Inconsistency costs PBR judge suspension

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January 21, 2010

Brett Hoffman The Huntsville Item Thu Jan 21, 2010, 08:18 PM CST

When the Professional Bull Riders tour stops at Cowboys Stadium on Feb. 20, judges will be allowed to score cowboys up to 100 points on each ride.

But knowing what happened to veteran judge Jeff Shearer shortly after last weekend’s tour stop in Sacramento, Calif., officials will think twice before they post the scores at the Arlington-based Built Ford Tough Series tour stop.

The PBR’s Rules and Regulations Committee determined in an emergency meeting Monday there was a significant inconsistency in judges’ scores at the Sacramento Classic.

Shearer, who was one of four judges who evaluated the rides, will be suspended for five events.

In the second to last ride of the event on Saturday, Shearer gave Elliott Jacoby an 18 (out of a possible 25) for his ride on a bull named Necessary Evil. The score was well below the other judges’ range of scores (21.5, 22 and 21), and resulted in Jacoby losing out on the event title by half a point behind winner J.B. Mauney.

The PBR determined that the inconsistency was too unreasonable. As a result, Shearer will be ineligible to return until Feb. 26, when the tour stops in St. Louis.

After the Sacramento show, many fans complained about the judging on www.pbrnow.com. Jacoby is a 19-year-old up-and-comer and Mauney is a high-profile rider who leads the world title race. Some fans protested that Mauney was shown favoritism.

During the final round, Jacoby did a pretty commendable job of staying up with Necessary Evil, until getting out of shape near the end of the 8 second ride. Mauney also got out of position at the end of his ride on the famous bull Troubadour and judges conducted an instant-replay review to determine whether Mauney stayed on. Judges said Mauney made it to the buzzer by ruling he had the tail of his rope in hand at the 8-second mark.

Jacoby, who lives in Fredericksburg, received a final round score of 85.5 and Mauney received an 86. In the title race, Mauney won with a three-ride tally of 258.75 and earned $34,010. Jacoby finished with a 258.25 and pocketed $15,418.

Close to home — In the past, Fred Whitfield competed in the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, the first major PRCA rodeo of the year. But this year, the seven-time world champion tie-down roper from Hockley did not make the trip to Colorado.

Instead, he’s sticking closer to home with his family. Whitfield said he’s going to only work the winter stock show rodeos that are within closer driving distance and then travel hard only during the summer when there’s an abundance of high-paying rodeos.

Whitfield said he plans to make about 65 rodeos this year while many other world-class competitors might work 100.

So far, his plan is working. During the past weekend, Whitfield finished first at the SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa and earned $5,612.

Finals bound — Trevor Brazile of Decatur, who is attempting to earn a record eighth world all-around title this year, is off to a booming start at the Denver rodeo. Brazile turned in an unusually fast time of 7.4 on Monday and then followed it up with an 8.1 on Tuesday. He will attempt to win the title during Sunday’s final round.

Ryan Gray, a former Texas Tech star who has homes in Cheney, Wash., and the West Texas town of Petersburg, stands an excellent chance of winning the bareback riding title. He will enter Sunday’s finals after turning in attention grabbing scores of 86 and 85.

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