Post by CThrash13 on Sept 29, 2008 10:28:40 GMT -5
Here are a few things on my mind after this past weekend's BFTS event in Oakland.
Rider Thoughts
First off, congrats to Guilherme Marchi on his fifth BFTS victory in 2008. He drew good bulls, including his old pal Copperhead Slinger, and he took full advantage of it. He has been in a minor slump the last few weeks, and it was easy to see the relief on his face after the win. He didn't pull away much from Valdiron de Oliveira, but he put a lot of distance between himself and the #3 guy, J.B. Mauney. The gold buckle is definitely in Marchi's grasp.
The longer Mike Lee's hair gets, the less consistent he seems to ride. In all seriousness, he has struggled quite a bit since blazing through the summer months with wins in Dallas and at the Calgary Stampede. I fully expected Lee to be the guy to challenge Marchi for the title this season, but he hasn't stepped up the past few weeks. This past weekend in Oakland was pretty disappointing as well because he drew two very ridable bulls by his standards. A rider the caliber of Mike Lee can obviously turn things around on any given night, and it will be interesting to see if he can get back in the swing of things over the next month or so.
It still amazes me how Ednei Caminhas is on the outside looking in when it comes to qualifying for the World Finals. He is 15th in BFTS Points, but he is way down the list in 50th in qualifying money. I've never been a huge proponent of using money as a qualifier because that should be accomplished through performance at the highest level (BFTS). Things usually work themselves out, however, but this situation is crazy to say the least. Caminhas is clearly one of the top-45 riders at the BFTS level, but that may not matter come Finals time. And in the end, he is going to have to start riding his short-go bulls.
Is anyone else tired of hearing about Wiley Petersen's struggles this season? Did Craig Hummer forget the fact he missed 10 events due to injury? In the 19 BFTS events Petersen has attended in 2008, he has 11 top-10 finishes. On top of that, he is 14th in the BFTS standings after his third-place finish in Oakland. Hummer needs to break down all the stats before saying crazy things like that. It's pretty obvious Wiley would be in the top 5 or 10 if he would have had the other 10 events, and I wouldn't count out another great performance from him in Vegas either.
Bull Thoughts
PBR fans definitely got a treat this past weekend with the incredible bull power in the short-go in particular. Troubador looked better than the 45.75 bull score he received. All in all, he has clearly been the best bull in the PBR this season. He will definitely be in the top five when the World Finals roll around, and hopefully he performs well enough there to win the Bull of the Year award. He deserves it for sure.
Also, it was nice to see All In put up a 46 bull score. He solidly moved into my top five after that performance. He was hanging on the edge before, but he should definitely get his shot to compete for the Bull of the Year in Vegas. He has been solid all season.
Copperhead Slinger and White Magic had pretty solid trips, but they weren't as dominant as I've seen from earlier outs this season. Slinger will probably end up in the top five and deservedly so, but White Magic doesn't belong in the same group. His trip with Wiley was pretty solid, but it wasn't anything special. That's two trips in a row that haven't been mind-blowing. I'm sure his reputation will get him into many top fives, but he isn't on mine.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Red Knection K Bulls for bringing bulls like Apache Leap and Major Payne. Fans haven't seen those bulls many times on the BFTS, but we will be seeing them a lot more in the future. Both were very rank (especially Apache Leap's short-go out), and I'm excited to see where they go from here. Kudos to the stock contractor!
General Thoughts
It was good to see G-Man back in the booth this weekend. J.W. Hart does a great job as well, but I've always been a fan of Michael Gaffney. Also, Brendon Clark did a fine job in the booth as always. When his riding career is over, he will definitely have a job announcing. He knows the bulls, and he knows the game.
The PBR hadn't been to Oakland in six years, and it looked like the fans came out to see the return. I didn't pay attention to the attendance in the first round, but it looked pretty packed for the second round and short-go round. Hopefully things went well enough for the PBR to return next season. It's nice to see some big events on the West Coast, mostly because the bull power is great out there these days.
Finally, did anyone else notice the Cincinatti event is going to be televised at 11:00 PM Eastern next Saturday? Yikes, what the hell happened there? I'll watch it because I'll be getting off work right before that, but the people on the East Coast may not be as happy. Also, remember Sunday's telecast will be broadcast on FOX. The FOX crew did a nice job a couple weeks ago, and hopefully they give this one the full respect it deserves.
The Final Say
What things stuck in your mind from this past weekend's event in Oakland. If you have any comments or things to add, please do so here at the forum. Let's get some discussion going. Thanks for reading!
Rider Thoughts
First off, congrats to Guilherme Marchi on his fifth BFTS victory in 2008. He drew good bulls, including his old pal Copperhead Slinger, and he took full advantage of it. He has been in a minor slump the last few weeks, and it was easy to see the relief on his face after the win. He didn't pull away much from Valdiron de Oliveira, but he put a lot of distance between himself and the #3 guy, J.B. Mauney. The gold buckle is definitely in Marchi's grasp.
The longer Mike Lee's hair gets, the less consistent he seems to ride. In all seriousness, he has struggled quite a bit since blazing through the summer months with wins in Dallas and at the Calgary Stampede. I fully expected Lee to be the guy to challenge Marchi for the title this season, but he hasn't stepped up the past few weeks. This past weekend in Oakland was pretty disappointing as well because he drew two very ridable bulls by his standards. A rider the caliber of Mike Lee can obviously turn things around on any given night, and it will be interesting to see if he can get back in the swing of things over the next month or so.
It still amazes me how Ednei Caminhas is on the outside looking in when it comes to qualifying for the World Finals. He is 15th in BFTS Points, but he is way down the list in 50th in qualifying money. I've never been a huge proponent of using money as a qualifier because that should be accomplished through performance at the highest level (BFTS). Things usually work themselves out, however, but this situation is crazy to say the least. Caminhas is clearly one of the top-45 riders at the BFTS level, but that may not matter come Finals time. And in the end, he is going to have to start riding his short-go bulls.
Is anyone else tired of hearing about Wiley Petersen's struggles this season? Did Craig Hummer forget the fact he missed 10 events due to injury? In the 19 BFTS events Petersen has attended in 2008, he has 11 top-10 finishes. On top of that, he is 14th in the BFTS standings after his third-place finish in Oakland. Hummer needs to break down all the stats before saying crazy things like that. It's pretty obvious Wiley would be in the top 5 or 10 if he would have had the other 10 events, and I wouldn't count out another great performance from him in Vegas either.
Bull Thoughts
PBR fans definitely got a treat this past weekend with the incredible bull power in the short-go in particular. Troubador looked better than the 45.75 bull score he received. All in all, he has clearly been the best bull in the PBR this season. He will definitely be in the top five when the World Finals roll around, and hopefully he performs well enough there to win the Bull of the Year award. He deserves it for sure.
Also, it was nice to see All In put up a 46 bull score. He solidly moved into my top five after that performance. He was hanging on the edge before, but he should definitely get his shot to compete for the Bull of the Year in Vegas. He has been solid all season.
Copperhead Slinger and White Magic had pretty solid trips, but they weren't as dominant as I've seen from earlier outs this season. Slinger will probably end up in the top five and deservedly so, but White Magic doesn't belong in the same group. His trip with Wiley was pretty solid, but it wasn't anything special. That's two trips in a row that haven't been mind-blowing. I'm sure his reputation will get him into many top fives, but he isn't on mine.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Red Knection K Bulls for bringing bulls like Apache Leap and Major Payne. Fans haven't seen those bulls many times on the BFTS, but we will be seeing them a lot more in the future. Both were very rank (especially Apache Leap's short-go out), and I'm excited to see where they go from here. Kudos to the stock contractor!
General Thoughts
It was good to see G-Man back in the booth this weekend. J.W. Hart does a great job as well, but I've always been a fan of Michael Gaffney. Also, Brendon Clark did a fine job in the booth as always. When his riding career is over, he will definitely have a job announcing. He knows the bulls, and he knows the game.
The PBR hadn't been to Oakland in six years, and it looked like the fans came out to see the return. I didn't pay attention to the attendance in the first round, but it looked pretty packed for the second round and short-go round. Hopefully things went well enough for the PBR to return next season. It's nice to see some big events on the West Coast, mostly because the bull power is great out there these days.
Finally, did anyone else notice the Cincinatti event is going to be televised at 11:00 PM Eastern next Saturday? Yikes, what the hell happened there? I'll watch it because I'll be getting off work right before that, but the people on the East Coast may not be as happy. Also, remember Sunday's telecast will be broadcast on FOX. The FOX crew did a nice job a couple weeks ago, and hopefully they give this one the full respect it deserves.
The Final Say
What things stuck in your mind from this past weekend's event in Oakland. If you have any comments or things to add, please do so here at the forum. Let's get some discussion going. Thanks for reading!