PUEBLO, Colo. (February 24, 2010) - As the 2010 Winter Olympics draw to a close, the PBR turns its attention to the fast-approaching World Cup in Las Vegas.
Within the next couple of days, the PBR is expected to announce the five national captains and their initial lists of approximately eight riders. Though the final teams will be made up of five riders each, each captain will select three extras to ensure against injury or other unforeseen circumstances.
J.W. Hart, Adriano Moraes and Cody Snyder have already talked publicly about their continued roles as captains, and Troy Dunn is expected to lead the Australians, but after last year’s debacle, a new captain has yet to be named for Team Mexico.
Team USA comes into the 2010 event having won the past two years. While seven of the Top 10 riders in the current world standings are American, Hart – a three-time captain – will be shouldering the pressure of repeating once again, this time on home soil.
J.B. Mauney, 1, Travis Briscoe, 2, and Austin Meier, 4, would seem to be virtual locks for a spot on this year’s squad. Josh Koschel, 5, Shane Proctor, 7, Skeeter Kingsolver, 8, and McKennon Wimberly, 10, are likely in consideration for the final two spots on the team.
Mauney and Meier would be the only repeat competitors from last year, and are the only two with any experience from the three previous World Cup events, which have been hosted in Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
Moraes is faced with a challenge of his own.
Valdiron de Oliveira, 3, Renato Nunes, 6, Robson Palermo, 9, and Guilherme Marchi, 11, would all appear to be four of the five riders representing Brazil, but two of those four – Palermo and Marchi – are contending with injuries to their riding arms.
Palermo is dealing with an ongoing injury to his wrist, while Marchi admitted this past weekend that he does in fact have a fractured bone in his right hand. He injured it in Anaheim during a chute mishap, and was out until the Iron Cowboy Invitational this past weekend.
Although the 2008 World Champion advanced through two rounds in Arlington before being eliminated by Travis Briscoe, he clearly felt the effects of the fracture. It’s unknown at this time if or how long the 27-year-old will be able to continue.
Moraes is still closely connected with the Brazilian tour, and has been known to showcase new talent at Cup events. He could have in mind a pair of newcomers to fill out his initial roster spots, or could choose from Ednei Caminhas, 26, Fabiano Vieira, 50, and Edimundo Gomes, 51.
Hart, Moraes and Snyder have turned in their lists of potential team members.
The likely list of Canadians would include Aaron Roy, 17, Tyler Thomson, 54, and Dusty Ephrom, 56, along with Vince Northrop, Devon Mezei, Jordie Campbell and Tanner Girletz.
The list for Australia hasn’t been turned in, but is expected to be finalized Thursday afternoon.
Pete Farley, 39, and Ben Jones, 33, would be the favorites to lead the Aussies, along with Jared Farley and Brendon Clark. After those four riders, the roster is likely to consist of competitors who have never appeared in the Built Ford Tough Series.
Team Mexico is even less predictable. Rocky McDonald will be replaced as captain, but he is expected to be a part of the Mexican team.
This year’s World Cup, which is presented by Dickies, is scheduled to take place April 16-18 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center.
NEWS and NOTES
PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by J.W. Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call in with questions at 866-547-9696, or email them to pbr@rfdtv.com.
Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in St. Louis, Mo., by logging on to www.pbr.com and entering the “Event Center,” which is accessible from the tab located at the top of the main Web page. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related Podcasts and interviews.
