The morning line: Columbus, day 2
Shivers on Shane could highlight second round
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 11, 2009) - I first met Chris Shivers when he was 16 years old, and he was already clearly a special talent. Now he is one of the PBR's most honored veterans, and for the second week in a row he is gearing up for a Round 2 rematch with one of the PBR's most experienced bulls. This week it's Hebert's Shane - a bull he has ridden three out of four times for 88-89.5 points. Shane has carried a lot of riders to the pay window, and has shown a lot of them the arena floor. Look for Shivers to make the whistle and be the man to beat going into the short round.
Caleb Sanderson, on the other hand, is the new kid on the block. But his round 2 bull is anything but. Sanderson is matched up with Dakota Rodeo's Pandora's Box - a bull that makes most PBR "veteran" bulls seem like sissies. He hasn't been on tour since February of this year, but the Box is back in Columbus for the fifth time in his career. His last trip to Columbus was in 2005.
Some "Box" trivia:
* He has more outs listed at Probullstats.com than any other bull, even though his career started before Probullstats started keeping records.
* He has appeared at events in 32 different states, including Florida, Alaska (twice), New York, and Hawaii (!), so his travel schedule makes most other bulls seem like shut-ins.
* In any given year, there are around 100 bulls that average 44 or more points. Pandora's Box has a streak of six straight years (2003-2008) where he averaged over 44 points. He is just under that mark in 2009, but the season isn't over yet.
* His career average at BFTS events is over 45 points.
* His career buckoff percentage id over 90% with over 150 career outs, and in 89 career outs vs. known right handed riders, his buckoff percentage is 98%.
* He has appeared at the PBR Finals 5 times, and the National Finals Rodeo twice, logging 17 outs In Las Vegas in all, and was ridden in only 2 of the 17 trips.
With an all-star cast lined up for the short go in Columbus, including Bones, Code Blue, Apollo and Chicken on a Chain, Pandora's Box won't be the most exciting bull you see on Sunday, but true fans of bull riding will smile when they see the old man, for he is one of the greatest and toughest bucking bulls of all time.
-by Slade Long
(Slade Long, PBR Web Developer and Statistician, has been crunching the numbers on bucking bulls for 10 years.)
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October 11, 2009