Luke Snyder entered the Last Cowboy Standing event as a dark horse so unlikely to win the event that I would dare say that no one on earth predicted it. But win he did: $200,000 on the day of his 300th PBR event, with rides of 88, 90.5, and 90 points. He was the only rider to make the whistle on three bulls, won two of the night's three rounds, and rode the last two having sustained a concussion in the first round.
In terms of outcome and the way the story played out, it may have been the most exciting event so far this year. Out of forty riders in Round One, only fifteen advanced. Only four riders made the whistle in Round Two and it was four you'd never have expected: Aaron Roy, Sean Willingham, Pistol Robinson, and Snyder. Three of those four rides in Round Two scored over 90 points. There was just enough tension in Round Three when Willingham was bucked off and lost the tail of his rope a fraction of a second before the whistle. It was close, but on review the judges ruled no score. (The correct call, in my opinion.) Then Snyder sealed the deal on the last ride of the night.
Take a look at how this event affected the PBR world standings in a couple of important ways.
The Bulls:
The best bull of the night isn't always the highest scored bull of the night, but in this case it was. 537 Jawbreaker (Prorodeo Inc.Walls / Wilfong / JC Kitaif) came away with a score of 46 points on an out that really highlighted his talents. That bull has a double kick, gets a lot of air, and looks good doing it.
Other notable bulls:
H50 Hank - 45.5 - Jeff Robinson
250 Black Pearl - 45.25 - Boyd/Floyd
D26 Stubby - 45.25 - D&H Cattle/Franzen
44.5 bulls: Braveheart, High Octane Hurricane, Mr. Slim, Perfect Poison, Yellowjacket Jr.
44.25 bulls: Heebee Geebee, Jeffrey Scott Titanium Tough, Priceless, Wild & Out
Odds & Ends:
I thought the pay-per-view was a success. I enjoyed the length and the format. They lucked out that the results were as exciting as they were, because it could have gone a different way and been resoundingly boring, but this time, it was worth the money. The barely dressed showgirls were a bizarre choice, if you ask me. Which you didn't, but oh well.
Thank you, J.W. Hart, for correcting Ty Murray by telling him that Slim Chance is a D&H Panhandle Slim son, not a clone. That's a mistake Ty has made about four times this season. It's just not that complicated to keep track of the Slim clones and to learn their names. I'm not just being picky about Ty here. Most breeders are not happy about cloning, so it's not a plus have one of your bulls incorrectly identified as a clone. Ty should be getting this right.
And just in case you were wondering (I was), "pound for pound strength" is a body-building / weight-lifting term having to do with the number of pounds you can lift relative to your weight. In terms of bull riding, Ty is using it to mean strength relative to size. For the official record, it has now joined Craig Hummer's "turfed" and "putting some sauce on it" on the list of PBR broadcast words and phrases I hope never to hear again.
But, all told, I am happy. Exciting event, commercial-free coverage, and a crazy-good bull to rave about. That's a good night of bull riding.
