Three-peat in Denver Raiders 59 Broncos 14

Did I expect the Raiders to win? NO! Did I expect them to win in Denver for the 3rd year in a row? Heck No. They didn't even know who the starting quarterback would be until late Saturday night. Up until then the punter, Shane Lechler, was taking snaps under center, as the 3rd string back up. Almost every sports analyst got it wrong and Vegas had the line at 8 points (a little more than home field advantage for Denver). I took the bet, what the heck it's my Raiders.Before the game we met Ken and Eydie Mellin and tailgated before the game. Eydie had a great spread and it was delicious. There were two other Raiders fans around us so I was happy. I had some Raider fans, good friends and yummy food and drink.





So at the appointed time, we headed in and I ran into more like minded and well dressed new friends. Seats were awesome, we were on the 50 yard line, up and behind the Raiders bench. Raiders won the toss, elected to receive and then low and behold before I knew it they drove down the field and Jason Campbell led them to a touchdown. Then he did it again, and then the defense recovered a fumble and another score!! Before you could blink it was 21-0 and basically game over! By half time the score was 38-0 and Brad was still smiling. As you can see from the picture, the smile may be a bit forced, but still it was a smile. By the end of the game Brad had drifted to his 'Happy Place' and I was in disbelief, I mean no one could have predicted this outcome.




Here I am celebrating and I will add that Eydie had to take the picture with the scoreboard in the background, Brad wouldn't do it.


Now, lets jump ahead to Monday and we are at the airport. There is a Raider fan I walk by and fist bump (still pretty happy with the win) and I check out the front page of the Denver Post.
I told Brad I thought we should buy it but he just shook his head and walked away, okay I admit I laughed at that point. Luckily for me, when we got on the airplane, the Raider fan I had fist bumped was sitting behind us! He had the paper and allowed me to see the sports special edition section, I can't believe I didn't buy it. I asked Brad to take my picture with the paper and he again, said no. I think by then he had realized the magnitude of this win (or defeat for Denver depending on what team you were cheering for). Once again, a fellow Raider fan came through and took my picture instead. I may never see another Raider win like this, so I plan to enjoy it and smile about it for a LONG time.

Manilow??? You Bet!

Did you really think we'd spent all our time at Thomas and Mack in Wranglers, boots and watching bulls? Well think again because this was Brad's birthday weekend and we had to see Barry Manilow! Let's set the stage, a fabulous and delicious dinner at Stack Restaurant in the Mirage Hotel.




Julie and I were all dressed up and Brad was wearing one of his favorite (note the blue and orange color) Thomas Dean shirts. These shirts may look familiar, they have become quite famous because Cam on Modern Family wears them too. After dinner we headed to the Paris Hotel where Barry was playing. The theme of the Paris Hotel is obviously old world Paris France and the auditorium reflected that as well and was a perfect place for Barry to do his Vegas show.
Since this was a Vegas show, as opposed to a regular concert, he shared a little about his life and growing up in Brooklyn. He told us how his grandfather would take him to Times Square and make records for a quarter. He said his grandfather would try to get him to sing Happy Birthday for a cousin and he wouldn't do it, until one day there was a pianist there to accompany him. He played us the recording from back then of him singing Nat King Cole's Nature Boy; it was amazing and then he took over and sang it live. Barry went from one amazing song to another, accompanied by a great quartet of back up singers and dancers and a fabulous band. I will say this about Barry Manilow, he brought it and had a fun time entertaining us. Barry showed us video of his first time on television, on American Bandstand, and he sang the AB song. He danced, played piano and had at least half a dozen jacket changes.



All in all, it was the other end of the Las Vegas experience to PBR Bull Riding, but another great evening. Barry Manilow is worth the price and one of the best shows currently in Vegas. A living legend.

Las Vegas and the PBR Finals

This was the third year that Brad and I attended the PBR Finals in Las Vegas. It is a really fun week and, although it helps to have an interest in bull riding, even if it is your first time you can't help but get excited watching the rides. (or lack of if they get bucked off before the 8 seconds are up). Our friend, Julie, came too she was introduced to bull riding by Brad two years ago when he was in LA on business. Julie is hooked just like us, so it makes for a fun weekend.

I have a few favorites, as does Julie, but I am going to introduce you to Valdiron de Oliveira, he finished 4th in the world this year and 3rd last year, I hope he wins next year. We were at the Fan Zone for PBR club members on Saturday and enjoyed the meet and greet with the riders and all the sponsors too. In addition to the Fan Zone there is a Marketplace where we considered investing in some bulls but in the end renewed our Nationals Season tickets instead. I figure it's a crapshoot either way, and maybe the bulls might be more fun, maybe next year. Let's face it, a bull has almost as good a chance of making it on the Build Ford Tough Bull Riding Series as the Nationals do winning a pennant right? Anyhow, I digress, here are Valdiron's Brazilian bull riding friends...
When we attend the evening rounds at finals we always do the same thing; take a cab to Thomas and Mack, walk in, head to the Tequila Station for jumbo margarita's and then Brad talks us into standing behind Justin McKee and crew so Piper can see us on television. She loves it and she gets a kick out of seeing us in Las Vegas. Here is what the Versus stage looks like.


This year during the rounds we were treated, as always, to some wonderful comedy and crowd pleasing entertainment (as well as creatively placed ads for all the big sponsors) by Flint Rasmussen, who has been a PRCA Barrel man of the year, and now exclusively with PBR for a number of years. Flint was also at the Fan Zone on Saturday and I had a chance to catch up with him and send him my folks regards, he has been a friend to Ellensburg and our family for a number of years. It was nice to see him again and I got lucky that the line wasn't too long. The past few years I have been too lazy to stand in line to just say hi, especially with hot Brazilian riders around.


Now, back to the bull riding finals, like said, every show was great. Valdiron had a 91.5 point ride on Spitfire to win the 2nd round and the 4th round was won by Robson Palmero, and he called his bull pick in for the 5th round from the HOSPITAL! He ejected off Hustlin and landed on his head/neck/shoulder and scooted out of the way and then just laid down. The EMT's took him out on a backboard, turns out he was okay, banged up but able to ride round 5 and the short go too. These guys are tough!
In this picture you see Renanto Nunes, he won the entire event and was crowned 2010 PBR World Champion. (Yep, another hot Brazilian).

So, you've heard all the details now let me show you a few things that made us chuckle. Take for instance this picture of Brad, he graciously posed with this Cooper Tire photographer so she could win the competition between photographers at the Fan Zone. Isn't he the best?





How about these shots? This Chickie literally hanged out on the opposite side of the arena from where the bulls were bucking every night with that sign. She played with her hair, stood around and waved at people in the stands. please note what her sign says though, it says 'Bring the Noise' it shouldn't be so difficult for her to raise it up and use it to get the crowd to cheer right? Rock star drinks was the sponsor that had that idea. She did end up raising it when a rider got 90 points or more, but otherwise, she just stood like this.


Finally, one of the most well known bull contractors is a guy named Chad Berger, he owns Bones, Code Blue and a few other well known bulls. This year his bull, Bones, was named 2010 World Champion Bull. That is a pretty impressive feat, and he did it bucking off 2008 PBR World Champion Gilhereme Marchi on Friday night. Here I am with Chad after he handed me a pink signed case with band-aids inside. Cute marketing idea by Cooper Tires to tie in with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

And that is our weekend of bull riding in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for our other exploits that weekend. Oh and please note, I was delighted and thrilled to be wearing www.cowgirldivaz.com jewelry the entire weekend. Lynn's jewelry was so much better made and stunning compared to what everyone else was wearing.