NFR Qualifiers

[Gus]

It's going to be tough for anyone to catch Matt, but I'm glad Cord McCoy and Zeb Lanham made this field. They both had some bad injuries, which says a lot about their try.


Bull Riding

1. Matt Austin, Wills Point, Texas (95) $228,386

2. Bryan Richardson, Dallas, Texas (102) 142,102

*3. Dustin Elliott, North Platte, Neb. (94) 126,652

4. Jarrod Ford, Greeley, Colo. (88) 122,474

5. Steve Woolsey, Spanish Fork, Utah (85) 113,090

6. Howdy Cloud, Kountze, Texas (95) 110,453

7. Wesley Silcox, Payson, Utah (107) 101,225

8. B.J. Schumacher, Hillsboro, Wis. (75) 88,468

9. Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo. (86) 83,484

10. Clayton Foltyn, El Campo, Texas (102) 81,516

11. Zack Oakes, Tonasket, Wash. (81) 79,155

12. Cord McCoy, Tupelo, Okla. (79) 78,195

13. D.J. Domangue, Wharton, Texas (85) 74,922

14. Zeb Lanham, Sweet, Idaho (76) 68,975

15. Davey Dyke, Fremont, Iowa (90) 67,840

[WI8SecFan]

CONGRATS! It has been a long hard season for a lot of these men. Wish them all great rides and safe trips in Vegas!

I am thrilled as always to see a home state boy at the NFR! WAY TO GO BJ! I can not wait to see him ride and he is of course the one that I am cheering for to take the average and collect a few go round gold buckles.

Matt has had an awesome year and the gold buckle will look good on him at the end of the finals. But watch for Bryan to take the finals average the way he has been riding lately. It looks like he is peaking at just the right time!

As Gus said it is great to see Cord and Zeb make it too as it speaks highly of their desire and love of the sport.

I am also excited to see Davey fight his way into the 15th spot. I have been watching him ride around this area and with my home state guys for a while now so it is always good to see him on the final list.

Last but certainly not least I also want to acknowledge the following list of guys:

16 Jason McClain
17 Greg Fuller
18 Tate Stratton
19 Cody Hancock
20 Colby Yates

They came in 16-20 after fighting hard all season just missing the finals. They all had great seasons and made some amazing rides.

[CThrash13]

Terri, where is Fred? You said you would acknowledge this situation when I told you it would happen. He didn't even make it in the top 20.

By the way, I will be ready to watch some NFR this year. I've only seen the PRCA once this year, and that's when I went to an event in Lawton, OK. I haven't been able to catch any on ESPN. They really need to get a better TV deal. That being said, everyone here has kept us pretty up to date, so I'll be ready to see if anyone can catch Matt Austin..

[WI8SecFan]

Yes, I will acknowledge that Fred did not make it into the top 20 as I thought he would in Spring this year. He fought hard through the summer and had a great event at the Nashville Extreme Bulls but the injuries and missing the first part of the season were just too much for him to overcome. He recently had the surgery with Dr. Tandy so I look for him to come back strong next year and qualify for his 6th NFR in 2006, if he chooses to make a run at it.

[Gus]

By the way, Jason McClain will take B.J.'s place since B.J. broke his collarbone and is out. Here's the payouts for go-rounds and the average, so it's definitely possible for Bryan or Dustin or Jarrod or Woolsey to catch Matt. It's not likely since Matt would have to get shut out, but you never know:

Each of the 10 Full Go-Rounds: $50,769

1st $15,738
2nd $12,438
3rd $9,392
4th $6,600
5th $4,061
6th $2,538



Average payout: $152,302

1st $40,360
2nd $32,745
3rd $25,891
4th $19,038
5th $13,707
6th $9,900
7th $6,854
8th $3,808

[WI8SecFan]

This is bull riding and anythings can happen and god for bid an early injury to Matt may change the look of everything. However here is my prediction. When the dust settles we will see Matt crowned World Champion and Bryan much closer and the finals average winner. Matt and his talent are the biggest factor in this thinking but there is also ton of talent that is going to arrive in Vegas. Even if Matt stumbles I think that there is too much talent for any single rider to place high enough in enough rounds to earn the money needed to overtake him. I predict that we will see at least 6 different round winners this year. I also see cord having a great finals and moving up quite a bit in the standings by the end of the season.

Finally, congrats and best of luck to Jason. It is hard not seeing BJ there but Jason is a great rider and we will see some great rides from him as well.

[Gus]

Bryan is hot, but it isn't like Matt is coming in on a slump or anything. He did just win the CBR Finals, so it appears he's riding as good as ever. I'm excited to start watching -- and to be there for the final three perfs.

[CThrash13]

I don't think Matt will skip a beat. I think he will win the average at the NFR and walk away the champ in easy fashion.

By the way, I don't mean to be a lazy bum, but when does the NFR start? I can't ever get my schedule right for PRCA stuff.

Thanks.

Edit: By the way, that really stinks for BJ. He is my favorite PRCA rider, and we won't get to see him this time around. He just hasn't had any luck whatsoever with the injury bug.

[WI8SecFan]

Here is the TV Schedule. All times are EST.

Dec. 2 Friday 11:59 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 2 (Round 1) Recap

Dec. 3 Saturday 9:00 p.m. ESPN2 (LIVE) Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 3 (Round 2) Recap

Dec. 4 Sunday 3:00 a.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 3 (Round 2) Recap

Dec. 4 Sunday 9:00 p.m. ESPN2 (LIVE) Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 4 (Round 3) Recap

Dec. 5 Monday 6:00 a.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 2 (Round 1) Recap

Dec. 5 Monday 4:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 4 (Round 3) Recap

Dec. 5 Monday 11:59 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 5 (Round 4) Recap

Dec. 6 Tuesday 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 5 (Round 4) Recap

Dec. 6 Tuesday 11:59 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 6 (Round 5) Recap

Dec. 7 Wednesday 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 6 (Round 5) Recap

Dec. 7 Wednesday 11:59 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 7 (Round 6) Recap

Dec. 8 Thursday 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 7 (Round 6) Recap

Dec. 8 Thursday 11:59 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 8 (Round 7) Recap

Dec. 9 Friday 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 8 (Round 7) Recap

Dec. 10 Saturday 12:30 a.m. ESPN Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 9 (Round 8) Recap

Dec. 10 Saturday 9:00 p.m. ESPN2 (LIVE) Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 10 (Round 9) Recap

Dec. 11 Sunday 3:00 a.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 9 (Round 8) Recap

Dec. 11 Sunday 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 10 (Round 9) Recap

Dec. 11 Sunday 4:30 p.m. ESPN (LIVE) Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 11 (Round 10) Recap

Dec. 13 Tuesday 2:30 p.m. ESPN2 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 11 (Round 10) Recap

As you can see some of the rounds are live, a few are tape delayed and they are also replaying each round several times.

Gus I will be sure to leave a little bit of Crown at the Alligator Bar for when you arrive!

[Gus]

Bless your heart.