Start....Watch....Stop - The Stopwatch Dilemma

Have you ever tried to time something and kept coming up with different times? I have a wrist stopwatch and time everything. I've timed how long it takes to get from one town to another, how fast it takes to run a lap, how long it takes to swim a lap, even down to how long it takes for me to shave. Those are just for fun and I find it interesting. When you are dealing in a sport and dealing with tens of thousands of dollars, for winning an event or a million dollars for winning a title, you can't time something for fun. The PBR is using stopwatches to time an 8 second ride and that time has to be accurate, or it can cost a rider some hard earned money. Yes, they are using the same method to time rides that have been used for decades, while other sports have improved their ability to time their events.

There are four judges that score rides and all four judges have a stopwatch. Then you have a replay judge and he has a stopwatch as well. The judge that is closest to the riders, on the chutes, is the judge that controls the 8 second arena clock. He starts the clock when the bull breaks the plane of the chute. The other three judges start their stopwatches as well, even though they do not have the best position as to when the bull breaks the plane. If after a ride, the clock shows 8 seconds, a rider gets a score. Right? Wrong. If one of the other three judges believe that the rider has not made the 8 seconds -by looking at his stopwatch - he can call for a review of time. He can call for a review of any other infraction, but for the sake of this article, I am staying on point as to time only. Then the replay judge will run the ride in "real time" and uses his stopwatch. If he comes up with 8 or more seconds, the rider gets a score, if not, the rider does not get a score. Also, if after a ride, the arena clock does not show 8 seconds, such as 7.7 seconds, the rider can push the challenge button and ask the replay judge to review the ride, using his stopwatch. If the replay judge says he made the 8, he gets a score, if not, then the rider will pay a $500 penalty for challenging the time. To me, there seems to be several problems with this system.

First, many sports have gone away from using stopwatches as a form of timing events, because they are not accurate, due to human reactions. If you are timing a runner on a 40 yard dash, the time has been shown to be an average .24 seconds off, by using a stopwatch (to run a 40 yard dash takes between 4.3 to 5.5 seconds). This is due to the reaction time that it takes to push the stopwatch button. Second, people have different reaction times. One person, with a slightly slower reaction time, will have a different time than another person. Third, many people use their thumb to push the stopwatch, when research shows that your index finger has the quickest reaction time of all the fingers. Therefore, many people using stopwatches are using the wrong finger to push the button. In bull riding, it is also up to each judge and then the replay judge as to when the bull crosses the plane of the chute. That difference of "opinion" can cost a guy a title.

In swimming, they have an automatic timer, then a person that pushes an electronic keypad, then a person that times with a stopwatch. The stopwatch is not the primary timing source, as a matter of fact, it is the back up to the back up. I looked into other events, and I could not find one sport, that says they are growing and a major sport in the US, that uses a stopwatch to time the event. Why is the PBR still using such an archaic way to determine who wins and loses, in regards to timing a ride?

What is the solution? First off, any ride that is 7.7 or higher, the rider would be able to challenge the time, without fear of a fine. Since the stopwatch is not accurate (due to human error), why should the rider pay the penalty. I have seen guys that were at 7.8 or even 7.9 that did not challenge the time simply because they did not have the $500 to lose, if the challenge was not upheld. Second, if the ride goes to the replay judge, then instead of a stopwatch, he would use the digital feed to look at the ride. When you are looking at a digital feed, there is a digital timer, usually at the top right of the screen. The replay judge could start the ride, on his screen, frame by frame and see where the bull breaks the plain of the chute. At that time, note the time on the digital screen. Continue the ride, slow it down, frame by frame as the rider is bucking off or losing his rope, then stop it at exact frame. When this occurs note the time on the digital timer. This tells you the time of the ride. Since you can go frame by frame, and the digital timer is usually in hundredths or sometimes in thousandths of seconds, the replay will be more accurate than using a stopwatch. This will cost money to set up and run, but considering the PBR publicizes the fact that they just surpassed the $100 million mark in payouts and they are one of the fastest growing sports, the money will be well spent. There is no fool proof system, but there are better ways to time the rides.

If you want to even be close to the same level (which the PBR is many levels down) to the big boys, you have to spend money to legitimize your sport and the timing system used. By the way, what ever happened to the Hyper-Mo camera? Will we see it during the finals? Was it too expensive to use every event? This is what I am talking about, other major sports have many new gadgets that help the fan enjoy the sport and the PBR has to spend the money to up date and stay up with and promote their sport.

In Pueblo, McKennon Wimberly lost a score, because one judge challenged the time, after an 8 second ride. This was not the main judge starting the arena clock, but one of the other judges. His time after the replay judge looked at it and timed it, with the inaccurate stopwatch, was 7.94 seconds. That is a difference of only .06 seconds or 6 one hundredths of a second. Remember, I said before that due to reaction times, the time can be off, on average, by .24 seconds. McKennon lost the score and lost points and money for that round. In the same event, Shane Proctor was timed at 7.9. He challenged the time, and the replay judge said the ride was 8.36. Now how can you be off by .4 seconds and call the way the time is done "accurate". A challenge by a judge several weeks before cost Sean Willingham a ride as well. He made the 8 seconds, a judge challenged it, then the replay judge said he did not make the 8. How come I have not seen any judges challenge the time, when a rider is less than 8 seconds? Why only if the rider is more than 8? Due to the inaccuracy of the stopwatches and the human reaction time and due to the fact that the other judges can't see as well as the judge on top of the chute, in regards to when the bull breaks the plane of the chute, if the clock shows 8, the other judges should not be allowed to challenge the time. What do you think?