McBride determined to secure second crown
Sayre's McBride determined to break slump, secure second championship

By Ed Godfrey

Published: November 1, 2007

Justin McBride can't remember the last time he's been bucked off three bulls in a row. That is, he can't remember a time before last weekend.

The Sayre bull rider picked a bad time to be in a slump.

McBride, who is leading the Professional Bull Riders Inc., season standings, didn't have a successful ride on a single bull last weekend during the first three rounds of the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

McBride, 28, had seemed a cinch to win his second world championship and another $1 million when the finals started last week. Now, heading into the final four rounds at the Thomas & Mack Arena, McBride's once-seemingly insurmountable lead is in jeopardy.

"I have got to start staying on now,” McBride said Wednesday. "It (world championship) could slip away pretty easily.”

North Carolina's J.B. Mauney and Brazilian Guilherme Marchi are within striking distance of McBride, the 2005 world champion..

McBride was suffering from the flu last weekend but said that didn't make any difference in his bull riding.

"I would love to say it did, but it didn't,” he said. "I felt fine last weekend.”

The good news for McBride is that he had built a big lead thanks to a record setting season on the PBR. He won eight events, breaking the single season PBR record of six victories.

But now the championship could be snatched away from him at the end.

"I wouldn't say I'm worried,” McBride said. "I would say I just feel like I've got to get it together and go stay on instead of falling off and embarrassing myself.

"It could be in my backyard, and if I fall off three bulls in a row, I get upset about it.”

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