PUEBLO, Colo. – Two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood received a text message prior to the Manchester Invitational last week from his Global Cup USA coach Justin McBride.
Lockwood had already heard the news that due to a broken neck, Team USA Eagles captain Cooper Davis would likely miss the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, on Feb. 15-16. McBride had a simple message for Lockwood.
It is time for him to step up and help lead the Eagles.
“McBride talked to me before about the responsibility of being on the team,” Lockwood said this weekend before riding Big Black for 92.75 points to win the Manchester Invitational. “Now that (Cooper and Chase Outlaw) are both out, McBride texted me this week and said, ‘You are my go to man. I am leaning on you. You better step up and do your job.’
Lockwood – the No. 1 bull rider in the world – then paused, getting serious with his tone.
“There is a lot of responsibility when it comes to riding with a team and leading a team. Stuff like that. There are all sorts of things to be excited about with it.”
McBride told PBR.com this week that it is not a request of Lockwood to step up, but rather a command.
Team USA is going to need the two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood and not the Lockwood that went 1-for-3 at the Sydney Global Cup or the Lockwood that was jerked down by Wild Goose, breaking his collarbone in the process, last year in Arlington, Texas.
The Eagles absolutely will need Lockwood at his best if they hope to unseat Team Brazil – the two-time defending Global Cup champions.
“Here is the thing. Jess has no choice,” McBride said. “I already explained it to him. I am not asking him to step up and be a leader. I just told him. There is no asking. I am going to put him on the most souped-uped spinner we can find that we get drawn in the long rounds and then he is going to get on the rankest son of a gun we can pick in the bonus round.
“That is just the way it is. We are going to try and let him be 90 because he is three points over the bulls in the long round, and we are going to try and let him be 94 in the bonus rounds.”
Lockwood won his first event of 2020 by going 3-for-3 in Manchester, winning two of the three rounds to overtake the No. 1 ranking in the world standings for the first time this season.
He began the weekend at SNHU Arena with a solid 86.5 points on Comanche before opening up for 90.5 points on Apocalypse in Round 2 and 92.25 points on Big Black in the championship round.
Big Black bucked Lockwood off last year in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to cost Lockwood an event victory.
“I had to stay off my butt,” Lockwood said about Big Black. “He wants to sit you on your butt and as long as I don’t let him do that he rides like a dream.”
Meanwhile, Apocalypse bucked Lockwood off earlier this season in 2.52 seconds in New York City.
“After having him once, I knew exactly what he is like,” Lockwood said. “He is one of those ones that doesn’t really show that he has a hold to him and he backs up. After being on him the first time I knew exactly what he had to him. I thought it was game over when I had him the second time and I was lucky to get him a second time. There are some that buck you off that you are like God I hope I never get him again, and there are others that you really want back and you regret bucking off them then, so you have a chip on your shoulder.
The Volborg, Montana, bull rider is 7-for-11 through the first three events and leads No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira by 14.5 points ahead of this weekend’s Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic in Sacramento, California.
Lockwood has drawn Cold Water Willie (0-0, UTB) for Round 1 on Friday night (10:45 p.m. ET on RidePass) at the Golden 1 Center.
McBride and assistant coach J.W. Hart had already tasked the 22-year-old with elevating his game at the international team competition format long before Chase Outlaw and Davis got hurt.
Hart believes Lockwood has learned from his past shortcomings at the Global Cup and is capable of taking on a leadership role for the Eagles.
“He is supposed to be,” Hart said. “It should have been that way last year. He should have been one of them, if not the guy. He didn’t fill it and didn’t come close to it. We talked about him not being on the team because of it. We spoke to him a few months ago and he has learned. That is the thing about Jess, he learns fast. He picks up on things quick if you tell him. It seems like he has done that. We have visited with him a few times about the team.”
Lockwood is ready to step up, but he said he knows he has great help from the rest of the team. He is confident in six-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey, 2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel, 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year Dalton Kasel and six-time World Finals qualifier Matt Triplett. The Eagles have yet to announce publicly their replacement for Davis.
“We have guys on the team that can flash them up and guys that can get them dead rode,” Lockwood concluded. “Guys that will ride the rank ones. It is a well-rounded team even though we don’t have Chase and Cooper. We will be ready.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko