HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!

October 11, 2001:

I just got back from the last PBR Bud Light Cup event of the regular season, in Columbus, Ohio, and it went great. I split third in the first round with 88 points on Double J Rodeo's Blood Sport. He's a hard bull to ride. He went left, right, then back to the left, and every time he changed directions he jumped forward and tried to jerk my head off. He was a lot of work.

In the second round, I had a bull Gary Richard got on the night before that looked like a good one. He didn't do much with me, so I got on Double J's Whistle Stop for my reride. He's just a good bull that went left straight out the gate. He's a big bull that hesitates, which makes the timing funky. I split ninth in the second round with 86.5 points.

I was really glad to have Herrington Cattle Company's Coyote Ugly in the short round. I split the first round at the Bud Light Cup event in Bossier City, La., on him with 90 points last New Year's Eve, and he's a great one. I knew if I could hold up my end I'd be in the 90s, so I was pretty tickle to find out I'd drawn him again. I was 92.5 on him this time, and won the round.

With 267 points on three bulls, I ended up winning the average in Columbus by seven points, and $27,229. I've won $210,208 in the PBR this year heading into the Finals, which is Oct. 25-28 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

I'm second in the Bud Light Cup points standings going into the Finals. Adriano Moraes has 10,300 points, and I've got 9,790. That's a 510-point spread, but the average at the Finals is worth 500 points and the rounds are worth 100 points each plus your score. So anything can happen.

The last time I won the Columbus Cup, I won the Finals and set records for annual PBR earnings and Finals earnings, so I'm kind of hoping history will repeat itself. This should give me some momentum anyway.

I'm really looking forward to the Finals this year, just like I do every year. The Finals is the reason we do this. To not look forward to riding there would be like a football player saying he didn't care about the Super Bowl after playing his heart out all season.

I'm headed to Piñon, Arizona, this weekend to put on a bull riding school. Other than that, I've been getting to spend a lot of time at the ranch with my folks. We've been getting some good rains, and just got done putting up 1,000 round bales of hay. We'll be preg-checking all the cows next week, and of course I make time every day for a workout at the local Nippon Kenpo Dojo.

In December, I'll be back in Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. I'll be commentating on the ESPN telecast again this year, and will be writing my daily "Ty Murray NFR Report," too.

I'll let you know how the PBR Finals comes out as soon as it's over. Thanks for all your support. I sure appreciate it.

Editor's Note: Ty's 32 today. Happy Birthday, Ty! Also, look for Ty in Jewel's new "Standing Still" video, which can be previewed at www.jeweljk.com.