Texas Rattlers defeat Austin Gamblers 259.25-252.75 to claim Land.com Texas Cup
Head Coach Cody Lambert’s pair of successful challenges help Rattlers win best-of-three series.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – Anytime a league’s two most recent Champions meet, there are going to be some extracurriculars.
Depending on the sport, those exchanges may come in the form of physical jabs, verbal insults or even some deeper mind games – all in an attempt to either gain an advantage for one’s squad or to set one’s opponent up to deal with some additional challenges.
With a little bit of fun mixed in there, usually.
Well, in the sport of bull riding, specifically within the 6 vs. 6 world of Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, these two teams … who happen to hail from the same state, have been exchanging blows for more than three years now.
By now, we know the Texas Rattlers won big in 2023 – Only to be followed up by a triumphant run from the defending 2024 Champion Austin Gamblers.
While the accolades will forever be molded in PBR Teams history, all of it was in the rearview when Friday night’s opening round dawned. This was about pride.
Lone Star State pride.
Head Coaches Michael Gaffney (Gamblers) and Cody Lambert (Rattlers) very much grew up together as two of PBR’s biggest presences turned living legends. They’re friends throughout the season, even during the summer’s official camaraderie-driven landscape.
But when their squads are preparing to duke it out, those relationships, too, are out the window.
Lambert has been on record claiming that “Austin isn’t even a part of Texas.”
Gaffney has worked his fair share of shots in during pre-or-postgame interviews just the same.
All in the name of some competitive fun, right?
The antagonism was on display once more this weekend in Nampa, Idaho, as the two skips coached their teams within the third and final Land.com Texas Cup shootout.
“I don’t think our guys even think about who they’re riding against – They think about the bull they have to ride. But our locker rooms are close together, so we can go get their autograph before or after, if we need to,” Lambert shared pregame with Kate Harrison Sunday’s CBS Television broadcast.
At which point Harrison then jokingly suggested Lambert already had Gaffney’s autograph.
“No, but he has a lot of my money from back when we were riding against each other,” Lambert added with a laugh after admitting he’d be a bit more nervous if G-Man was actually in the lineup for the Gamblers Friday.
With the best-of-three series up for grabs inside Ford Idaho Center, as the Rattlers won the initial bout in Houston, Texas, before seeing the Gamblers even the scoreboard with a Game 2 win last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this one was for all the marbles.
And you could feel it right away.
Despite watching the world’s No. 1-ranked rider in Dalton Kasel get his opposing Gamblers on the board during the session’s first out (which happened to be Kasel’s first conversion within METC play), the Rattlers were in this for the long haul.
Initially called for a touch just under the seven-second mark, Daniel Keeping seemed a bit shocked when he dismounted his opponent and saw something other than a celebratory crowd.
Thankfully, the gritty rider had both a mentor who believes in him and a coach who keeps the keenest of eyes on his guys when they’re competing.
Successfully challenging the call, the Rattlers were down just 4 points in the aggregate, as Keeping earned an 83.5-point mark while Lambert shared a few comments of his own the tour’s ever-revered judges.
And if you thought the Rattlers’ magician was impressive for making the 83-point score appear on the board for Keeping, it was Lambert’s disappearing act that ultimately altered the end score.
Playing some offensive defense this time shortly after, the skip claimed Lucas Divino made contact with himself during a dance with Deep Creek. Back in the ear of the chute-side judge while the tour’s lead official Jordan Allen reviewed the camera angles out in the truck, Lambert pleaded his case.
And won it once more, thus negating the Brazilian’s score and keeping his team in the game.
“They sound angry,” Lambert was heard saying jokingly to the evening’s on-dirt pit boss as fans inside the arena weren’t too happy with the idea a score was being removed from the board.
“They’re mad because he was cheating!”
Throw in an imperfect, albeit effective, conversion from Kaique Pacheco and suddenly the stage was set for one Callum Miller.
And while there was some noted chirping mixed in throughout the night, it’s only right that one of the tour’s quieter personalities let his riding do the talking. Which spoke volumes in context to both securing his team a conversion and the overall Round 1 victory, his first of the season.
Scored 89.25 points atop Sky Walker, the journey served as Miller’s highest ride score on UTB to date, while also tying his third-best score across all levels of PBR-sanctioned competition.
Friday night’s showdown had to be a little weird for a guy like Miller, who’s competed for both the Rattlers and Gamblers during his time in the camaraderie-driven landscape.
Just moments before the 8-second dance began, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis suggested the Australian cowboy may have had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder competing against his former team.
When the dance was complete, it was quite clear he was representing the Rattlers inside Ford Idaho Center. And that this one was leaning in Texas’ favor.
And wouldn’t you know it, the other former Austin Gamblers’ representative currently representing the Rattlers in Ezekiel Mitchell picked up where Miller left off.
Throwing down a nasty conversion while expanding his squad’s scoreboard advantage, “Blue” celebrated his 87-point atop Bamboozle while furthering the Rattlers momentum.
Of course, two-time PBR Teams MVP Jose Vitor Leme went on to still do his thing during the next out. But with his 88.25-point conversion aboard Rank Hank both serving as the contest’s final qualified ride, the Gamblers found themselves on the outside looking in as the Rattlers officially claimed the Land.com Texas Cup honors.
For as much as the teams exchanged pleasantries throughout the evening, Mr. Lambert’s successful set of challenges ended up playing quite the role as both ball-busters to the Gamblers in real-time as well as a spoiler to the eventual end-game result, as the Rattlers ended up winning the shootout by a mere 6.5 points thanks to coach’s keen eye, 259.25-252.75.
Of course, he deferred the win to his team, which has its eyes set on the approaching fourth season of PBR Camping World Team Series thrills.
“Well, I’m so grateful to be a coach because there’s not a long of things I’m capable of doing and this is one job that I feel pretty comfortable in. I really love the guys I get to be around and to get to be a part of this team, it’s just really good,” Lambert shared with Kate Harrison on the dirt via CBS Television Network.
“We knew what they were capable of before we got here but we’re really excited about Teams season and we just love this sport. This is the best the PBR’s ever presented – the greatest bull riders in the world – and the teams are the way to go.”
While the Rattlers very much exited Friday’s iteration as winners, it would be the Gamblers who got the last laugh at the end of the weekend, eventually claiming each of the event’s three podium positions courtesy of flashy finishes from Dalton Kasel (who secured his fifth UTB win of the season), Jose Vitor Leme and Kaique Pacheco (who rounded out second and third, respectively).
Set to close out the 15-game experiment, the New York Mavericks and Florida Freedom are primed to compete in the final 6 vs. 6 showcase next weekend in Tacoma, Washington. And with the 2025 PBR Teams Rider Draft taking place next month in Austin, Texas, Teams season is HERE!
