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2000 NFR TENTH PERFORMANCE RESULTSPen: The A TEAM IISome them didn’t buck like it but it was a decent riding. After splitting off the more difficult A Team bulls G21 Dodge Durango, K78 Unforgiven, CL Clayton’s Pet, and 78 Tuff E Nuff and bucking them both times in the Big Eliminators--it left us a little light on this offensive side of the A Team.
I got on the judges a little in our 9th go round preview trying to encourage them to JUDGE and place guys. Because these pens are set to not have much variation in what the animals are marked, they pretty much have to use the ride points to get everyone placed in the order they think they should go. Watching the tape, a judge could found reason for any one of the top three to win the round.
Judges Order: Knowles Overstreet Horton DavisJosh O’Byrne K77 Yellow Jacket Flying 5 91 23-23-22-23A photographer friend of Josh’s and mine stopped during the calf roping to ask if I thought Josh would ride Yellow Jacket. I said “no”… he was too beat up physically and too beat up mentally — his confidence was probably shot. The picture guy knows many of these bulls and their bucking patterns and he was concerned that Josh was going to get hurt. See… this bull was probably going to turn back into his hand…. if Josh didn’t get there and keep getting there—he was going to hang up away from his hand. That usually means a horn to the head, dragging, and getting stepped on. I almost just looked away when he nodded. Josh is a good guy… one of my heroes. But anyway… fortunately my lack of faith didn’t effect the outcome… Josh got there and kept getting there… made a great ride and got away safely. I will tell you that anyone who had been at the NFR all the way through… audience… judges… other bull riders… other contestants… chute bosses …. production staff… they ALL rode on that victory lap horse with O’Byrne. Josh will remember that ride and this year—for a lot of different reasons. Lee Akin 906 Young Gun Pinz 93 24-23-22-23Young Gun was by far the rankest bull out during the first run though the bulls… but it had been a quick buck-off. But this time… Lee got him started and this bull was a lot like his dad…. Megabucks. Really kicked in it—into Lee’s hand. A really good bull ride. Lee came pretty close to winning the world. He had an excellent year. I really liked this bull ride. Tyler Fowler 080 Red Dog Beutler/Gaylord 91 22-22-23-22A guy usually needs to ride at least 7 bulls in order to win the world. The way things played out, even if they hadn’t got him for a slap on Friday night, he probably woulda needed to ride 8 because I think he’da only won fourth Friday night. Watching this bull ride on tape… in slow mo—you really can appreciate this bull ride. The little bull really bucked and Tyler made a perfect ride. He is the most technically correct bull rider out there at the moment. Philip Elkins K66 Rapid Fire Big Bend 90 20-21-23-21This great bull didn’t stay hooked with Philip but he still was bucking hard. Jumping out of it probably made him even more difficult to ride. When the judges were drawing the poker chips out of the draw box and they plucked Rapid Fire for Philip I wasn’t sure he would get him covered. This bull had been having his best year—in years. But then I thought back to his effort on Kish’s #604 NO CAN DO on Friday night and figured he at least had a shot. Elkins did all HE could—he rode his bull. Unfortunately as it turned out he needed to win 3rd in the round instead of 4th. 91 points won 3rd. Philip was 90. Still, he won the second most prestigious award—the NFR average. Puts his name right in there with guys like Denny Flynn. I’m not sure anyone realizes the pressure Philip has been under during his entire professional career. Nearly all of it—self imposed. See … in the Fort Worth area, as a teenager Elkins was sort of a phenomenen. Lots of press… everyone knew of him… expected a lot out of him when he turned pro. They expected not just one world championship but many. When for whatever reason (s) it didn’t happen they, of course, were disappointed. I’m guessing that as each year passed Philip began to feel the burden of other people’s expectations growing heavier and heavier. He’d been in and out of the top 15 and then barely miss the NFR. Fortunately he had a lot of family emotional support. They never quit believing in him…. if he’da quit it would be fine with them. If they felt any disappointment it was for Philip. Philip Elkins is a lesson in perseverance…. to keep going even though things haven’t worked out like you thought or hoped they would. I’m really happy for him. Jesse Bail 66 King Kong Rafter H/Hall 86 20-21-22-20I didn’t want to bring KONG back for a second trip…. afraid he might park it. In fact if Jesse hadn’t spurred him –it looked to me like KING was fixing to stall out. Whew. This Bail guy… has a BIG following—lots of people pulling for him. They like him because first of all –he’s a cowboy—a Clint Johnson or Cody Lambert type of guy. Second – he’s modest. No razzle dazzle—solid--a good person. Third…he has fun… he enjoys rodeoing. And fourth—he CAN REALLY RIDE. This guy is something special. Shane Drury 007 Gyro Beard 84 20-20-22-20Typical deal… the judges will 22-23 a bull when he bucks someone off but then he gets it stuck on him and he’s only a 20. Performance wise—Gyro WAS a 20. Difficulty wise—he was more than that. They just don’t ride him. But—he probably won just what he should’ve in the go round. This guy had a tough finals. A second more in two longer and he’da had $20,000 won and some momentum. Then he didn’t draw very well in a couple of rounds. Had a sore wrist. But if you look at this kid’s face when he gets off or gets bucked off—he’s ready to fight. He’s got that heart of a tiger that’s necessary to be successful in about anything a person wants to do. If you look back on his year—how he came out of nowhere… rode some of the best bulls in the rankest herds, and won $80,000-$100,000… I’d have to think that it has been a very good year for him. And beside all that-- everyone likes him. Danell Tipton 10 Freckles Guidry/Nelson Doctors ReleaseThis guy came to the NFR intent on winning the world. Made a good ride to start things off—then things started going bad. Very tough on him emotionally then got EXTRA tough on him physically. As you know he was pretty much knocked unconscious last night. To think he could ride 14 HOURS later… when a NFL quarterback is held out for 2-4 WEEKS—well, that is unthinkable. But he was going to. It took his family, friends, and doctors to talk him out of it. And it took them 10 of those 14 hours to do it. You just never know… sure you might be able to win $13,000—Freckles is a good bull—Danell should ride him. BUT… what would happen if under all that stress—he blacked out… or his body didn’t respond to his mind’s instructions? That is just a chance that you can’t allow a guy to take. But having said all that—if he’da been tough in the average or close to winning the world—Danell woulda got on—as scary as it seems. This guy has a lot more going on his life than just bull riding. On his answering machine… the last thing you hear is “GOD BLESS”. Well, GOD has blessed Danell in a lot of ways and he in turn blesses others. Cody Hancock K77 River Dance Big Bend 17-19-17-20 3.8See….. good guys CAN finish FIRST. And this is a good person. From 15th to 1st… not sure that’s ever been done—at least in the bull riding. As the very first bull rider at his very first NFR—he rides the 2000 bucking bull of the year #101 Border Patrol and wins the go round. Wow. When they drew this pen of bulls I’d figured that Cody would ride but depending on what else they rode—he might not place high. I also knew that Philip would have his hands full with Rapid Fire. All Cody had to be was 67 in order to win the average. The bull could flat run off and he’d still be more than that. So now in the 10th go round… the first bull rider at the 2000 NFR becomes the last bull rider at the 2000 NFR. The significance of that cannot be fully comprehended. And then… RIVER DANCE RUNS… and not only is he RUNNING… he is running in a circle AWAY from Cody’s hand. Circling back toward the chutes—he was going to make that corner going 90 MPH—and right hand down—Cody didn’t have a chance. And who’s fault was it. MINE. I put the running sucker in this pen. It wasn’t that I was rooting for Cody any more than Philip—it’s just that I wanted the title to be decided by a bull that bucked --not run off. But to show you what kind of person this guy is… he walks back on the platform behind the chutes. He’s thinking that the title is gone—I’m thinking it’s gone too. I just lost it for him. So as he passes I say “geez I’m sorry”. And you know what? He doesn’t say “you oughta be you stupid SOB.” No Cody says… “It’s okay.” Thought I was going to cry. One of the highlights of my days in rodeo was seeing this guy walk up on the stage to get the buckle and saddle. In the screwed-up world we live in it’s wonderful to see it when hard work and try pay off… when a good guy actually DOES prevail. Cody Hancock stayed out there and fought through lots of adversity and disappointment—he played the game they way it was intended to be played—and guess what? He’s the 2000 WORLD CHAMPION BULL RIDER. His name will forever be in the books included with names like Gay, Hedemen, Sharp, Murray, Frost, Custer, and other great champions. Cool… very cool. Robey Condra MT Mighty Tricky Broken Arrow/Thomas Taylor 24-22-24-23 3.5This youngster may have set a record in regard to the amount of money he won after the fourth of July. I recall that Lonnie Wyatt once had something like $1,200 won after the fourth and made the NFR but it was taking $34,000 in make it. Robey got hot about Cheyenne time and got even hotter. I thought he rode good here. I didn’t think he drew bulls that fit him at times but he did good. Think he’s only 20. Thomas Taylor would win the “Best Three Bulls “ award if the had one. Brought 3 and all 3 really bucked. Rob Bell 301 Cash Growney/Kish 22-22-22-22 4.7Wrong hand down on this long bodied, spotted bull. Away from your hand your chances of success aren’t that good. Most guys can get THERE initially but can’t KEEP getting there. At one point during the week I thought Rob might win the World. Was drawing good and riding good. This Bell guy is a winner. Whatever game he chooses to play—he wins. Dan Wolfe 46 Zandy Andrews 23-23-22-22 5.5Zandy couldn’t figure out any way to buck Dan off so he just bopped him with his head. Last time he had him Zandy got frustrated and fell with him. Coming in I would have picked Dan as one of the favorites. He has great natural ability. Had a strange finals. He rode outstanding at times and other times never got them started. I really don’t know what the deal was. I’m sure that making the NFR meant a lot to him—he’s been around rodeo a long time. At one point he even quit riding and fought bulls. Greg Potter G1 Gas Hog Harper/Morgan/Auger 22-21-22-23 2.1This guy woulda been my pick to win the world. Solid veteran… came close last year… in great shape… can ride ranker bulls more consistently than most guys. Never really got started. Looked tight then it appeared that the pressure of trying to win for his family and friends had him trying too hard. See …. making the NFR is more important to family and friends than it is to a lot of cowboys. They get to come to Las Vegas and be apart of something special—get rewarded for all their sacrifices and support. Then as the week progresses and things don’t quite fall into place— the self imposed “letting them down” pressure gets so intense that no matter how hard a guy tries—nothing will work. Greg made some outstanding rides during the season—at Pocatello—the MGM—and the Mesquite Tour Finals. This guy makes his living riding bulls and he’s very good at it. Kagan Sirett R8 Copenhagen Kish Bar T/Kerby 23-22-23-23 3.0I thought this bull was super rank. Into his hand, I think Kagan mighta rode him. Away from it— things would have to go right. He had a tough start then started coming on at the end. I think lots of guys come to the NFR and are either impressed or sometimes disappointed. If you put all the rules, red tape, sponsor schedules, ticket requests, etc. aside –it is really just another rodeo. A good one but still one where your job is to stay on the bull you’ve drawn. I think the NEXT time Sirett comes back here he’ll do really well. Cory Check 780 Diamonds Ghost Guidry/Nelson 24-21-22-22 2.7Cory never got a chance to ride—since this little bull got him right out of there. It is heartening to see Cory make the NFR. He has ridden some very good bulls this year. I always figured that Cory might be like a lot of young guys… undercapitalized. Unless they can hit a big lick early on and have some big checks come in through out the season, they have to go home and work until they have enough saved up to go again. That is a tough way to rodeo if you are a Thoroughbred like Check. Cory bought at least one bull at the NFR sale. The Crusier loves bulls including this one. Fred Boettcher 101 Border Patrol Flying 5 22-22-23-21 6.8Hard to believe that you coulda rode the 200 Bucking Bull of the Year in the 10th round at the NFR and win only fourth place—but that’s what Fred probably woulda won. Had the little bull knocked out then he jumped out of it. Left Fred into his hand. Probably would have only won 5th in the go round. Boettcher also came here with one goal in mind—to win the world. It didn’t work out very well but he showed great effort and commitment throughout. .3 seconds in one round and he’da been in the 90’s and taking a victory lap. Whenever he gets on waspy bulls with lots of action, Fred reminds me a lot of Lane. Already talented and used to winning…. he has been getting more consistent. Best Bull Buckle: MT Mighty TrickyBull Scores:
My Best Bull at the NFR: K78 Unforgiven Big Bend. Nothing even close to him. But… the stock contractors vote for the award and they apparently hosed this bull because Akin got a reride option on him in the 10th go round. Remember—Lee didn’t call for him but the bull went two jumps and turned him a chiliwinder? They got second place right 906 Young Gun. Third should have been R8 of Kerby’s. Best Bull at the NFR: (stock contractors vote)G21 Dodge Durango MesquiteMight’ve been the rankest bull at the rodeo but he didn’t have to buck long enough to tell. He didn’t look very impressive—not like he can be. No way, I say. 906 Young Gun PinzOutstanding young bull. Best bull out the first run through the 100 bulls. 76 Red Crusher Rosser/Flying UGive me a break…. Danell got a reride when the gate men couldn’t hold the gate shut—remember it knocked Danell out? Jumped and kicked real strong with Boettcher in the 8th go. He bucked hard but…. Geez they’re stupid. After 10th Performance: World Standings: NFR Winnings: Average: (8)
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