Based on the number of times the announcers and commentators referred to "the Brazilians" last weekend (about five), someone has finally come to their senses. The five mentions are in stark contrast to the dozens of times we've heard it in almost every broadcast this season.
The PBR has seemed hellbent on turning this season into a prolonged World Cup rather than a regular season in which individual bull riders compete in an individual sport for an individual title. It created a sense of nationality-based competition rather than individual competition. It wasn't good for the season and it wasn't good for the fans. I can only imagine how it felt to other riders.
And ultimately it wasn't good for the men from Brazil. It's never good to lump individuals into a group based on any aspect, or to constantly refer to individuals as "one of the Brazilians" or "the Brazilian bunch" or any of the other numerous phrases the PBR has used. The most important thing about a person is not where they come from.
I am a fan of some, not all, riders. Some of my favorites come from Brazil, some come from my home country. I don't like to think of any of them as "the" anything. I like to think of them as riders.
The hiring of a translator was an act of brilliance long overdue. Fans will begin to relate to riders as individuals, and learn about who they are. We have already seen that this is true for the announcers, who repeatedly talked about getting to know Silvano Alves and Fabiano Vieira through the interpreter last weekend, and the things that it surprised them to learn. And all of us had a chance to get to know Valdiron de Oliveira better. A translator gives the men who don't speak English well a chance to tell their story and let themselves be known.
I don't know about you, but I had a deep sense of relief after last week's broadcast. Finally, we seem to be back to bull riding, men against bulls, without caring where the men are from.
