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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Can you Believe it?? When most folks are just settling into their careers, two time world champion Justin Mcbride is calling it quits… Not that he doesn’t deserve it.

As he stated in the press conference that he has achieved and exceeded his goals and that it’s time to move on to another part of his life. He is proud of his records and is anxious to see what ones will stand the test of time.

Justin came into the sport at its infancy. Being that he has been riding professionally for 10 years and the PBR is celebrating its 15th anniversary. He has seen the dramatic changes and glad to have been part of them. He is looking forward to being an ambassador of sorts for the sport. Helping the new generation coming into it and exposing the sport to new fans the world over.

He said the reason he made the announcement a week prior to the start of the World Finals, is to put the subject to rest now so everyone can concentrate on the Finals and not on the fact that this will be his last time competing for that title.

For you newcomers to the sport, you get used to that politeness. Putting the focus on the sport rather than the person. This sport breeds competition and sportsmanship while it lacks ego. Justin will make a great ambassador.

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Team USA went into the 2008 World Cup with an extremely strong team.  Three of the five members are in the top 10 of the 2008 PBR World Standings—Kody Lostroh (Longmont, Colo.), J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.), and L.J. Jenkins (Texico, N.M.); the fourth member was two-time and reigning PBR World Champion Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.); and rounding out the team was PBR fan favorites Sean Willingham (Summerville, Ga.) and Team USA alternate Luke Snyder (Raymore, Mo.).  They took second place after the first two rounds on Saturday evening and then dominated Sunday afternoon’s two rounds, finishing the weekend almost 100 points ahead of Team Canada who finished in second place overall.

“With the Olympics going on and everything going on in the world like it is, we got a chance to compete for our country.  Going into it, Brazil looked to be our biggest challenge.  We started out slow, but in the end, we put our chins down and hands closed,” JW Hart, Team USA’s captain, stated.

Team Canada, once again, was the runner-up for a second year in a row as they finished the weekend with 773.25 total points, although they had a strong start on Saturday, finishing as the number one team after the first two rounds.  Last year’s winner Team Brazil, captained by retiring PBR legend, Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, SP, Brazil), ended the weekend in third place with 773 points.  Rounding out fourth and fifth place was home country Team Mexico with 497.25 points and Team Australia with 262.5 points.

A special announcement was also made during Sunday’s performance to announce the home of the 2009 PBR World Cup.  Barretos, Brazil will host the premier international event on August 28-30.  Tune in next August to find out who will take the home the 2009 World Cup title and bragging rights for a year!!

OVERALL EVENT RESULTS:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008:

Round One Scores:
1) Team Canada, 256.25 points; 2) Team USA, 86.25 points; 3) Team Brazil, 84 points

Round Two Scores:
1) Team USA, 267.25 points; 2) Team Brazil, 256.25 points; 3) Team Canada, 170.25 points; 4) Team Mexico, 159.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 88.25 points.

Standings after the First Night:
1) Team Canada, 426.5 points; 2) Team USA, 353.5 points; 3) Team Brazil, 340.25 points; 4) Team Mexico, 244.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 88.25 points.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2008

Round Three Scores:
1) Team USA, 258.75 points; 2) Team Brazil, 173 points; 3) Team Canada, 170.75 points; 4) Team Australia, 89 points; 5) Team Mexico, 88.75 points.

Round Four Scores:
1) Team USA, 263.75 points; 2) Team Brazil, 259.75 points; 3) Team Canada, 176 points; 4/5) Team Australia, 85.5 points; 4/5 Team Mexico, 85.25 points.

FINAL EVENT RESULTS:
1) Team USA, 878 points – $100,000; 2) Team Canada, 773.25 points; 3) Team Brazil, 773 points; 4) Team Mexico, 497.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 262.5 points.

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