PUEBLO, Colo. – Cooper Davis used his left hand to toss his bull riding helmet just to the side right past the out gate of the bucking chutes inside Qudos Bank Arena.
Stunned, he looked up at the jumbotron, intently watching the instant replay and threw back his head in disbelief and disappointment.
Davis was more shocked than angry as his teammates came to console him on the final night of the Sydney Global Cup this past June.
Captain America was the red, white and blue’s last hope at the Sydney Global Cup and he was bucked off by SweetPro’s Palooka in 5.04 seconds.
It was the first time Davis hit the ground all weekend long in Sydney.
No one expected Team USA to finish in fourth place, nor did they expect Davis to come down before the 8-second mark.
Particularly not after the Americans loaded up with their top riders for the trip Down Under.
Seven months earlier, Davis had led a team of last-minute substitutes to a Global Cup victory in Edmonton last year.
This loss stung in those initial minutes as Team Brazil celebrated right behind the Americans on the back of the bucking chutes.
Team Brazil knew they escaped Sydney with the victory, big time. A ride from Davis would have pushed Team USA past Brazil, and likely given them a second consecutive Global Cup title.
That feeling of disappointment stuck with Davis some as he made the 20-hour trip back home to the United States. Almost three months later and Davis has come to terms with Team USA’s defeat, but he certainly hasn’t forgotten it either.
It was fresh on Davis’ mind when Team USA Eagles coach Justin McBride informed him that he and Cody Nance would be his first two selections for the 2019 WinStar World Casino & Resort Global Cup USA in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 9-10.
“That hurt, losing over there in Australia,” Davis said. “It was kind of one of those deals where if we stayed on one more bull, nobody could have touched us. I think we got a little bit too invincible in our eyes. If we would have rode our bulls, nobody could have touched us.”
Team USA finished 11-for-18 in Sydney.
By no means is the loss squarely on Davis’ shoulders – all Team USA needed was one more ride of 82.75 points or higher during the two-night weekend for the victory
McBride made his two selections public on Wednesday during a press conference at Texas Live!
“I was disappointed because I still feel like these guys are the best set of bull riders in the world,” McBride said. “Some of them let some bulls get by. They know it. We all know it. It is what it is. It is over and they should be disappointed with it. It came down to Cooper riding his last bull, and if he rides the last bull they win it, but it shouldn’t have come down to it. Any of those rides win it.
“I know Cooper kind of felt like he might have let them down, and he didn’t. He led them the whole way and outrode everyone there.”
Team USA is hosting the Global Cup for the first time in less than six months when the third edition of the international bull riding competition takes place at AT&T Stadium.
Team USA – as the host country – will deploy two teams in Arlington.
The Team USA Eagles will be composed of seven riders and one alternate picked by McBride, while the Team USA Wolves will be composed of seven Native American riders and one alternate as chosen by coach Wiley Petersen.
McBride doesn’t want to call this next Global Cup a redemption tour for the Americans, but he certainly doesn’t want his team to forget about how it felt to leave Australia without the victory.
“I will make sure they remembered how they finished the last time,” McBride said. “I will make sure I remember that. I will never forget that. I don’t think it is a redemption tour because this thing is going to keep going and going and going. You are going to win some, you are going to lose some. We should always have a team that is winning it. We should always be in a dog fight to win it.”
Nance was 1-for-3 in Sydney, and he also bucked off in the final bonus round in Sydney with a chance to push the Americans into the lead.
The Paris, Tennessee, native lasted only 2.97 seconds on Top Country Slam n Jam.
Nance took ownership of the Americans’ shortcomings as well.
“Of course you always want to redeem yourself,” Nance said. “We took it the first time and we wanted to darn hold our title. It didn’t happen and it didn’t fall out that way. I stubbed my toe on one of my bulls and the other guys stubbed their toes on a couple of bulls. We just bucked off some bulls that we shouldn’t have bucked off.
“It was one of those things. The Brazilians rode great. They rode almost everything they had been on.”
Does Nance agree with Davis that maybe the Americans arrived in Australia with a little too much bravado?
“I think so, a little bit,” Nance said. “Some of the smack talk. For me personally, I would rather go about it like I would anything else. I just do it. I wouldn’t talk about it.”
That disappointment in their country’s Australian showing only adds to the excitement that both riders have for the first Global Cup to be held in the United States.
The PBR Global Cup USA is also the first international bull riding team event in the United States since the 2010 World Cup in Las Vegas.
Team Brazil wound up winning the event by dominating the final day of competition inside the Thomas & Mack Center just as the new wave of Killer Bs dominated in Sydney.
The winning team will be the team with the highest aggregate score based on their best 12 individual rides from all rounds of competition.
Davis believes if the Americans can get 12 scores on the scoreboard, they will be pretty hard to beat.
“I feel like sometimes we may not be as consistent as others, but when we do stay on we have a little flash and can kind of flash up a few rides and get a few more points out of them,” Davis said. “If we can stay on 12 bulls, no one can touch us.”
Nance and Davis both agreed that being the home team, and having the home crowd behind them, will be an advantage when they climb into the bucking chutes.
“No more pressure,” Nance concluded. “It is all going to be better. We know these bulls. We are used to riding these bulls. We have a great team. We are going to dominate in what we do.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko