Hayes takes first event of the 2009 season

By Barbara Pinnella
Posted Sunday, January 4, 2009

The 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi had almost two months to enjoy his Championship, but now he is the hunted as the new season begins. This past weekend in Baltimore, Maryland, Marchi started to defend his World title at a two-day event.

Before I start I have to point out the streak that Luke Snyder is continuing. He rode at this event, which made his 236th consecutive event that he has participated in – ever since he began with the PBR in 2001. That is quite a record!

Round one saw Travis Briscoe post the only 90-point score of the night after he was awarded a 90.50. He rode Arial Assault, owned by Sonny Williams. Kody Lostroh rode the Jeff Robinson Bucking Bull Lil’ Feller to an 89.75 to be second. Two fan favorites tied for third. Chris Shivers and J.B. Mauney each scored 89.50. Shivers rode Superman, owned by Williams/Roth, and Mauney got his points on Booger Butt, who is hauled by Robinson/ Tesdesco/Larry the Cable Guy/Broken N-N. Robson Palermo was fifth. He rode the Mike Solomon bull Full Throttle to an even 89.

Twenty-four men rode bulls in the first round, and even with the retirement of three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes, the Brazilian connection was apparent. Five of those 24 riders were from Brazil.

Brian Herman was the winner of round two. This blond PBR veteran rode Big Coyote to an 88.75. Big Coyote is owned by Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls. Just behind him with a score of 88.50 was Nick Landreneau after he rode the Williams/Mucherino bull Hard Copy. The always-smiling Cord McCoy was third after his 88.25 ride on Chance. Teague Bucking Bulls, LLC owns Chance. Briscoe hit the board again as he split fourth and fifth with young Ryan Dirteater. Each scored an 87.50, Briscoe on The Iceman and Dirteater on Shrek. Chad Berger/Denny Hawks own The Iceman and Mark Reed is the owner of Shrek.

Short-go time and this Championship Round was packed with talented bovine athletes. In this round, which was a draft, five cowboys were able to cover their bulls. When the dust cleared, it was Kasey Hayes who was able to grab the first win of the new season. He scored a huge 92 points after a great ride on El Presidente, owned by Robinson/Broken N-N/Skyhawk Rugs.

Marchi began this year as strong as he finished the last, as he was second after a 91.25 ride on Say I Won’t Gunner. This super bull is owned by Chad Berger/Clay Struve. Third was Valdiron de Oliveira. He rode another Berger/Struve bull Bad Blood to a 90-point score. McCoy was fourth on Blue Boy after his 89.75 score. Chad Berger/Roger Ward this time for Blue Boy. And finally, Lostroh rounded out these top five with an 88.50 on Team Equine’s Evil Forces. Yep, yet another Berger/Struve. Do you think Chad Berger owns some good bulls? Just thought I’d ask.

Hopefully it is not necessary to say that for this week only the event average and the World Standings are the same. Hayes is on the top of the leader board. Lostroh is right behind him, de Oliveira is third, Marchi fourth, McCoy and Briscoe tied for fifth and sixth (I guess the red-heads stick together), Palermo seventh, Landreneau eighth, Mauney ninth, and Mike White rounds out the top ten.

The 2008 Bucking Bull of the Year was the high score bull of this event. Bones, owned by Teague Bucking Bulls, LLC was given a 46.75. This is such a great looking bull, and is so athletic that it will be interesting to see just how long his buck-off streak will last.

This first event was not without mishap. Two-time World Champ Chris Shivers broke his nose, but it was very hard to see just how that happened, and details on that we not given. De Oliveira landed very awkwardly on his neck and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

I have not been very complimentary about NBC, so let me say a kind word here. This was the best coverage that they have given us, in my opinion. While we did not see all of the riders due mainly to the fact that the program was a half hour shorter than when the show is on Versus, we did get to see a lot more action than when they covered the Finals. Kudos to NBC for their improvements.

Next week the men haul their gear to New York City for the second stop on the tour. Look out New York, the boys are back!

Andy Watson photo

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.