PUEBLO, Colo. (April 28, 2010) - After winning the first Built Ford Tough Series event of his career, there was an overwhelming sense that Silvano Alves was the real deal.
Then, a week later, he held his own at the World Cup in Las Vegas.
This past weekend in Billings, Mont., PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert proclaimed Alves to be the best rookie he’s seen since Justin McBride. It was a sentiment that Lambert repeated whenever Alves’ name was mentioned.
Heading into this weekend’s event in Des Moines, Iowa, Alves is a perfect 8-for-8 in his first two BFTS events. In addition to winning in Nampa, Idaho, he finished fourth in Billings.
“I was probably the biggest fan that Justin McBride ever had,” said Adriano Moraes, who helped to bring Alves to the United States, “but I don’t think Justin rode as good in his rookie (season) as Silvano is doing now, so I think he is even a better rookie than Justin was.”
McBride rode the first six bulls of his pro career, and seven of his first eight.
He finished the 1999 season 14th in the world standings , then made the Top 10 for the next eight years in a row, winning two World Championships.
After two events, Alves is already ranked 30th in the world standings.
“I really believe he can win multiple gold buckles,” Moraes said. “He’s cool. He doesn’t get impressed with the success, the money, with the glamour, with the lights. We know what he’s capable of and he’s here to do it.”
Having already won $71,051.01, Alves almost certainly will be named 2010 PBR Rookie of the Year.
But according to Moraes, Alves might also be a contender for this year’s world title.
“I didn’t put numbers together yet,” Moraes said, “but I believe that mathematically it’s still possible, and if it is possible mathematically, he has the potential to do so. He already said he’s going to win Rookie of the Year, and he said he will win next year’s World Championship.
“Nobody is ahead in the distance, so it’s wide open for everybody. There are still plenty of events left, and I really believe that kid is going to win four or five events until the end of the year, and he’s going to be in every single short round.”
While it is mathematically possible for Alves to make up the 4,562.25 points between himself and Renato Nunes, he’ll need to outscore the top riders by nearly a three-to-one ratio – and that’s only if their productivity tails off significantly.
There are still 12,500 points left to earn between now and the World Finals, with an additional 1,000 points available to the Top 10 riders in the Final Five bonus rounds.
After 17 events, Nunes has earned 6,238.75 points. Even if Alves is good enough to equal that total in just 13 events, Nunes would have to earn less than 1,700 points before the World Finals for Alves to upset him.
And that’s not considering Travis Briscoe, Austin Meier, J.B. Mauney, Ryan McConnel, Robson Palermo, Guilherme Marchi or Valdiron de Oliveira.
An optimistic Moraes said, “To be a World Champion it’s not a matter of a bunch of firsts, but firsts and a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds, fourths, fifths—just placing every single week.”
“So far so good and I don’t think that’s a fluke at all,” Moraes said. “I think that kid knows how to ride.
“And in comparison of, let’s say myself, I don’t think I rode as good as he (does) at 22 years old, so he’s got the age, he’s got the desire, he’s got the technique, the ability and I believe that that kid can break every single record, especially mine.
“He is a different ballgame. A bunch of good riders come here and they don’t adapt. Silvano looks like he adapts right away, so I’m very, very impressed with his success so far.”
Last weekend, there were nine Brazilians in a draw that featured 45 riders (20 percent).
Moraes can recall 11 fellow countrymen having once competed at a BFTS event. Nine Brazilians once qualified for the PBR World Finals.
The three-time World Champion said, “We’re going to have kids coming straight to the World Finals, so I believe this year we’re going to have 12, 13 Brazilians at the Finals.”
Currently there are four Brazilians in the Top 10 – Nunes, 1; Palermo, 6; Marchi, 7 and Oliveira, 8. Ednei Caminhas, the 2002 World Champion, is 28th.
In addition to Alves, Paulo Ferreira, Fabiano Veiera and Robson Aragao competed in Billings. Wallace Oliveira and Edimundo Gomes have each ridden at BFTS events this season.
According to Moraes, professional bull riding continues to grow in Brazil because of the exposure of the BFTS on television. He says the sport has yet to reach its full potential in a country of 200 million people.
“I know there are more guys coming,” he said. “We are adding a lot of money, down there in Brazil, to our events, and are paying a lot. We have a bunch of events. We have 30 events this year that are compared to the same format as the Built Ford Tough Series, and we add a lot of money, so those guys are going to stay down there and do the Touring Pros down there.”
Following the upcoming event in Pueblo, Colo., which will be his fifth on tour, Alves is returning to Brazil, but only temporarily. He’ll move his wife and child to Texas, where he’s rented a house and is in the process of purchasing a car.
“The kid has been tested, and so far, I believe, he’s been passing every single test,” Moraes said. “I really believe that he’s here to stay.”
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 a new number – 877-731-6733 – or send questions to a new email address: pbrnowshow@pbrnow.com.
TV Guide: The final two rounds of this weekend's Des Moines Invitational will be aired Sunday, May 2 at 4 p.m. Eastern on Versus. The three-hour broadcast will also feature a segment hosted by Rocket Ismail, who recently spent time with the Brazilians at Moraes’ 40th birthday celebration.
Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in Des Moines, Iowa, 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.
These boots were made for walkin’: The PBR is giving away 30 free pairs of Ariat boots in April. All you have to do to have a chance to win is become a friend of TeamPBR on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamPBR, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/teampbr.
