PUEBLO, Colo. – There aren’t many cowboys who attempt 400 bulls in their career, let alone get 400 rode during premier series competition.
Specifically, only eight had accomplished said feat prior to Friday night’s opening round of PBR Teams: Thunder Days action, including:
Guilherme Marchi, J.B. Mauney, Mike Lee, Silvano Alves, Joao Ricardo Vieira, Valdiron de Oliveira, Chris Shivers and Ross Coleman.
Perhaps you recognize a few of those names?
That number grew to nine by the time the second showdown of the evening got underway, as Arizona Ridge Riders’ veteran Eduardo Aparecido officially punched his ticket to the 400 Club.
Matching Dark Thoughts jump-for-jump for 88.5 points en route to earning his Ridge Riders a temporary lead, you could tell the veteran was excited. Happy to help his team, but equally juiced to meet the legendary mark.
“I’m blessed for this, for this 400th bull (right) now,” Aparecido shared with Matt West during a postgame interview.
“Thank you to my team for believing in me every day. And my coach, Colby Yates. I’m happy and blessed for this moment.”
Aparecido had the chance to meet the mark last weekend after picking up qualified ride No. 399 in Austin, Texas. And while things didn’t end up working out down south, he understood the assignment this time around, soaring into the PBR history books.
Holding four fingers up with one hand and a big ole’ clinched fist to represent the zeroes, he knew this was a big moment, and celebrated appropriately.
Everyone else on the chutes? Holding up some big ole “fours,” themselves.
“Four, oh, oh for Eduardo. There it is,” play-by-play analyst Craig Hummer announced with some enthusiasm on the Merit Street broadcast.
“And it’s a bit of payback, as that bull had bucked him off and now Dark Thoughts helps him make some personal history.”
Once his accomplishment was announced to the audience following the judge’s scores, the crowd also understood their assignment, quickly showering the veteran with applause.
Each and every PBR Camping World Team Series event is guaranteed to showcase greatness, no doubt. There’s too much talent, drama and camaraderie for that not to be the case.
But any given night doesn’t promise the historical lore of what Aparecido provided for the fans inside Great Southern Bank Arena. An evening he and thousands of fans in attendance likely won’t forget anytime soon.
“What that’s gotta feel like for Fast Eddy right there … Not only a bull who has thrown him off before. His coach puts him right back under him again,” color commentator Cord McCoy said on the broadcast.
“After all of these years and the hundreds of bulls he’s gotten on, the 400th bull this guy has rode for 8 seconds … that’s an amazing career, right there.”
Having clocked into his beloved profession back in 2012 as the No. 1-ranked rider in PBR Brazil action, he was an obvious candidate to showcase his skills while going head-to-head with some healthy competition.
While he needed a bit of time to adjust to the stateside bulls, as most international riders do, he quickly figured things out while continuing to dominate in his home country (all the way until 2015, despite turning in sixth and seventh-place finishes in premier series competition in 2013 and 2014).
Since then? He’s been one of the most consistent and respected riders in bull riding history.
Regularly greeting friends, families, tour workers and beyond with a warm smile and friendly handshake, he has been one of the faces of PBR for more than a decade. He just hasn’t always lived in the limelight.
This weekend, however, was a bit of an exception, as he was the big man on the Springdale campus.
His Arizona Ridge Riders eventually lost the Friday night matchup 244.25-175.25 as the reigning two-time PBR Teams MVP showed up and did his thing, in typical walk-off fashion.
But his historic achievement was much bigger than any one regular season game result. Especially when it was Jose Vitor Leme who provided the walk-off wonder.
There’s not much you can do some days – But a little celebratory cake sure helps.
Especially when friends of the PBR and your wife hand deliver it to the locker room!
And it wasn’t just members of the Ridge Riders in the black and white dressing area that night. Friends from several teams were on-hand to congratulate the storied rider.
Giving the cake a quick smooch and sharing his appreciation with the room, he quickly followed the sentiment up with a one-liner to remember. He may have shared each of those 400 rides with the tour and industry in general, but this cake – this one was for him!
“Just for me, guys!” he shared with a joking laugh, moments after pretending to wipe away a celebratory tear.
He’s been an absolute gem on the dirt. But it’s his personality as a cowboy, as a person, which has ultimately made him such a huge part of this Arizona squad. And a member of the PBR brotherhood for more than 12 years.
He may be one of the elder statesmen on tour these days, but he didn’t exactly limp his way to the 400 mark by any means. One of the Ridge Riders’ most productive cowboys in the first half of the season, he’s officially 9-for-17 on the season and ranked No. 11 in the PBR Teams MVP standing as he continues to lead the way for his Arizona unit.
Continuing to punch the clock as the weekend went on, eventually improving to 2-for-2 Saturday night during a huge 261-172.75 win over the Texas Rattlers, he teamed up with Luciano De Castro and summer series rookie JaCauy Hale in helping the Ridge Riders end a nasty seven-game skid.
As the weekend came to an end, the talented cowboy ensured it was a showcase to remember, eventually completing his perfect weekend Sunday afternoon courtesy of a 71-point dance with Late Hit. It wasn’t a perfect ride, as the bull didn’t bring its' best stuff. But with Yates declining the re-ride, thus further positioning his team to close out a win against the New York Mavericks, he was easily Arizona’s MVP on the weekend as they bounced back in a big way, leaving Great Southern Bank Arena with a 2-1 record.
Finally able to ditch the down stretch while positioning themselves to bring some momentum into next weekend’s PBR Teams: Outlaw Days in Kansas City, Missouri, is Arizona starting to catch fire here at the right time?
Seeing the team go 8-for-15 on the weekend in game play is certainly an encouraging sign for Yates and his Ridge Riders. But with a 6-10 record, currently still in the basement of the league standings as the only squad with just five wins on the season so far, they have plenty of work to do should they want to find themselves dancing inside T-Mobile Arena during the 2024 PBR Teams Championship.
The team’s homestand, set to invade Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Oct. 4-6 is quickly approaching, which certainly should help their journey of ascending the standings.
Especially when you consider it’s the regular season finale.
So, if Yates’ squad can start stringing some wins together here while Aparecido and company keep turning in some quality qualified rides, the Ridge Riders are very much alive here in the second half stretch. And as the only team to find themselves competing in Las Vegas for each of the postseason gauntlet’s Championship Sunday showdowns, we have a feeling they are turning things up at the perfect pace.
But for now, it’s Aparecido who’s earned the freshest flowers.
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
