LOS ANGELES – Team USA Eagles coach Justin McBride made his way down from the CBS television booth at STAPLES Center and was on a direct path to find 2020 Iron Cowboy winner Cole Melancon on the dirt Saturday night.
McBride, beaming with pride, quickly pointed at Melancon’s chest and said, “You earned this.”
The legendary two-time World Champion bull rider was not talking about Melancon’s Iron Cowboy victory either. McBride was offering Melancon a likely position on his squad for next weekend’s 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, in Arlington, Texas.
“We don’t officially know about Dalton (Kasel) exactly, but Cole is our guy,” McBride said Saturday night. “The way Dalton talked with (assistant coach) J.W. (Hart) this morning, I think he knows not only what is best for him, but for the team, and I appreciate that from him.”
McBride made one thing crystal clear about Melancon too.
“Cole was not given a spot,” McBride said. “He just won his spot on the team. He earned his spot on the team right there.”
Melancon said hearing he earned his way onto the team meant the world to him. Melancon was a key member of the 2017 Team USA squad in Edmonton, riding both of his bulls in the team’s winning effort, but he admits that he felt more so like he was an emergency replacement that was simply available at the time.
“I was just a fill-in Edmonton at the first one,” Melancon said. “They just ran out of guys. If I get in, I know I wasn’t just fill-in and that I won my spot. It is pretty awesome.”
McBride began Saturday night hoping that he would find an option to replace Kasel after the 2019 Rookie of the Year left Los Angeles Saturday unsure if he would be available for Global Cup after aggravating his surgically repaired right groin during Round 1 on Friday night.
The four-time Global Cup coach wanted to see an American rider step up.
And boy, did Melancon make sure McBride saw what he was capable of.
Melancon rode Spotted Demon for 89.75 points in Round 4 after finding out last minute that he was replacing Ryan Dirteater (possible thoracic fracture) in the draw despite his 5.79-second buckoff against Big Black Cat in Round 3.
“Spotted Demon. The big spot,” McBride said. “That was a big one right there. I loved his honesty. That isn’t a bull he really liked. He had seen that bull for a lot of years. For him to step up on this kind of stage with what is at stake here and just dominate him was really cool. That was really good.”
Melancon joins 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco as the only rookies in PBR history to win one of the 21 PBR Majors.
“I wasn’t too familiar with what was going on (with the injuries), but I knew if I won this deal I had a dang good shot (to be on Team USA),” Melancon said.
The 25-year-old notched the win this weekend in his Unleash The Beast debut by going 3-for-5 and winning the event aggregate title.
Melancon began Iron Cowboy with 85 points on Let’s Play Clay in Round 1. He then covered Bad Decisions for 88.25 points in Round 2 before being bucked off by Big Black Cat.
In Round 5, Melancon nearly rode Rising Sun before he was jarred loose at the 7.43-second mark.
Melancon beat out runner-up Joao Ricardo Vieira for the Iron Cowboy title on a tiebreaker (event average standings) once Stretch bucked Vieira off in 3.09 seconds.
“He can still be better,” McBride said. “Like Rising Sun, he battled and battle right there. Big time battled. If we get that bull in the Global Cup, I have no qualms putting him on that bull. If Cole is our guy.”
The Eagles have been hit hard by injuries this season, losing three key components for the upcoming Global Cup in Chase Outlaw (offseason shoulder surgery), Cooper Davis (broken neck) and now Kasel.
Melancon joins two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood, six-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey, 2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel, three-time NFR qualifier Boudreaux Campbell and six-time PBR World Finals qualifier Matt Triplett in Arlington next week.
“It would be awesome. I just need to go in there and do my job,” Melancon said. “Pull for my teammates. If we all do our job, we will come out with another win.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko