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N E W S &n= bsp; R E L E A S E

Cord McCoy Invitational

For information = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; (660) 254-1900

Contact Ted Harbin = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; media@pbftour.com

McCoy finding ti= me to rehab injury, work on his own event

ADA, Okla. – When serving as a producer of a big event, it takes time and focus.=

Cord McCoy is already focus= ed on putting together all that needs to happen to make the Cord McCoy Invitation= al a success. He just needed some space away from the Professional Bull Riders B= uilt Ford Tough Series to help mold the two together.

Thanks to a little misfortu= ne, McCoy has that time. Facing a demotion from the PBR’s major leagues, = the Tupelo, Okla., co= wboy put it all on the line in Kansas C= ity, Mo., in early March. The re= sult: He rode one of two bulls and injured his riding (left) shoulder..

“I went to see Tandy,= and he had me get an MRI, which showed I tore some cartilage,” McCoy said of Tandy Freeman, a Dallas orthopedist who works primarily with cowboys. “He said I could either take four to six weeks off now and rehab it, or I could just keep competing= and probably have surgery and be off for four months

“I think I’ll t= ake the time off now and do all the rehab it takes.”

While time away from the ar= ena is never good, it might be a positive thing for the Cord McCoy Invitational, w= hich will take place May 29-30 at the Pontotoc County Agri-Plex in Ada, just a short drive from McCoy’s home in Tupelo.

“I want to be 100 per= cent when the Cord McCoy Invitational comes around, because I’d sure like = to win that,” said McCoy, 28, a five-time International Professional Rod= eo Association champion who has competed in each of the last three PBR World Finals and qualified for the 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

“The good thing about= it is that I’ll be home and be able to give the Cord McCoy Invitational the time that it needs, whether it be meeting people or signing autographs or j= ust talking to the fans. I guess there’s a good thing about being blessed with forced time off. The crazy thing about bull riders is the only time th= ey get a vacation is when they’re hurt.”

The Cord McCoy Invitational= will be part of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and money won in Ada will count tow= ard qualification to the PBR World Finals, which take place each fall in Las Ve= gas. The top 45 cowboys on the money list at the end of the regular season quali= fy for the year-end championship, and McCoy has played on the PBR’s bigg= est stage each of the last three years.

In addition to the Cord McC= oy Invitational featuring the best bull riders in the sport, the event is part= of the Extreme Bull Sports and will also feature the top cowboys in the Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour, a competition th= at focuses on the basics of good protection bullfighting.

Tickets will go on sale tow= ard the end of April, first of May. The Pontotoc County Agri-Plex will seat about 5= ,000 fans, so it will be imperative for those interested in seeing some of the greatest cowboys battling the toughest bulls in the business to get their tickets in advance.

&nbs= p; “I’ve got a lot of things going on around the house that I need to take care of, = so I’ll be doing that,” said McCoy, who will be working with lives= tock and taking care of the stock firm he owns with his family. “But my fo= cus, the thing I’m really working on and making sure happens, is that I’m bringing the best bull riders in the world to Ada, Oklahoma.”

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