The Thomas and Mack Arena was alive and buzzing from last night's record setting evening.
Tonight however the feel around the building for the PBR fans was somewhat subdued. The majority of spectators I spoke to were no strangers to the rank pen that was involved in this round. These PBR fans are really keen on what the powerhouse lined up looked like. I'm telling you that most of these fans know the ins and outs of just about every bull that's been on Versus this year.
I brought you a preview to tonight’s round and as I sift through the daysheet, even the media room had bets on how many were going to ride. The overall conclusion was between 12 and 15 riders would break through the Saturday night rank pen and be in control of the average race.
Now I know that it's too early to talk about the average, with 6 preliminary rounds left and the final round of 15, but you can't win the average on a night like tonight but you can lose control of it. Those that haven't ridden a bull from the first 2 rounds are considered spoilers from here on out.
For those of you that have never been to a PBR event, If you should ever go to one, please get there early enough to see the openings and introductions. Many of you know what I'm talking about but this Saturday night in Vegas, the PBR fans witnessed a number of kids take an oath to pledge their life to the US Air Force and in that instance became young adults. Saturday's opening was incredible, patriotic and full of fire as they stayed with the Air Force theme and brought the #1 bull rider out from a fighter jet that was brought into place today and he became the Top Gun of the PBR for the night.
Guilherme would have to gut it out for the next few hours to see what Copperhead Slinger would have in store for him on a Viva Las Vegas weekend.
As the smoke cleared the arena for section 1, the first 10 men all came down before the 8 second buzzer sounded. It was Shane Proctor from Washington to ride the first bull of the night and post a score of 81.75. That however would finish last tonight. It was fixing to be sleeper as the next 17 guys to heat their bull ropes only rode 6 bulls. In that mix though was some heat from Brendan Clark and our Rodeo Attitude member Reese Cates put up big numbers. Brendan rode Scene of the Crash of Frontier/Teague/Ron White for 90.75. Reese, who is trying to win the Daisy Rookie of the Year race, was trying his best to shut the door on the race all together. His 89.25 aboard Rewind put the kid into the number 2 spot for the night at the halfway point.
After intermission and yet to see the top 20 guys, it was time for the big guns to step up and take their shot at the rank pen. It didn't take long as Adriano Moraes, in his last PBR World Finals and farewell season, came through with an 89.5 on Bad Yeller of the Page family. Chris Shivers did a little California Dreaming and evened the score with Brendan at 90.75 and Zack Brown would put an impressive 89.50 on the board from the Rafter 7R bull Gnash. That score however wouldn't even get any money from the second round tonight as Zack finished in a 3 way tie for 6th, 7thand 8th place with Adriano Moraes and Dustin Hall.
It was time for the top guns of the 2008 season to take their place and Mike White, Travis Briscoe, Sean Willingham, Dustin Elliott, Wiley Petersen LJ Jenkins, Ross Coleman and Mike Lee al fell short of the required 8 second ticker. However, in that mix the young gun and Daisy Rookie of the Year from 2006 J.B. Mauney decided it was time to haul another Ford truckload of cash out of the arena tonight. Last night's win won him the $25,000 that comes with the go round and the Enterprise Ride with the Best for another $5,000. Troubadour busted out of the Preifert chutes in round two and, second after second, JB kept finding another gear. J.B. was right in the middle of him when the whistle sounded and the 4 officials of the PBR thought that was good enough for fans to take notice. It was 93.50 and the highest marked ride of the night and sent the confetti flying.
The Brazilians wouldn't allow this young gun to keep all the money in America on a Saturday night. It was Renato Nunes' 92-pointer on another Frontier/Teague/Ron White bull called Nervous Waters. j45mnValdiron de Oliveira was 89 on Hot Pistol of Boyd/Floyd Bucking bulls. After Kody Lostroh's heartbreaker fell apart around the 4 second mark, it was the top gunner from this years turn.
Guilherme Marchi has finished reserve world champion for the last 3 years running. He has watched Justin McBride snatch a world title from him on the last bull in 2005, his fellow countryman Adriano took the buckle form him in 2006 and Justin won last year's buckle during the World Finals as well. So the pressure this kid Guilherme is facing is immense and he stepped out tonight behind the wheel of a bull he has ridden before. Copperhead Slinger did just that tonight as the two were in rhythm for a 92.25 point marking. The confetti went flying as fans in the front row are starting to get used to trying to get confetti out of their hair and beverages.
As round two ended it was Bulls 35, Cowboys 14, a much different result than last nights record setting round. As the event ended they were looking for J.B. Mauney to accept his $25,000 check. As they presented another check in the same fashion from last night the buzz in the arena around the PBR crew was - did they want to call it over with the world title race. Can anyone catch Guilherme from here on out? One thing is clear: if you ask the man himself, he'll tell you that the race for the million dollars will not be over until next Sunday, the 9th of November. His past experiences at the finals haven't exactly ended like he has wanted it too but this year might be his year.
On a serious note to end the night, Joe Baumgartner suffered an event ending injury to his right ankle during Travis Briscoe's ride towards the end of the round. It was reported by Dr Tandy Freeman that he broke the ankle and will require immediate surgery and will further evaluate in the morning after the swelling subsides.
The draft for the 3rd round will take place tonight at the Sahara Hotel and Casino where the after party will continue through the evening. Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight and tomorrows round will be at 3pm Pacific time.
Until then have a great weekend.
J.W. Kinder
PRCA Rodeo Announcer & Western Regional Director
