This year's Ring of Honor awards will be presented to Bobby DelVecchio and Cody Snyder, both accomplished athletes as well as distinguished ambassadors of the industry. Both recipients will be introduced during in-arena ceremonies held at the upcoming PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals. Each man will then be presented with a gold ring commemorating his induction into the Ring of Honor.

Tickets are still available to the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals on Oct. 27-29 at Mandalay Bay Events Center by calling 877.632.7400, or for the dates of Nov. 2-5, 2006 at the Thomas & Mack Center by calling 866.PBR.SHOW (866.727.7469).

From the heart of the Bronx in New York, Bobby DelVecchio is the original urban cowboy. He embarked on a rodeo career against all odds from an area where cowboys were unheard of. Ultimately DelVecchio earned the 1981-82 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Reserve World Championship, the 1983 PRCA Texas Circuit Championship, and qualified to compete at the National Finals Rodeo six consecutive times from 1980 through 1985. DelVecchio charted new territory both in and out of the arena, and has devoted his life to the betterment of the bull riding industry.

Since retiring from competition, the gritty New York native has become a Texas transplant and is now making his mark on the booming bull breeding business. In 1988 DelVecchio had the idea to collect semen, something that was hardly commonplace in the rodeo world at that time, from Dell Hall’s 105 and Bennie Beutler’s 018 Cowtown. His plan was to raise world champion bucking bulls. Bobby and Sissy DelVecchio’s Flying D Ranch in Santo, Texas has in production, via embryo transfer, genetics representing 18 world championship titles earned by an elite group of the best bucking bulls of all time.

“I am so excited to receive this honor from the PBR. You hear the saying that ‘It’s hard to be humble,’ but it’s really not when your peers recognize you in this way. It is humbling.”

Born and raised in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Cody Snyder immersed himself in the world of professional bull riding from the time he learned to walk. Snyder rode a calf in competition at age five and got on his first bull at age 12. By 15 Snyder had earned the Canadian Amateur Bull Riding title, and at 19 led the 1982 Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bull Riding standings. In 1983, at the age of 20 and virtually unknown, Snyder became the first Canadian to earn the title of PRCA World Champion Bull Rider. Snyder’s string of wins includes the 1986 CPRA Bull Riding Championship. He was named Cowboy of the Year by his peers in 1994, and was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the CPRA Hall of Fame in 2005. He qualified for a record-setting nine Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) events in bull riding, and recorded the highest marked ride (95 points) in CPRA history in 1983. He is also a four-time NFR qualifier.

In 1993 Snyder retired from the competitive arena, but has never left the bull riding business. He and wife Rhonda Schlenker-Snyder together incorporated Cody Snyder’s BullBustin’â, a company that has produced hundreds of professional bull-riding events in North America. The Snyders have been instrumental in bringing Canadian bull riding fans the excitement of live PBR events, as well as producing charity bull riding events that have generated in excess of $2 million dollars. He has worked as a color commentator on networks like VERSUS, ESPN, Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, and has served as the voice of the Calgary Stampede television broadcasts since 1997.

“Being included in the PBR’s Ring of Honor is definitely a career highlight for me. It means so much to me because you are voted in by your peers, who are all great bull riders. I was fortunate enough to travel and rodeo with many of the other inductees and I am proud to call them my friends. That makes this award all the more gratifying,” said Snyder.

About PBR:
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 500 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR's governing board of directors is comprised of renowned bull riders who have developed the event into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.

For additional information on the Professional Bull Riders, Inc., please visit www.pbrnow.com or call 719.471.3008.