Brazilian rider Agnaldo Cardozo, coming into the Grand Rapids Johnsonville Brats Invitational last weekend as an alternate, put the bull riding world on notice that he’s here to stay by winning the entire event! This win along with the $26,572.50 paycheck that went with it was enough to move him to 29th place in the rankings, thereby guarantying himself a spot in the World Finals and the chance to compete for the $3.2 million dollars in prize monies.
The Brazilian contingent, or “Killer B’s” as they’ve been dubbed by Justin McGee, have proved themselves to be formidable adversaries in this sport. This young man is definitely another “killer B”. His riding style is very relaxed and loose and he is another that makes it look easy to ride one of these 1500 lb jumping whirlybirds.
Chad Denton won Round One aboard James & Williams’ Navajo, scoring an impressive 87.5. Less than one point behind him was Ross Coleman on Chad Berger/Larry Rykin’s Blue Chip. Ross Coleman made the whistle for a second place score of 86.75 for his efforts. While there were 22 bulls making a debut appearance at this event, in Round One, only 14 riders were able to make the whistle.
Brian Herman rose to take the win in Round Two, riding Chad Berger/Larry Rykin’s bull, Texas, for a score of 88.25. Second place was grabbed by Colby Yates on T Bar R Bucking Bulls’ Tropicana with a score of 87.75 and in third place was Clayton Williams riding Hebert/Trimble/Stevens’ Brass Monkey to a score of 87.5 and give this bull his first ride in the 2006/2007 season.
In the Championship Round, L.J. Jenkins drew Chumley/Katich/R&L bull, Dr. Proctor, one of my personal favorites. In a ride that brought the crowd to its feet, Jenkins became the fifth man in PBR history to ride this bucking machine, garnering a score of 86.5.
Kudos also go to Luke Snyder, who tied “Iron Man” J.W. Hart’s record for competing in the most consecutive events at this venue. Snyder, who has been on tour for six years has not missed an event since he began the tour. Although playing through pain, this man has shown he’s made of steel and is expected to break Hart’s record at next weekend at the Mohegan Sun event.
The weekend was not without excitement. Bullfighter Darrel Diefenbach took at least three really hard shots from the bulls though out the event. Typical of a bullfighter though, he shrugged it off and was back saving cowboys within seconds. All of these men have my utmost respect. While the cowboys each ride a minimum of three bulls during the weekend, the bullfighters fight at least 135 bulls during a two day event! Impressive, to say the least.
Justin McBride was injured again in this event when he bucked off Tony Sharp’s MVP II in Round Two. He injured his neck and will have to under-go x-rays next week to see exactly what happened. He is expected to compete at Mohegan Sun next weekend.
J.B. Mauney did not compete in this event. A custom knee brace had not yet arrived and he decided to wait until it does before riding again. A Smart move on his part.
McBride’s score of 84 points in the first round on Rickey West’s Genex Stormy allowed him to increase his lead over Mauney for the Gold Buckle race to 1910.24 points. Guillerme Marchi, who was unable to cover his bulls this week end is in third place, 3152 points behind McBride. Willingham is in fourth, behind 4504.75 points and Paulo Crimber follows in fifth, 5001.5 points behind McBride.
The Mohegan Sun event in Ct. will be really interesting next weekend as the race continues towards Las Vegas and the ultimate bull riding prize.
Until next time…
Linda Peterson
Photos: Courtesy of Andy Watson
