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.

Pictures

Bottom Picture: Justin McKee, introducing myself, and the Season Two winner, Ronnie King from Nashville, TN.

Top Picture: "The Team to Beat" in Round Five: Austin Meier, Dustin Elliott, Aaron Roy, Valdiron de Oliveria, and World Number 1, Kody Lostroh.

Round Four/Day One in Vegas

I woke up on Thursday at 2:53 a.m. and our flight left at 7:00 a.m. The flight was 45 minutes early arriving in Las Vegas. We had beautiful views of the snow covered Rockies and the Grand Canyon.

We were able to check in early to our fancy suite and THEHotel at Mandalay Bay. This whole complex is HUGE. Versus and the PBR have outdone themselves for us. We got some (expensive) food and headed out to the PBR Fan Zone and Marketplace for a little while. We watched Flint interview a couple of people, including Kody Lostroh, on his "talk show."

At 3:00, we met our Versus Contact, Jenn, and went to the VIP pre-party and the Hardrock Hotel in our private van. From there, we were delivered to the Thomas and Mack Center on the UNLV campus for the event. Our seats are great, and we have the same ones each night. A few people texted me when they caught a glimpse of us on television, but it was very brief.

I had 3 out of 5 rides in Round 4, and Kody Lostroh won the round, so I was super excited. We met some more people from the PBR and Versus, and went back to the Hardrock for the draft. It was very cool. I got to pick first, since I came into the second round behind, and of course, I chose Kody. We alternated picks until we each had our team of five riders. We have until this afternoon to decide on our 3 bulls. Then we got to watch the 40 riders as they drafted their bulls for tonight.

We fell into bed about midnight, feeling fairly exhausted, but as you can see, I can't sleep again. Oh well! The photo above is our hotel from the parking lot, and I will post a couple of other pictures from the draft.

Too Excited to Sleep!

Have you ever seen that commercial with those two little kids who are going to Disney World the next day, and the mom comes in the bedroom to check on them, and one little kid says, "We're too excited to sleep" with a big grin on his face? Well, that's me. I woke up at 4:45 a.m., and we aren't leaving until tomorrow. At least I'll be able to go to bed early tonight since we have to get up at 4:00 tomorrow (that 2:00 a.m. Vegas time).

One update - we might be on Thursday night's broadcast live because the Versus channel asked us for our seat assignments that the PBR has given to us, and I didn't understand why, but it is probably so that they can find us to show the viewing audience that we are really there!

I've got a lot to do today to get ready to go, and I am sure hoping that the bull draft for Round 4 takes place early enough today that I can study it on the plane and make my picks before we arrive.

Round Three Reflections

It’s time to go back to work for a couple of days and think about something besides bulls and riders. My mind needs a break! I am about 80 points behind, as Sunday’s rounds didn’t go my way. One more ride, and I would have caught up. It could have been worse though, because my competitor almost got another ride, but that rider was off at 7.9 seconds and the challenge was upheld.

I have a correction to make to the TV schedule I mentioned before. I said that next Sunday’s final two rounds would be on CBS. Now they are saying it is on NBS Sports. That will be at 1:30 p.m. CST. I kind of doubt if they show us on that day since this contest is sponsored by Versus, but you never know. Best time to see us is Friday and Saturday nights.

We are anxious and excited for Thursday morning to get here, so there probably won’t be much to write about until then. Check back for updates and maybe pictures, if I can get the laptop to act right. I set up an email for while I am on the road. It is daunabogan@gmail.com.

Round Two Results, Round Three Thoughts

Close just isn’t good enough in the sport of riding bulls. I had only two rides last night, but my bulls were great! My opponent got three rides, so he is now 70 points ahead of me. That is less than one bull ride, I know, but it puts me in the dilemma of whether to play to safe or take a chance today.

I don’t think I mentioned that they are changing the rules once we get to Vegas and start picking our riders and bulls in person. Instead of being able to pick the same riders and bulls by coincidence, we will be alternating our picks, and can’t have the same riders on our teams. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we are not restricted to picking only one rider from the top five, two from the next ten, and two from the bottom twenty-five. If I am still behind on Thursday night, I will get first pick. We can still choose any bulls we want. So, I have to come up with a strategy. I guess that gives me something to do on the three and a half hour flight!

Be sure to watch today on CBS at 4:00 CST and 5:00 on Versus. Make sure you set your clocks back one hour last night, too!