News

Fortunate few look to make history in Arlington

ARLINGTON, Texas (February 8, 2010) - It’s not uncommon for Ryan McConnel to dream about bull riding.

But a couple of nights ago, he had a dream that “was just a little different from normal.” He dreamt that he won the Iron Cowboy Invitational.

“I had a wild dream that I was 97,” he said afterward. “I didn’t know if I was on Code Blue, but 97 sounds good enough to win the Iron Man.”

Whoever wins the event will, in fact, do so on the back of Code Blue when the final two cowboys match up on the reigning World Champion Bull.

“When I ride him in the Championship, I plan on being 95, 96 points,” said McConnel this past weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In less than two weeks, the Top 24 riders in the world will compete in the first-ever tournament-style bracket at Cowboys Stadium.

Four years in the making, the Iron Cowboy will be the grandest bull riding event ever staged in the United States.

“I hope I’m part of something great,” said L.J. Jenkins, who has qualified for the event. “We can win all kinds of money riding bulls at the Finals or whatever, but you don’t get very many chances to ride at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, so I think that’s what I’m going for.”

“As a bull rider this is probably one of the biggest places you could possibly think of for doing anything like this,” added McConnel.

Just how big is this venue?

The $1.3 billion stadium played host to a record-breaking crowd of 105,121 when the Dallas Cowboys face the Tennessee Titans in their first regular-season game on Sept. 29, 2009.

Cowboys Stadium has also been the site of several college football games as well as a college basketball game, and will be host the NBA All Star Game a week before the Iron Cowboy Invitational.

“I couldn’t even tell you right now,” replied Jenkins, when asked what it will be like to compete there. “We’ve never even been in a building that big.”

For Dustin Elliott, an avid sports fan, it’s a chance to get an up-close look at the infamous video screen.

The largest high-definition screen of its kind in the world, Cowboys Stadium’s screen stretches from one 20-yard line to the other, and is 72 feet tall.

“I watched a couple of football games and the big deal was when those kickers were hitting the big screen when they were punting,” said Elliott, who is trying not to focus on hype and is instead focusing his attention on riding five bulls.

“It’s just another bull riding,” he tried to convince himself. “That’s the way I’m going to look at it, but it’s a bull riding that pays a lot, though.”

“To ride there is going to be amazing,” offered Jenkins.

McConnel agreed, saying, “It’s something you will not forget for the rest of your life.”

NEWS and NOTES

Bracketology: The initial qualifiers for the Iron Cowboy Invitational were finalized last week following the BFTS event in Tampa, Fla. However, because of injuries, the bracket will not be finalized until a week from today following the Express Classic in Oklahoma City this coming weekend.

As of now, Aaron Roy has opted not to participate because of date conflict with his wedding, and Wiley Petersen is out with a torn ACL. The past two World Champions – Kody Lostroh and Guilherme Marchi – will be out this weekend because of injuries, but both riders are expected to return in Arlington.

PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by J.W. Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call in with questions at 866-547-9696, or email them to pbr@rfdtv.com.

Event Center: Follow all the action from Oklahoma City, by logging on to www.pbr.com and entering the “Event Center,” which is accessible from the tab located at the top of the main Web page. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related Podcasts and interviews.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright, PBR.com