The rankest bull pen on earth was in the house last night and it showed. Only ten qualified rides were had, but they were great ones. A few points about the evening:
- Six riders have now gone two for two, including Ned Cross, Renato Nunes, Aaron Roy, Dustin Elliott, and newcomers Zane Lambert and Wesley Lourenco.
- Ned Cross holds onto the event lead by a mere .75 over Rentato Nunes.
- Renato was the only one of the top ten riders to make the whistle, so the point spread didn't change much. But he has cut Austin Meier's lead from 1,300 to 600 in two rounds. He's now breathing down J.B. Mauney's neck, and Valdiron de Oliveira isn't far behind him. About 300 points separate each of the top four riders from the man ahead of him.
- Ned Cross and Dustin Elliott are two guys who've seen a rough time, so it's great to see them come back like this now.
- J.B. Mauney, who separated his free arm shoulder in Wednesday night's wreck on Train Wreck, struggled last night. He is undoubtedly in pain, and it appears that his range of motion is compromised. Given the latter, it's hard to see how he can get it done this week, but I am not counting him out, yet.
- A slow motion replay of the "train wreck" with Justin McKee's commentary showed why J.B. was not injured catastrophically on Wednesday night. The bull fell on him, but it was the hollow of his flank that landed on him.
- You wonder if Austin Meier is regretting his pick of Braveheart. He usually picks with his head rather than his heart, but this time I think he went for the glory. Nothing wrong with that, but this might have been a time to go for a score rather than a long shot.
- "High and Low" all in one: Chris Shivers' wreck on Soul Train and his return to ride Mission Accomplished for 88.25 points. What can you say? The guy is a champion twice over. And the name of the bull is one of those things that make bull riding perfect.
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