Friday, May 13, 2011

PBR - Duluth notes

PBR - Duluth notes

Ocho is crazy if he thinks he can ride!!!!!!!!


DULUTH, Ga. (May 13, 2011) - In the past week, the Lucas Oil Invitational presented by Cooper Tires has been mentioned in the sports sections of nearly every newspaper in the country, and discussed on almost every sports radio show.

All because last week, NFL All-Pro receiver Chad Ochocinco used his Twitter account to casually suggest he was coming here to ride a bull.

Initially, he said he wanted to go head-to-head with Valdiron de Oliveira. He then Tweeted about riding top-ranked bull Bushwacker.

Monday night, he accepted a challenge posted by PBR Chief Operating Officer Sean Gleason, who offered him $10,000 if he got out of the chute on a bull, and a Ford F-150 if he made the 8-second whistle.

On Tuesday, the pro football nation read Ochocinco’s Tweets with mounting disbelief, and the Cincinnati wideout urged his nearly 2 million Twitter followers to follow @TeamPBR and @FordTrucks. As the Internet challenge went viral by day’s end, the @TeamPBR account, which has been growing by an average of 200 followers per week, increased by nearly 1,000.

One sports editor said that he and his staff are “used to 85’s stunts, but this one seems pretty extreme even for him.”

Through the power of social media, the story took on a life of its own by Wednesday morning. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic talked about it on their syndicated ESPN radio show. Herman Edwards, a former NFL coach who now works as an analyst for ESPN, gave Ochocinco some advice on “SportsCenter.”

Warren Sapp, the former All-Pro linebacker and current analyst with the NFL Network, even began Tweeting back-and-forth with his friend.

The story received coverage from USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquireras well as “NFL Total Access” and “CNN Headline News.” It made the rounds on ESPN, from “Pardon the Interruption” to “SportsNation” and “Around the Horn.”

By the close of business on Wednesday, a Bing search for “Ochocinco PBR” resulted in 6,800 matches.

Those who have covered the eccentric athlete are familiar with his skill in self-promotion, and weren’t surprised last year when he teamed with Cheryl Burke on the ABC series “Dancing with the Stars.” They weren’t taken off guard later that year when he starred in his own reality series, “Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch.”

And given the current NFL lockout, they weren’t shocked when he tried out for a Major League Soccer team in Kansas City recently.

But as Gleason Tweeted on May 9: “@ochocinco PBR isn't soccer! Sign the waiver and post a big enough bond and we'll put you on an exhibition bull. @teampbr.”

As of Friday morning, this much is known: Ochcocinco and his agent Drew Rosenhaus have accepted the challenge. Friday night he’ll receive a crash-course in bull riding from nine-time World Champion Ty Murray, and he’s expected to try to ride Deja Blu on Saturday night.

It remains to be seen whether he’ll have as much bravado after watching 90 other rides on Friday and Saturday, but CNN will be there, ESPN will have two crews at the event, and several other news outlets – Pro Football Weekly, the Associated Press, Comcast Sports, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gwinnett Daily Post and WSB-TV (CBS) – will be on hand for whatever takes place.

As one who writes about Ochocinco on a near-daily basis said, “We never know with him, but he’s great copy.”

No pressure:
 Before tempting fate on Saturday night, Ochocinco will have an opportunity to see Deja Blu in person. The bull is one 10 being used in the first short round Friday night. Dustin Elliott posted this observation on Facebook: “Wouldn't it be funny if Chad Ochocinco rides Deja Blu farther on Saturday night than whoever draws him in the short go on Friday? I want to get on that bull really bad, but I would be nervous now because of that.”

Marathon man: Georgia native Sean Willingham, who lives 100 miles northwest of Duluth, will be competing in his 206th consecutive BFTS event this weekend. He hasn’t missed a BFTS stop since the final two events of the 2004 season, but is still more than two years from breaking the record of 275 held by Luke Snyder. Willingham, who will turn 31 in May, predicted Ochocinco will stay on Deja Blu for 2.3 seconds.

Numbers up: Willingham is one of only 15 riders to have competed in all 18 BFTS events so far this season. … If Guilherme Marchi can ride his way into both the first short round and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, in Duluth, his four outs this weekend would give him 600 for his BFTS career. … Valdiron de Oliveira is one score shy of becoming the first rider in 2011 to record 40 qualified rides, while Austin Meier and L.J. Jenkins are both one short of recording at least 30. Aaron Roy is one shy of becoming the 11th rider to record at least 20.

New kid on the block: Newcomer Matt Triplett joins the list of more than 80 riders who have competed on the BFTS this year. The Montana native is making his debut after winning more than $13,000 in the Touring Pro Division. He and Josh Faircloth edged out Jared Farley by less than $200 for the final two spots in the 40-man draw.

A little history lesson: At the PBR’s two previous events in Duluth, Marchi won in 2010 and Mike Lee won in 2008. However, Marchi’s win actually took place in November of 2009. Both events were the start of their respective seasons. On four previous occasions – 2007, 2005, 2005 and 2003 – the PBR was in nearby Atlanta.

TV times: This weekend’s event will be airing Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11 p.m. ET on Versus immediately following coverage of the NHL.

Live Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event by logging on to the Event Center at www.pbr.com/live. The multimedia center provides in-arena audio, live scoring, live blogging and event-related interviews.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright

Shenanigans From the Field

Shenanigans From the Field