The Long Awaited Champion's Belt Buckle

FINALLY! It came today, delivered by Fed Ex. After four months of waiting, I have received the belt buckle, and as you can see, it is indeed a one-of-a-kind custom-made buckle with my name on it. There will never be another one like it. This is so cool. It's huge. I may look silly wearing it. But I will wear it whenever I get to go to the PBR again. We just attended the event in Kansas City, and they were going to present it to me live on T.V., but it didn't arrive, so that plan fell through. Anyway, the last chapter closes and the story has a happy ending.

Officially the Winner

This picture was posted on the Ultimate PBR Fantasy website today. It is a picture of me consulting Kody Lostroh and Robson Palermo on my next pick for Round 7 and 8 at the PBR Finals.

Check out the Fantasy website at: http://roadtovegas.pbrfantasy.com/pbr/home

My Favorite Pictures

Our limo from the airport

Round 4 - The Team to Beat

Dauna and Sam

Josh Koshel, Dauna, and Dustin Elliott

Kody and Robson helping me select my team

Looking back at the Luxor and Mandalay Bay

Home Again

All I can really say is "Wow, we had a GREAT time!" It is still hard to believe that we got to go to the PBR Finals and be treated so well. It's hard to believe all that we got to do, and that I was there when Kody Lostroh won his first World Finals, and I won the Ultimate PBR Fantasy game, too. The results are final now and posted on the website. I guess my belt buckle will be on its way to me soon. I will post a picture when it gets here.

Jerry and I are enjoying watching the events again since I recorded them all. We were on TV a few times and want to see what everyone else got to see. We missed all the commentary, too, so we want to hear all of that, and get a few laughs.

We have hundreds of pictures, but not all of them turned out as good as some did, so I will post a picture page of the good ones.

I guess the highlights of the trip were getting to pick my teams, getting to pick Kody all three times in Vegas, seeing him win the World Championship, and getting to meet Paula and Sam. The weather was awesome, and the PBR and Versus folks were phenominal to us.

We can't wait to play this game during the 2010 season. Jerry says he is going to win next time. Fine with me!

Round Seven and The Championship Round

Today was the most exciting and most intense day so far. We starting out the day by attending worship services with Riding High Ministries in the Fan Zone area. There was a big crowd, and Todd Pierce had a really good message.

We arrived at the Thomas and Mack Center about 10:45 a.m. The seventh round was awesome, and I had 4 of 5 rides in that round.

The Championship Round featured the 15 riders with the top average score for the Finals, and the 15 rankest bulls. Bones was sick and did not get to compete today.

There were only three rides in the Championship round, McKennon Wimberly, Shane Proctor, and J.B. Mauney. J.B.'s ride was one of the best I have ever seen in person. Kody rode for about 7.4 seconds, but lost his rope on Voodoo Child (one of my bulls). I was so afraid that he would not have enough points to be the World Champion, but after a few minutes of calculations and drama, he was announced as the champ. I was so excited that "my boy" won that I cried happy tears.

Sunday evening we attended the Championship Banquet and watched all of the awards being given out to the riders, stock contractors, etc.. Kody's speech was good, and as usual, he thanked God for His talents and for His protection and blessing.

Though nothing has been announced officially about the Ultimate PBR Fantasy game, I should be declared the winner on the website soon. This trip has been one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me, and the timing could not have been better for winning since I got to be there to see Kody win his first (but not last) World Championship!

We are headed home today, but I will post a few more pictures soon.

Round Six Results

Saturday was such a great day! We started at 8:00 a.m. by going to the PBR Meet and Greet where we met all of the riders and got autographs. Then, we had the draft for Round Six, and my team would later go 5 for 5 rides. We spent some time with my brother's girlfriend, Paula, and her son, Sam. We ate lunch and watched some little cowboys ride sheep. This picture of Jerry and I shows me studying my picks for Round 7 in the bleachers between sheep rides.

After the Round Six event, we headed to The Silverton Hotel for the draft for Round Seven and the Championship Round on Sunday. I was able to pick another good team and am about 3 1/2 rides ahead after Round Six.

Round 5 Results

This was during Round 5 where Ronnie and I were being interviewed by Leah Garcia. Sadly, we were interrupted by an injury that took priority, but Mike Lee looked okay today, so that is what counts.

I had 4 of 5 rides in Round 5, and my bulls were awesome. We made our picks for tonight this morning, and we will make our picks for Round 7 tonight at the after party, featuring Justin McBride. That should be lots of fun.

My team for Round 6 is Kody Lostroh, Robson Palermo, Valdiron de Oliveira, Aaron Roy, and Austin Meier.