Amazing Race,” and earned countless fans, including Sarah Jessica Parker who said the duo was “probably the greatest team that ever competed … because of how they conducted themselves in every country they traveled around.”
The past four winners at the Stampede have been BFTS riders, including J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) in 2009 and 2004 PBR World Champion Mike Lee (Decatur, Texas) in 2008.
Aaron Roy (Asquith, Saskatchewan, Canada), who won the PBR Canada Finals in 2008, and Beau Hill (West Glacier, Mont.), who won the Stampede in 2003 and is the defending Canadian PBR Champion, are ranked 15th and 27th, respectively, in the BFTS standings.
The other riders with BFTS experience this year are Matt Bohon (Cole Camp, Mo.), Douglas Duncan (Alvin, Texas), Ty Elliott (Vernon, British Columbia, Canada), Dusty Ephrom (Arcola, Saskatchewan, Canada), Edimundo Gomes (de Atibaia, Sao Paulo, Brazil), Devon Mezei (Scandia, Alberta, Canada), Jason O’Hearn (Stephenville, Texas), and Tyler Thomson (Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada).
The remaining nine competitors are Kanin Asay, Kyle German, J.W. Harris, Zane Lambert, Corey Navarre, Wes Silcox, Scott Schiffner, Brett Thompson, and Bobby Welsh. Schiffner has competed on the BFTS and has represented Canada all four years at the World Cup. Navarre appeared on the BFTS from 1998-2008, notching two event wins.
The field is made up of the Top 10 PBR finishers from 2009, the Top 5 Canadian riders and the Top 5 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association riders. Riders unable to compete are replaced by other top-rated riders. The 20 riders are split into two pools in a tournament-style format, with Pool A being Bohon, German, Hill, Lambert, Mezei, McCoy, Schiffner, Silcox, Thomson, and Thompson while Pool B is Asay, Duncan, Elliott, Ephrom, Gomes, Harris, Navarre, O’Hearn, Roy, and Welsh.
Pool A is scheduled to compete from Friday to Monday, and Pool B will compete Tuesday to Friday. There is $15,000 in prize money awarded each day.
The top four riders from each pool advance to Showdown Sunday on July 18. The remaining 12 compete in Wild Card Saturday on July 17 for two spots on Showdown Sunday. The 10 finalists each ride on Showdown Sunday and the top four scores advance to the final round with the winner taking home $100,000.
TSN2, Canada’s most-watched digital sports network, broadcasts the BFTS each Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.
The PBR Canadian Cup National Finals presented by Wrangler will be held Nov. 19-20 at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Tickets begin as low as $15 and are on sale now at the Credit Union Centre Box Office, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, at Ticketmaster outlets in Saskatchewan and by telephone at (306) 938-7800 and (800) 970-7328.
The BFTS is having the deepest title race in history and there have been 15 different winners through the first 20 events. The BFTS is currently on its summer break and will return on July 16-18 for the Express Classic in Tulsa, Okla., presented by Cooper Tires and brought to you locally by Troy-Bilt and Blue-Emu.
There are 12 riders in the Top 20 of the BFTS standings who have won an event. The multiple-event winners for 2010 are Austin Meier with four wins, and Renato Nunes and Valdiron de Oliveira with two wins apiece.
The BFTS standings lead has changed nine times and there have been six different riders at the top in the first half of the season. J.B. Mauney has been ranked first three different times, while Meier and Nunes have each held the top spot twice.
For more information on the Professional Bull Riders, please visit www.pbr.com or contact Jack Carnefix at (719) 242-2800 or jcarnefix@pbrnow.com or Sara Broun at (719) 242-2800 or sbroun@pbrnow.com.
About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and television networks around the world. With approximately 400 hours of prime-time programming annually, the PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air. The PBR attracts nearly two million live event attendees each year with its marquee Built Ford Tough Series and the PBR Touring Pro Division. More than 1,200 PBR bull riders compete every year in approximately 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.
About the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada:
Dollars earned at Canadian events counts towards qualification to the elite PBR Canadian Cup National Finals. Upon the conclusion of the Finals, the bull rider with the most regular season and Finals points is crowned the PBR Canadian National Champion. Money won at all Canadian events counts toward qualifying on the prestigious PBR Built Ford Tough Series. At the end of the BFTS season, the top ranked Canadian rider will represent Canada at the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.
For more on the PBR, please visit www.pbr.com, www.teampbr.com, www.pbr.tv, www.myspace.com/teampbr, twitter.com/teampbr, or www.pbr.com/worldfinals/.
