FORT WORTH, Texas – The PBR World Finals is the biggest stage in bull riding. The money and points on the line at this event are incomparable to any other, and at the end of it all awaits the most coveted prize in the sport: the PBR World Championship.
So, when No. 5 Alan de Souza arrived at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, for Round 1 of the 2024 PBR World Finals – Eliminations on Thursday night, he was suspicious.
“I am very concerned about myself because I’m too calm,” Souza said with Bruno Zecchin translating.
Souza is smack in the thick of the world title race, beginning the event 637.33 points behind No. 1 Cassio Dias and just 76.83 points behind then-No. 2 John Crimber. Just a few points here or there could change the scope of the chase pack, which also includes then-No. 3 Dalton Kasel and then-No. 4 Eduardo Aparecido.
So Souza’s calmness is surprising and markedly different from his first and only other PBR World Finals experience in 2019. But with age and time comes experience, and the 30-year-old is riding with the confidence of the veteran that he is.
“At the first Finals, I was more anxious,” Souza said. “I was more thirsty to ride my bull and get in there. But now I’m relaxed, calm, and I know that what God wrote, nobody can change it, so it’s in his hands. I just have to do my job.”
Souza did his job in Round 1, riding Rip for 82.75 points, good for sixth place in the round.
It wasn’t easy, though. Souza was initially deemed to have bucked off at the 7.42-second mark after gritting his way through it. Upon judges’ review, Souza was found to still have his rope in his hand at 8 seconds, despite having already been unseated.
“This ride was a tough one,” Souza said. “I had to use a lot of strength, and I fought the bull, but because my mindset is strong and I’m very confident, I was able to ride this bull and keep calm.”
Souza earned 32 points towards the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings for his efforts. But Aparecido won Round 1, leapfrogging to the No. 2 rank, and Dias tied for second to maintain his significant lead atop the standings. Crimber and Kasel bucked off, slipping to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
Souza is now 651.33 points behind Dias and 99 points behind No. 2 Aparecido. But he’s just 34 points behind No. 4 Kasel and 44.83 points behind No. 3 Crimber.
With World Finals round wins worth 80 points and the aggregate winner receiving 200, Souza will make up a whole lot of ground if he just keeps riding.
His high placement in Round 1 gave him a prime pick in the Round 2 bull draft, and he selected Rorschach as his opponent. The two have faced off once prior, in January of this year in Houston, Texas. Rorschach bucked Souza off in 5.32 seconds.
Coverage begins with the pre-show at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by Round 2 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
After getting his first bull ridden, Souza feels good about how he’s set up for the rest of the event.
“When I ride the first bull at an event, it gives me more confidence to keep going, to keep riding,” he said. “If I bucked off, my mind was going to feel more like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to do it.’ But riding my first bull gives me a lot of confidence, and that’s why it’s very important for me.”
Souza will need some help from the riders in front of him if he’s going to truly challenge for the world title, and nobody looks like they’re going down without a fight.
But as long as he keeps calm – and keeps riding – anything is possible.
“Cassio and Eduardo, they are very good riders and competitors, and very good people,” Souza said. “So I know they deserve it, and I know I deserve it, too. Everybody that’s here deserves it because they earned this spot. That’s why I’m not concerned about it. I’m not thinking about who’s going to win or not. I’m just leaving it in God’s hands and doing my job.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
