What a great way to end the weekend.  Two best friends who competed all year, making it to the World Finals.  Than having to be neck and neck all week right up until and counting the final ride.  With each walking away with a prize.

JB Mauney and Kody Lostroh made this year’s PBR World Finals an absolute nail biter and one for the PBR record books. They were at the top of the leader board each and every night, separated by mere points all the way through.  Even at the end of the regular round, they had to re-audit the numbers because of how close they were.  That alone was one record.

The short go-around was high anxiety as only two of the first thirteen riders made the full eight seconds.  Both were 90+ rides.  The second to last ride had JB on top of Black Pearl.  Riding him for an amazing 93.75.  The the 17,000 fans in the house went absolutely nuts.  The noise level was off the charts and not a person remained seated…  This ride made JB the only rider to ever ride all eight of his bulls in the World Finals.  Another record in the books.

As we set up for the last ride with Kody on VooDoo Child.  The crowd was still jazzed, on their feet and making more noise about JB’s ride.  It was unbelievable, the electricity and exciment in the air as the chute finally opened up. Kody gave it his usual 110% and hung on as long as he could.

That had to be the longest, slowest and most intense 7.49 seconds in PBR history.  The fans were out of control as he hit the ground.  If they could, they would have stormed the arena and put him back on for the last few moments. An amazing site to see.

In the end, JB got the win for all around average points for the year and Kody took home the big prize.  The Million Dollar check, the gold buckle and the title of PBR World Champion for 2009.

This was the most exciting, tension filled finals I had ever witnessed.  We will recap the whole event in the days to follow…  But it was amazing…  If you only watch one round of PBR on TV This year, make sure its THIS round. And invite your friends to watch with you…This is what PBR is all about.

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Round Six ended with a unbelievable five way tie for first place for the round. All five rode for 89.25.  For the averages, JB Mauney is a half point in head of Kody Lostroh.  Making the match up for Sunday an all out battle to the finish.

In a case like this, the money for 1st through 5th place will be added together and divided equally between them.  In total, there were 24 qualified rides tonight and the defending World Champ Guilherme Marchi finally rode a bull. Last year’s champ is one for six at the Finals.

Kody Lostroh was offered a re ride due to a technicality.  He turned it down.  In the press conference, he explained that the bulls tonight were all equally matched.  So there probably wasn’t much of a chance for a better ride.  Stick with what he had and hope for the best.  Smart move.  Although he tied for the round, he is top in the World Finals standings.

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What a career this man has had.  Lostroh was PBR’s top rookie in 2004, was sixth in 2006 and 2007.  He finished fifth last year.

Last night’s bull pen featured the Top 20 Classic bulls, including Black Pearl, who has a chance to be the top Classic bull as well as World Champion Bull. The other half of the pen was made of up veteran bulls who have consistently proven themselves over the past few years.

Last night we saw the final rides for PBR veterans Zorro and Splat Kat, both of whom were retired after the night’s out.

This was the sixth time Zorro has been at the Finals. His first time in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center he bucked off Michael Gaffney, who won a world title in 1997. Splat Kat has been competing in the PBR for five years. This was his fourth time at the Finals.

But the night belonged to the crashes.  Several good wrecks happened along with a lot of no rides.  The worst of them was Austin Meier on top (for awhile) Perfect Poison.  See photo…  His reride treated him much better.  The bull Flashpoint gave him a 86.75.  Placing him sixth for the night and just out of the money.

It’s nail biting time as we get down to the last three shows before we get to the short round and crown the World Champion Bull rider.

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Bob Funk, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and founder of Express Employment Professionals rides them into the arena at least once every year.  He created the team in 1996 as a way to give back to the community that has brought him so much happiness as well as success.

These gentle giants, standing up to eight feet in height, are always popular with the fans as they can get up close and pet them while attending the PBR FanZone.  When not at the PBR, the Clydesdales team travels with their handlers across North America, promoting Express Employment Professionals, competing in international equine competitions and attending promotional events for Children’s MiracleNetwork.

If I heard the announcer correctly, this year they were here at the PBR showing off their new cart specially designed by the Mercedes Benz car company.  The one that helped them win Calgary Stampede’s World Champion Six- Horse Hitch Competition.

Yes, they have their own FaceBook Page!

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Round 2 ended almost as predicted, except for the winners.  A lot of no rides and those who to manage to make the full 8-seconds, ended with high scores.  Only 10 of the 44 cowboys were able to make the 8-second whistle… most hitting the ground in under 5 seconds. In fact, the first 15 bucked off before Dustin Elliott broke the streak with an awesome 86.25 point ride on Lucky Strike.

Which means that after the first two rounds, only seven of forty-four riders have ridden two bulls. Making the race for the top spot, even more competitive.  Our favorite rider J.B. Mauney is holding the lead with a two-bull total of 181 points.

The audience low point of the evening was when Austin Meir, riding Say When, hung on for nail biting and challenging ride.  Everyone seemed to sense it was going to be an easy 90 point score.  When the judges announced 88.25, you could hear the boo’s. Of course the announcers quickly explained that Mier was actually scored higher than the bull.  But,  that didn’t seem to satisfy the fans.  It Should Have Been a 90 Point Ride!

The night’s big winner was rookie Australian Pete Farley riding Bones.  Farley is in great company with this bull.  Bones had been ridden only once in 30 career trips. That was earlier this year when J.B. Mauney rode Bones for 93.25 points in Oklahoma City.

Farley came into the World Finals as one of the top Rookie of the Year finalists.  When asked how that fit into his thoughts about coming to the World Finals, Farley answered in the typical low profile, PBR fashion… that his whole goal all year was simple,  “I just wanted to come to Vegas.”

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Tonight is shaping up to be an action packed night.  For it is the night of the “rank pen”.  Meaning these are the bulls who have come to play and play hard.  The ones who are famous for not keeping a rider on their back for very long. Usually under 5 seconds.

Just look at some of the names and statistics:  White Magic has a career total of 5 rides out of 36 attempts.  Fan favorite Troubadour is sitting at 9 out of 24 and Chicken on a Chain, who has Larry the Cable Guy as one of his owners, he is 13 out of 45.  Not good numbers for a rider to see.  However, the ones who DO make it on for a full eight seconds, the bull rewards them with some very high scores. Usually near 90.   And that’s almost perfect.

With half the score being from the bull’s performance and half from the rider…  we are expecting some rides with high scores as well as a lot of no rides.

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Here you have our Minnesota reporter trying out the Ford Raptor simulator @ PBR Fanzone.

The FanZone is a separate free area, being staged in the Mandalay Bay convention center parking lot.  A place for the sponsors and vendors to show off their goods and mingle with the fans.  Dozens of vendors, sponsors and a lot of other neat stuff.  Including autograph sessions with many of the riders.

Being that Ford is a major sponsor to the PBR, this is where they show off whats new and whats coming out.  This year they had a simulator trailer.  You could race NASCAR against your buddies or you could take the new Ford Raptor out for a spin in the Baja races.  Your crew chief was the man running the controls and giving you a lot of pointers along the way.

The Ford Raptor is an amazing vehicle that will be out in early in limited quantities.  It’s wider and beefier than the F150.  Has a pretty cool styling package and by the looks of it in the simulator, can kick pretty good ass on rough terrain!

This simulator Rocks… Sazzy needs to get her butt down here and try it out!

Posted via email from tvt sports

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JB Mauney, the man sitting on top of the money standings, is the man who rode to victory in Round One of the PBR World Finals.    He rode the bull Chester to 89.75

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This is what they are all fighting for.  The chance to hoist this trophy up and show the world that they are the best.  There is a buckle from every year with the winners name engraved into it.  Fifteen so far.

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What’s kick off like for the PBR and what does it have to do with The Vegas Tourist and technology??? A lot.

This year we will be well armed and ready to cover the events and excitement.  The PBR has their own website that gives you their view and play by play updates…  We want to give you OUR view,  So look for it right here.

With Twitter and a few Twitter apps, we can post pictures and stories right from the scene of the crime… I mean the event, as they happen…  As we post pictures and updates, twitter sends out an update and a link back to the website.  Even if you are not on Twitter, you can keep up with us as we post via email.  Just go to the upper right hand corner of the website and sign up for Enews and updates.  As we post, an alert will be sent to your email giving you a brief synopsis of the actual post.  Plus  a link to the website.

Kickoff

The official kickoff to the event happens tonight downtown on the Fremont Street Experience.  That’s where they will have all the riders and many of the die hard fans…  The events start off at about 5pm with the introductions and the draft starting at about 7pm.  The draft is where the riders pick the bulls they will ride the first night.  The higher up yo are on the list, the better selection you have of the bulls. This should get interesting.

So sign up for the emails or look for TheVegasTourist on Twitter.

Mark Anthony

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