Wow, meant to post this yesterday. I had it all written and then my computer wouldn’t let me post anything. Computers! Anyway, the event in Northern California, the Sacramento Classic, had a lot of drama of sorts, so let me get right to it.
Round one saw the Brazilian Renato Nunes walk away with the win. He scored an 89 on a Four C’s/Sills/Barker bull, Little Bo. The young and talented Ryan Dirteater was second after riding Bible Bender, owned by Don Kish Bucking Bulls, to an 88.75 score. Dustin Elliot was third with an 88. He rode 4C’s Bucking Bulls/Marvin Nixon’s Devil’s Night. Valdiron de Oliveira was fourth with an 87.25 after riding West Coast Offense, and Harve Stewart was a point behind with 86.25 to be fifth when he rode Savage Nation. Both of those bulls are owned by Don Kish Bucking Bulls.
Quite significant was the fact that Luke Snyder, competing in his 239th consecutive event, had to ride in Sacramento or would in all probability be kicked off the tour. Every five events there is a cut and Snyder, always a fan favorite, faced that very real possibility. That would be a shame, but Luke did ride his bull in the first round, so for the time being he was OK.
The second round saw Dirteater move up from second in round one to first, after riding Aces Heart Breaker to an 88.50 score. Corey & Horst/The Western Group own Heart Breaker.
Second through fourth was shared by Wiley Petersen, Zack Brown, and Cord McCoy. These three men had a score of 87.50. Peterson rode White Lies, owned by Ryan McClure, Brown covered Narley, a Tim Harkins bull, and McCoy rode the Don Kish Bucking Bull, Ring Leader. Snyder got another ride to help keep him on the tour when he was fifth with an 87 on Slim Slam, owned by Humpz & Hornz.
It was also in the second round that Kasey Hayes decided to show a display of emotion and throw his facemask at the bull that had just bucked him off. More about that later.
Short-go time, and Brown wanted revenge. Just two nights ago in Fresno, All In, owned by Naccarato Bucking Bulls, had bucked Zack off in the Championship Round, and he wanted another shot at that great bull. “I chose All In for the short round in Fresno and he ended up bucking me off. I had the chance to pick him here so I went for a rematch and was successful.” Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, but in this case it worked out perfectly. Brown stuck it to that bull for 90 points, to not only win the short go but the event as well.
Elliot and Mike Lee tied for second, each with scores of 89. Dustin rode SoulJa Boy, of Priest Creek Ranch, and Lee covered Beer Goggles, owned by Don Kish Bucking Bulls. With that tie for second, Elliot wound up second in the event as well.
Stewart was fourth. He rode another Kish bull, No Glory, to an 88.25. Austin Meier was fifth when he covered yet another Kish Bucking Bull, Little Hitman. He scored 86.75, which allowed him to claim third in the Sacramento event as well.
So, we know that the order of finish for the Sacramento Classic was Brown, Elliot, and Meier. Fourth was Lee.
By sheer grit, Snyder clung to his bull, War Zone, in the Championship Round. He only received a score of 77.75, but that will keep him on the tour, and brought him a fifth place finish in the average for the event as well. Great news for Luke and all of his fans, and he can keep extending his amazing streak of consecutive events – next week will be his 240th!
The Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event was, no surprise here, Troubadour, the bull owned by Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls. Troubadour was awarded a bull score of 47 to win that honor.
Nick Landreneau bruised his right shoulder in the first round and did not compete in round two. Also out of the second round was Aaron Roy, who broke his nose in round one.
Did you notice that many big names were missing? That’s right, no Kody Lostroh, J.B. Mauney or Guilherme Marchi. All three men rode to very low placings in round one. In the second round, they bucked off, which kept all of them out of the short go. That did cause quite a change in the Built Ford Tough Series standings.
So early in the 2009 season Lostroh is still in the lead, with J.B. second, but Brown made a huge jump from nowhere in the top 10 to third. fourth is Proctor, Marchi fifth, Robson Palermo sixth, Petersen seventh, de Oliveira eighth, Cody Campbell ninth, and Elliot made his first appearance in the top 10 in tenth.
Back to the Kasey Hayes incident where he lost his cool, and ultimately paid for it. He bucked off Blind Date, owned by Red Knection Bucking Bulls, and in a moment of frustration, took off his facemask and threw it at the bull, hitting him in the hip. He took flack for that from the announcers, particularly Justin McBride. The PBR Conduct Committee did not find it amusing, either. They decided that Hayes would be fined $7500, make a public apology at the next VERSUS televised event, and enroll in an anger management class. He must complete that class or he will be pulled from three BFTS events.
This reporters’ opinion? Bravo to the PBR! Did the facemask hurt the bull when it hit him in the hip? Of course not. Did Hayes look like a complete fool? Yeah! But the PBR has always been totally aware of the bovine athletes that are the dance partners of the cowboys. If the facemask hit the bull in the face there was that slight chance that he could have been hit in the eye, doing damage. But the one word that stood out to me when I read the PBR press release about the incident was ‘respect’. The bulls and cowboys are to be respected for what they do week in and week out. For one brief second Hayes lost control, and I commend the PBR for saying that conduct will not be tolerated.
I’m done.
Andy Watson photo
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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