The PBR World Cup Final is almost here. Tomorrow night every team captain will have to put his money where his mouth is. The past few weeks have seemed more like episodes of All My Children than the PBR. What started out as a great concept has gotten more and more personal. But make no mistake, while it has often appeared as if the act of bull riding has taken a back seat to a bit of politicking, we will be treated to some good bull rides.
Let’s have a quick look at the final teams. For the United States, Team Captain J.W. Hart has selected Ryan McConnel, McKennon Wimberly, Mike Lee, Austin Meier, and Travis Briscoe. An interesting team, and a good one, I feel. Yes, noticeably absent is J.B. Mauney, whose riding has taken a severe dump. Two months ago he was on top of the BFTS standings. Now he is in sixth place, and while he is not that far behind, back in February he looked to be almost unstoppable. Now is struggling to make that eight-second ride.
Adriano Moraes has put together a strong team for Brazil as well. He has Guilherme Marchi, Robson Palermo, Silvano Alves, who has been looking sharp as can be in his BFTS appearances, a rider we are not familiar with, Paulo Ferreira, and Renato Nunes, the man that had much controversy swirling around him as to whether or not he would actually be named to be on the Brazilian team. Also need to note here that Valdiron de Oliveira was named to the team, but had to be replaced when he was injured.
Team Canada is headed up by Cody Snyder. His team consists of Tanner Girletz, Aaron Roy, Scott Schiffner, Tyler Thompson, Devon Mezei, and Vince Northrop.
As is Hart, Moraes, and Snyder, Troy Dunn is once again Team Captain for Australia. His team has the Farley brothers, Pete and Jared, Ben Jones, David Kennedy, Brendon Clark, and Jason O’Hearn.
Finally, Team Mexico. Led by Gerardo Venegas, with co-captains Amando Aguirre and Ruben Mujica, their team members are Rocky McDonald, Nile LeBaron, Francisco Morales, Lorenozo Rios, and Gustavo Pedrero.
We will get to see 50 cowboys and bulls do their thing each performance, and I am looking forward to a great weekend. Each team will be doing their best to be the World Cup Champion come Sunday afternoon. Brazil won the first World Cup, held in Queensland, Australia in 2007. The United States won the next two, which were held in Chihuahua, Mexico, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Defeated in their home country, Brazil now wants a bit of payback. Mexico, Australia, and Canada all want to prove they are the force to be reckoned with as well. But our home team has other ideas.
Who will actually take home the gold remains to be seen. But I hope that everyone enjoys the World Cup Final – I know that I will!
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
