FORT WORTH, Texas - What a week it was for RobsonPalermo.
Just one day before leaving for Las Vegas he dislocated his leftshoulder after hitting the ground awkwardly in the practice pen;just three rounds into the event he dislocated his leftkneecap.
Those two injuries coupled, with the fact that finished theentire second half of the Built Ford Tough Series with a tornrotator cuff in his right shoulder, made Palermo aless-than-probable favorite to lead this year's World Finals eventaverage.
Palermo believed otherwise.
He wound up covering five of six bulls and won the year-end event.In the process he became the first to do so in back-to-back seasonand the first to win the event, which pays $250,000 to the winner,three times in the past five years.
No words could explain how the 28-year-old - he turns 29 a weekfrom today - felt afterward.
A stream of tears, however, captured the power and emotion ofthe moment more than words ever would have.
Needing a moment to hold back his emotions, Palermo said, "Itwas really important for me. I've been trying so hard to do this,and thank God I came here and rode good.
"I'm so proud of myself. I came to Vegas and everything was torn- my knee, both shoulders - and I still rode good. God helped me dothat."
A few days earlier, Palermo talked about his desire to win aworld title, but that injuries have kept that from happening.
However, in his daily podcast recorded throughout the WorldFinals, nine-time World Champion Ty Murray likened Palermo's featto winning a world title. He went so far as to say he had nevereven contemplated a rider being able to win the Finals three times,much less back-to-back years.
"I love this city," Palermo said. "Every time I come here itmakes me feel good. I want to have about 20 events in LasVegas.
"I love it," he added, before pausing to regain his composureonce again. "I love it. I can't say enough."
Palermo started the week off with an 86.75-point ride onBall Peen in the opening round. He was one of onlysix riders to make the whistle Wednesday night and moved to secondin the average in Round 2 when he covered SkatmanHou for 88.25 points.
In Round 3, he stayed right with Luke Snyder inthe average.
Snyder scored 90 points for an aggregate score of 267 pointsfollowed by Palermo, who had 264.75. Palermo took the lead in theaverage in Round 4 when he rode Multi Min 90 DarkShadow for 87.25 points.
At that point, he was the only rider to have gone 4-for-4.
Despite coming down early in Round 5 - "I should have ridden" -he was the No.-1 rider in the average coming back for thechampionship round, and drew Pawnbroker.
"I came to Vegas and everything was torn - myknee, both shoulders - and I still rode good. God helped me dothat," said Robson Palermo.
After Renato Nunes and EdevaldoFerreira both bucked off, Palermo had clinched the eventwin, but he wanted to finish the week off as strongly as it hadbegun. He expected the bull to spin back to the right, butPawnbroker stayed left and Palermo rode him to the whistle for87.25 points.
"I just closed my hand and I stayed on," Palermo said.
Last week he earned $304,333, including $250,000 for the WorldFinals event title. He also won the Finals title in 2008 and 2011,and has earned $2,339,783 in his career.
More important, he was able to move to seventh in the worldstandings, and for the sixth year in a row he finished the seasonranked in the Top 10, despite missing 10 events to start the seasonafter undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his leftshoulder.
Physically exhausted and emotionally drained, he concluded, "Itfeels awesome."
Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.