The 2009 Built Ford Tough season came down to the final 8 second ride of the year. The contenders were introduced like heavyweight boxers during the opening this afternoon at the Thomas & Mack. This would be the tightest race in the 16 year history of the PBR's BFTS season.
Kody Lostroh and JB Mauney would stand toe to toe during the introductions this afternoon in the back of a Built Ford Tough truck. You could almost see the sense of relief that this afternoon may have; they were ready to finish this dog fight for the gold buckle. They both came into today's round 7 riding all 6 of their bulls. Not a blemish on their finals weekend yet. The sold out crowd of over 17,000 could feel it too and if you couldn't, you may want to check to see if you have a pulse.
Round 7 would see Aaron Roy ride to 91.75 points on Top Notch (Martinez Bucking Bulls) and win the round. Austin Meier would continue his hot streak at this year's finals and post 90.50 aboard Nasty Town (Dakota Rodeo/Clay Struve) to end up 2nd.
But we were all waiting to watch the two most talked about bull riders of the afternoon. JB would go first and Smack Down would take him to 86.75 and would finish in the 11th spot - too far down to get any go round points, which was crucial in his bid for the world title.
However, it wasn't exactly over if Kody Lostroh would make a mistake of not riding his round 7 bull and maybe open the door a little for the Tarheel. Kody would be the last cowboy to nod his head in this round and Soulja Boy would carry him to a 90 pointer and garner him some much needed points for that gold buckle and the million dollar bonus.
As they crunched the numbers on round 7, we would also watch Shane Proctor, JB's brother in law, feed off the energy and ride his bulll Deja Blue (Teague Bucking Bulls) to 89.5 and finish 4th. Caleb Sanderson would try his best the last 4 rounds of his first world finals qualification to win the Daisy Rookie of the Year award as he checked in with a 89.25 ride on Kool N Sexy (D&H Cattle).
Gullherme Marchi would show his world championship form on the last 2 rounds of competition by netting 88.5 on Kabookie today, and he split the 6th to 8th in round with Valdiron de Oliveira (Far West) and Cody Campbell (I'll Make You Famous) with 88.5's.
As the curtain closed on round 7, Kody Lostroh and JB Mauney were still number 1 and 2 in the average and it didn't appear that either one wouldn't make the 8 second ride in the championship round for the 2009 PBR World Finals. It would be the first time in the history of the PBR world finals that a man would cover all 8 bulls at the finals. We would also determine a world championship bucking bull of the year in this final short round.
The best 15 bull riders here at the World Finals were set and ready but the story was still about two. The other 13 guys would take their shots first on some great bovine athletes. This pen is hand picked by Cody Lambert, livestock director and with the help of the prior go round scores for each bull. This list of bulls was impressive and they would show you why they would be the victorious ones in this round.
Pete Farley came in 15th and drew Big Tex which Chad Berger (owner) thought would be the World Champion Bucking bull. The bull would finish in 3rd spot for that title.
Next up was McKennon Wimberly of Cool Texas. Awaiting McKennon was The Game and 8 seconds later we would send the confetti to the rafters of the T & M due to his 90 point bull ride. This kid would leave Las Vegas with a little over $35,000 for his 2 weekends. Josh Koschel matched up with Major Payne, who was in the running for a world title in the bull pen, but the bull would end up in the 8th position.
Kasey Hayes didn't make the whistle on Spit Fire and Ross Colemen would find himself on the arena floor early as well aboard Chicken On A Chain. Chicken on a Chain wound up 9th in the race for the bull buckle. Ednei Caminhas, 2002 world champion, wasn't able to cash a check on Paycheck.
However, Shane Proctor was riding this wave of emotions from his brother in law JB and his 90 point toro twisting bull ride sent the confetti in the crowd. He was able to conquer Necessary Evil of Don Kish, and McKennon and Shane now had identical 90 pointers and would have to watch the final 8 cowboys try their best to knock it off the leaderboard. Shane will leave with almost $61,000 for his time in Vegas.
Halfway through the short round, Caleb Sanderson got Crosswired and i do mean Crosswired. This bull was a contender for bull of the year coming into the finals and would pitch Caleb in 1.5 seconds and earn a 5th place finish. Dustin Elliott stayed aboard Master Feeds Show Stopper for 2.7 seconds and Austin Meier had drawn the infamous Code Blue. Code Blue coming into the finals wasn't exactly on the radar screen for Bucking Bull of the Year but he changed a few minds over the last 2 weeks and this bull bucked off Austin in 6.5 seconds and earned totals from the officials in excess of 47.50. This marking would solidify the title for Code Blue and shock the fans as well as the owners of this World Championship bucking bull.
Next up was Robson Palermo who was last year's average winner but wouldn't be able to repeat that feat this year. He still could leave Sin City with a pile of dough. The 2.5 seconds aboard Uncle Buck would still get him out of Vegas with $82,000 for the week.
Aaron Roy, who had ridden his last 5 bulls, was maybe the hottest bull rider outside of JB and Kody coming into this short round. He wouldn't finish with a qualified ride as Red Bones threw him to the arena floor at 2.6 seconds and then it was time to watch Valdiron de Oliveira, who had ridden all his bulls and could possibly be the finals champion. Valdiron would find himself on the arena floor with the clock showing 4.7 on Unabomber.
It was then time for a Versus television time-out and time to get the final 2 cowboys, along with the sold out crowd, ready for what we paid the price of admission for: JB and Kody. As Black Pearl awaited the skinny kid of Mooresville NC to slide down the Priefert bucking chute, it was game on. JB pulled his bullrope tight and called for the gate. Eight seconds later, he was still in the middle of that bull. The Thomas & Mack went crazy as they knew that this is exactly what he need to do: win the round to have a chance for that million dollar bonus but more importantly to a cowboy...the Gold Buckle. A confetti flying 93.75 on Black Pearl (Ravenscroft/Boyd-Floyd) would certainly put some kind of pressure on the Colorado talent waiting nearby. Black Pearl would wind up in 4th place for its catergory of Bucking Bull of the year.
Kody Lostroh wasn't aware of the points standing at the end of round 7 but the Versus audience was. They had already crowned him the world champion, regardless of the outcome of the next 8 second ride inside the T & M. Kody had Voodoo Child waiting for him and he took little time between JB's ride and his nod for the gate. The seconds ticked off in slow motion and as the crowd was still buzzing from JB's ride. Kody's fans were hysterical as well as the clock kept getting closer to 8. He was going to pull it off and be the second man to ever cover all 8 bulls at the finals.
And in the blink of an eye, at 7.5 seconds, his hand would come out of his bullrope and to the arena floor he'd go. The Pike challenge buzzer was the only option for a guy who had given it his all for 7 rounds and as they went to the replay challenge, the PBR staff was hard at work finalizing the numbers. The announcement came the ride was going to be short at 7.53 seconds and that would make JB the average winner of the finals and give him the much needed points to possibly win this title.
All the calculations from the PBR staff and an audit of their numbers determined that by a mere 594 points Kody Lostroh would be the next PBR world champion. The PBR grounds crew worked to get the other arena ready for the crowning of the world champion and finals winner. The presentation of the Built Ford Tough million dollar bonus, along with the gold buckle, would be first. They would introduce 2009 World Champion Kody Lostroh and the media would swarm to get their million dollar cowboy photos.
As I look back on this PBR World Finals I can't help but think of where the bull riding industry has gone, from the humble beginnings to where it is today. Kody will leave Las Vegas with over $244,000 earned at the finals, $357,000 for the year and along with his million dollar bonus, his 2009 campaign will be just over $1.6 million. JB will tally up $343,000 here in Vegas, $399,000 on the year, for a grand total of $742,000. Wow! It's a great time to be a bullrider...need I say any more?
Some additional information to the weekend: Kody Lostroh has already scheduled his elbow surgery for this Wednesday, Nov. 11. Ryan McConnel will have another doctor take a closer look at some of his injuries.
The PBR World Cup will make a visit to Las Vegas in April. Mark your calendars now for the weekend of April 16-18 to be in Vegas for this year's World Cup. Also, the PBR will move their World Finals next October to one weekend - five days - and that will be Oct. 20-24 for 6 rounds. The top 40 bullriders wont have much time to heal as they start their 2010 season in 2 weeks in Atlanta.
As I close tonight, I want to thank Cindy and her crew at RodeoAttitude for allowing me to watch this world class event from a closer perspective. As a professional rodeo announcer, I hope you've enjoyed some of my stories and I certainly have had a great time bringing it to you.
Sincerely,
JW Kinder
Professional Rodeo Announcer
Casper Wyoming
