Tonight was a special night, as it was a tribute to the great cowboy Jim Shoulders, who passed away June 20th of this year at the age of 79. There was a lovely ceremony with a presentation to his widow Sharon. No one is more deserving of the recognition than this great cowboy.
Round six found the bulls much tougher than the cowboys, especially since this was not the eliminator pen. Only 11 men were able to cover their bulls – well, 12 if you count Ned Cross. He did ride his bull, but with only a 77 score he opted to take that off the board and accept the re-ride that was offered him, only to buck off Jack Hammer.
Justin McBride kept the pressure on by winning his second round in a row when he rode Chad Berger/Larry Ryken’s Bad Action to a huge 91.50 score. When asked about his ride, he replied, “Chad Berger again – he’s done the right things this year. He found great partners and purchased great bulls, and I had another one of them tonight. That bull never quit trying. He was trying just as hard at eight seconds as he was the first jump.”
By far the hardest thing that Justin had to go through Saturday night was the opening ceremony. As he described it: “I rode this horse around the arena and went over by the stands. I had this harness thing around my waist. They jerk me off of the horse and up in the air and take me to the center of the arena. They almost drop me on the ground, but they kind of hit a little bit of the stage, so I managed not to plummet to my death.”
He pointed out that things went fine in the morning. “Rehearsal went really good – I landed on the stage every time in rehearsal! Tonight, in front of 16,000 people, I miss the stage!”
There was one other big score on this night, and that was by Kody Lostroh. Riding another Berger/Ryken bull called Live Wire, Lostroh scored a 90. This put Kody in third place for the event average.
Brian Canter finished third. He was given an 88.25 score after he covered Strong Heart. Strong Heart is owned by John and Lacey Berger/Clay Struve.
In a tie for fourth we saw Brendon Clark and Tater Porter, both scoring an 87. Clark rode Windtwister, owned by Page & Teague Bucking Bulls. Porter drew 4C’s Bucking Bulls’ Total Darkness.
Guilherme Marchi also rode his bull, but with only an 84.25 score he did not make any money.
Matt Bohon stated why he felt that this was an important night. “It was a great night, a celebration of a legend tonight, Jim Shoulders, and what he did for the sport. I really wish we could have put on a better performance for him in his memory, (with regard to the number of bulls ridden) but the way Justin ended the round, and the way the top 10 finished out the night I thought it turned out to be a pretty nice evening.”
When Bohon was asked to talk about his ride, he was quite blunt. “My ride was horrible! I talked to some guys and there was mixed emotions about Little O. Some said he was hard to ride, others said he was the one to have. For me, when I got caught up with him he went the other way and bucked me off in 7.8 seconds.”
Matt was asked why he didn’t challenge the 7.8 seconds. “When I hit the ground I heard the whistle. There’s a lot of money to be won here and I probably should have, but in my opinion if I don’t ride for 10 seconds and know I made the whistle then I didn’t do my job.”
A scary moment came when J.B. Mauney bucked off his bull Rez Boy and was then stepped on. The bull got his free arm, and in the replay and watching him walk away, it looked as if the arm could be broken. It was later determined that he suffered from a bruised right armpit. How lucky for this talented young man, and expect to see him back tomorrow afternoon.
Speaking of injuries, it was great to see Lee Akin in attendance this evening. As you probably remember, Akin was very seriously injured in early March of this year when a bull stepped on his head. What a remarkable recovery for this man!
Two bulls retired from competition. The first was Kelly Bowcutt’s Scream. He left the arena for the last time after bucking off Ednei Caminhas. The second bull was the great Red Alert, owned by Kaycee Simpson. Wiley Petersen rode Red Alert to an 86 score, and this bull is going out strong. Both of these athletes will be missed in the arena.
With his ride, Petersen stands alone on top of the event standings leader board. Marchi is second, Lostroh third, Clark fourth, and Billy Robinson is fifth.
For the BFTS Champion, the leader is still McBride, but it is not a sure thing yet. Mauney is second and Marchi third, and either one of these men could feasibly jerk the top spot away from Justin. Rounding out the top five is Petersen fourth, followed by Bohon.
Don’t miss the action tomorrow to find out who will be the 2007 BFTS World Champion!
Andy Watson photos
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
