Colorado's Lostroh relying on arm brace to maintain lead

PUEBLO, Colo. - Kody Lostroh has notified the PBR that he will compete this weekend at the Genuity Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa.

The current points leader in the world standings will don a brace in order to stabilize his injured left riding elbow. This new development follows a week’s worth of concerns that led to a failed attempt at switching riding hands.

Lostroh expects to receive the brace first thing Wednesday morning, at which point he will once again visit with Dr. Yem at The Orthopedic Center of the Rockies.

The brace, which Lostroh is purchasing from Don Joy, Inc., will keep him from fully extending his left arm, and the metal rods on either side will prevent his elbow from moving side to side.

According their Web site, Don Joy is the “leading global provider of high-quality, orthopedic devices, with a broad range of products used for rehabilitation, pain management and physical therapy.” Lostroh also said the company has a history of helping western sports athletes.

“I’m more excited about this than I was riding right-handed,” admitted Lostroh. “There will obviously be some pain, but it’ll be a lot better as far as actually being able to be competitive.

“The arm doesn’t really bother me that much as long as I don’t lift anything heavy. It’s just a dull ache most of the time.”

Although he hasn’t spoken with PBR orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tandy Freeman, the fourth-year veteran of the Built Ford Tough Series said he expects he’ll visit the sports medicine room for treatment – ice and an electric stimulant – following each of his rides for the next two weeks.

“I’m just excited to get on again,” Lostroh said, “Shoot, just sitting out a week felt like a year.”

Lostroh, who broke his nose in Round 1 of the Bass Pro Shops Shootout when he was struck in the face by a bull horn, also hyper-extended his arm, which in turn tore a tendon on the outside portion of the elbow. Another older injury was also discovered last week after Dr. Yem examined the results of an MRI.

A sense of urgency to compete was further motivated by the fact that this past weekend, both Guilherme Marchi and J.B. Mauney made substantial gains on Lostroh’s quickly diminishing lead in the world standings.

Lostroh spoke with Josh Koschel at the conclusion of all three days of the U.S. Air Force Invitational just “to see how he did, and then I (saw) on TV how (those) other guys did.”

Marchi’s second-place finish got him to within 386 points of Lostroh. Mauney finished in third and is now just 1,076.25 points off the lead.

Looking strictly at the past five BFTS events, Marchi has made all five championship rounds and finished in the Top 10 four of those times. In fact, going back one more event he has three second-place finishes.

In that same timeframe, Mauney, who admitted he was struggling until he came to Omaha, has three Top 10 finishes, including a second and third-place finish the past two weeks to reestablish himself as true contender for a world title.

Until he was injured, Lostroh had been the most consistent rider on the BFTS.

His 69-percent riding average is more than five percent better than Guilherme Marchi. Six other riders are within 3,000 points of his lead. Lostroh has three event wins in 2009 – Nampa, Anaheim and Fresno – to complement his eleven Top-10 finishes in 19 events.

“The right hand was a good thought,” he explained, “but it just wasn’t quite realistic.

“I just need to get set up on that brace and I already told Jay [Daugherty, vice president of events] I’m coming, so we’re good to go.”

Ty Murray makes it to Dancing with the Stars semifinal

Last week, judge Len Goodman told Ty Murray that it was time for the cowboy to “hit the trail.”

A week later, the 39-year-old King of the Cowboys stood with his partner Chelsie Hightower as all three judges – Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman – talked of his genuine charm, commitment to the show and just how far he’s come as dancer.

The assumption was that Murray was about to become the ninth celebrity to be eliminated from the hit ABC series “Dancing with the Stars.”

Moments later, a stunned studio audience took a collective gasp when they found out it was Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough who had been eliminated.

And today, Murray’s improbable journey begins its tenth week.

“I think people have underestimated the cowboy nation,” wrote Murray, in a daily blog he posted shortly after completing the press line, after Tuesday night’s live show.

Murray and Hightower are among just four couples remaining, and are just two dances – Viennese Waltz and Samba – and one more elimination episode away from qualifying for the series finale.

It was the second week in a row in which the couple to be eliminated was not the same couple who scored the lowest amount of points from the judges.

Last week, Chuck Wicks and his partner Julianna Hough were sent home in spite of Melissa Rycroft’s low scores, which were largely because of three broken ribs.

Nevertheless, the Wicks and Hough elimination was far less surprising (or as those involved with the series would say, “shocking”) than Murray’s ability to overcome the adversity of competing in something that is further out of his element than he’s ever been.

But with each passing week, it becomes clearer to everyone that Murray, whom Goodman referred to as “fascinating,” is gaining the support of an ever-growing fan base.

“What's amazing with this show is that all the couples have a team behind them in America,” wrote Murray, “and nobody knows how big their team is or where they stand, but obviously the cowboy army must be pretty big because it's pretty obvious that I'm not the best dancer.”

Adding to yesterday’s celebration was the fact that Murray’s wife Jewel, originally scheduled to compete on the show until she bowed out with a leg injury, released her latest album, “Lullaby.”

And so begins yet another week featuring a full schedule for the celebrity couple who have yet to “hit the trail.”

Murray and Hightower begin another week of long practices and dress rehearsals. On Friday night, Jewel will perform on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” which is the same day Murray is expected to be part of a cover spread for “TV Guide.”

“Not only have we put a lot of work into this,” Murray concluded, “but I think the cowboy army has put a lot of work into it too, so we'll bear down and see how far this goes.”

The other remaining celebrities include Shawn Johnson, Gilles Marini and Melissa Rycroft.

You can tune in to ABC on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET to watch Murray and Hightower perform. The results show will air Tuesday night beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

You can vote every Monday night for Murray and Hightower by calling 800-VOTE4-08 or texting “vote” to 3408. For complete details outlining the rules for the voting process, please log onto: http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=aboutthevote.

To keep up with Murray’s daily blog chronicling his once-in-a-lifetime experience on “Dancing with the Stars,” log onto: www.pbrnow.com/blog/index.cfm/ty-murray.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright