Round one was a first of a sort as it was actually held on Thursday night.Luke rode Corey and Horst's Okie Dokie for 90.25 points and second place in the round. He tied for 4/5 in round two with his ride aboard Berger's Bad Medicine who went around to the left away from Luke's hand with good action.Luke stayed up on his rope and made a textbook ride.The fans thought it was better than the two round winning rides and groaned as Luke scored 89.25. I have to agree as Bad Medicine had more action than either Rockin Robin or Lights Out. yet scored 44 to their 44.75. I have always been totally honest in my reports and won't quit now. Some of the bull scores have seemed over inflated for weeks since the start of this bull team competition and since the head judge ,Cody Custer left. I think they need Cody back!
In round three Luke tied for first place with Brendon Clark.Luke drew 4 C's/Marvin Nixon's Devil's Night for 90 points. I want to congratulate Julie and Gilbert Carrillo for the quality of bulls they and their team partners have put together. Just a second for a plug here but if you have young bulls and want them trained as in chute broke or turning back send them to 4C's training facility .Devil's Night went around to the left away from Luke's hand with lots of kick,twist and drift.Luke was aggressive and remained in total control.All in all it was a great ride. As this was a draft weekend and Luke was in the lead going into the championship round he had first pick. He made a great choice as he picked the Chad Berger/Clay Struve's Walk The Line who went around to the right into Luke's hand before reversing left away from Luke's hand in a fast spin with lots of action. Luke scored 91 to notch his first event title since 2005 beating out his friend Ross Coleman by just 9.75 points in the average.
The place was packed as it always has been in Nampa.Bull riding is big there and many members of the Native American community support all events there. Wiley who is Shoshone/Blackfoot draws in the fans as he comes from Ft Hall which is the Blackfoot Reservation in SE Idaho. The fans were rooting for him but it just was not Wiley's weekend. Orange Pop popped Wiley off in round one and he was next to last in the draw.He took Milkman(not Harry Vold's bull), a black bull who took two big leaps out with major belly rolls then went to the left pulling Wiley forwards for a freehand slap. Wiley did get the fans cheering though in round three when he rode Kamo Kat for 86.25 points as the bull went around to the left into Wiley's hand with good kick and action. Wiley tied for 16/17 in the round.
Another favorite for the crowd at Nampa has always been Ross Coleman.Ross had a great weekend and ended up second in the average. Ross was 15th in round one aboard Crouching Tiger with 85.25 and he earned 85.50 points for 14th place in round two aboard Chicken Creek who was not too impressive as he took four leaps forward before going around to the left away from Ross' hand. Ross was 8th in Lil' Coyote who made one turn around to the left away from Ross' hand before reversing right into his hand.Ross is a tall guy and this was a tiny bull but Ross rode aggressively and had good spur action while shifting his hips forward with every jump. He scored 88.50.
Ross chose Don Kish's God's Gift as his championship round bull and it was a great choice for him as he won the round with a great looking 91.5 ride.The bull took two leaps out then went around to the right into Ross' hand with good timing and action.Ross was in complete control and never bobbled. He ended up second in the average to his pal Luke.
Mike Lee won round one with a great ride aboard Gold Bell Wine for 90.75 but didn't get his Enterprise bonus in round two as he bucked off of his draft choice Tighty Whitey at 7.0. In round three his weekend ended as Catywompus bucked him off.
It was a good weekend for Brian Herman as he tied for 9/10 in round one aboard Clam Digger with 87.50 points. He then took the momentum forward and tied for 1/2 in round two with his draft choice of Berger/Struve's Rockin' Robin.This was his fourth time out on this bull so he knew him well.The bull went around to the right into Brian's hand for 90.5 points but ,and this is not just my own opinion, the ride was not as strong as L.J. Jenkins 89.75 ride. Sometimes it seems the judges set the standard a little too high at the start of the round and adjust down later. This has been a war cry of fans for a long time now. In round three Brian and Dustin Hall shared the Enterprise bonus with their respective rides.Dustin had rode Kish's Lights Out in round two for the tie.The bull is a fast spinner who went to the right into Dustin's hand slowed down then picked up speed again.I think both of these guys are great riders and they looked much better than the bulls they picked. I love Craig Hummer but I sure am tired of all this hoopla about number of 90+ rides and have seen fans complaining on message boards of the same.It almost seems as if the judges are scoring some bulls too high just to break a record of 90+ rides. When you have been around bull riding a long time you have feel that a lot of the scores this season have been inflated. Sorry Randy but this is not just my opinion but what fans are saying too; and in some cases your announcers also where some of the scores are concerned. Having my own bulls and having bucked them and also judged at ABA futurities last season there are many rides I sure don't agree with.many scores that seem inflated bother me but not as much as scores that deserved higher markings.The funny thing is people who are even new fans of the sport have mentioned this about certain rides. Maybe Cody Custer needs to return and get these judges in shape. And again a constant complaint against the judges which I keep hearing is the way they hand out re- rides. Brian Canter was robbed this weekend as the yellow flag should have been thrown at the start of his ride aboard The Godfather as the bull hit his nose coming out of the chute sideways and took one leap and slammed into the chute gate banging Brian's arm into the chute.No flag and Brian did stay on but the replay judge who many are getting to dislike challenged the ride while the other judges were giving Brian a score. He said No Score and I sure didn't see anything in the replay for that decision. I might have missed it but its not the first time this judge denied a reride.On one occasion the bull stumbled out to his knees but the judge said he didn't go down to his belly.Some thing is wrong here!
Brendon Clark tied with Luke Snyder's 90 point ride to share the honors in round three.Brendon rode Diamond G's Charmed I'm Sure who faked left then went around to the right in a drifting spin while also jumping forward in the spin.Brendon had complete control.
Ross Coleman's ride in the Championship round was the first qualified ride as the bulls blanked the first six riders. The bulls dominated the rest of the round until Luke's ride.
My condolences to Pistol Robinson on the loss of his beloved mother who died from MS at the end of March. There were several injuries with the most notable being Mike White's concussion in round one when Total Darkness put him down hard; putting Mike,who has a record of concussions out for several weeks. Guilherme Marchi will undergo x-rays on his left ankle but continued to ride this weekend. Tony Mendes tore the cartilage in his left knee in round two and could not finish the weekend out. He's set for surgery and will be out till Billings.
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