Judging Controversy - Any Solutions?

I will be the first to say that other than umpiring a few little league games, I have never been a referee, umpire or judge. In all seriousness, I don't think you have to have been a judge in order to see that there is a current problem in the PBR and judging. As I stated in a previous blog, judging has to be credible and is critical to any sport. There have been a number of judging issues that have come up over the last year or so and this year it has resulted in five judges getting suspended.


The PBR has made an announcement of their intentions in making some changes, but no specifics. So, as a fan of many sports I think it's good to talk about some solutions that may help the sport. Did I come up with all these by myself? No. I have some, but will "borrow" some from others. Am I saying that the PBR should do any or all of the suggestions? No. What I am trying to do is simply open the dialogue for the fans to give their view of what they think, from their knowledge and their view as a fan, anything that they may be able to add to the discussion.


1) Training - This seems to be lacking in the PBR and has for many years. I know from a previous PBR judge that I talked to, the judges had to be former riders and had to go through training and continue that training with special seminars. I don't think the PBR currently has special training on an ongoing basis.

In a press release the PBR stated “We’re going to explore ways to improve our judging process, including the implementation of a new training program for all judges,”.

My question would be - Why hasn't this been done already? With the number of questionable scoring, missed calls and re-rides given that shouldn't have, the additional training should have already been put into place. How about every week, after an event, someone in the PBR office is assigned to look at the tape of the rides and grade each judge on their scoring? If there seems to be a judge that is consistently out of line with the other judges, the judge should be brought in and shown the tapes and discuss what the rational for the scores are.


2) Number of judges - Some have suggested that you increase the number of judges from four to six. When the scores come in, you would throw out the highest score and the lowest score. I think this is a good idea overall, but where are you going to place all the judges?

What about the idea of having the four judges, but have two that are giving a score and two that are looking for any slaps or other fouls and infractions. To me, the main problem is the chute judge is the best judge to see a foul coming out of the gate. But, if he is the only one calling the infractions, he may miss a slap in the arena because he has a bad angle when the rider is moving away from him.

There was a suggestion recently about having judges from all the different countries. I think this is a great idea for two reasons. The riders are from different countries and the judges would bring a new perspective. However, the main problems would be the cost of training, finding enough qualified judges and the time that it would take to implement. However, I think it would be great for a long term solution.

The replay judge should be looking at the monitor in front of him at all times during a ride. During the short go, and short go only, if a rider comes off between 7.7 to 8.0, the ride should be reviewed, without cost to the rider. We know that the arena clock may not always be right so if the idea is to get it right, then why have the rider take the chance of having to pay $500? Also, if a rider comes off right at the 8.0 or just after, have the replay judge review the ride. There have been two riders in the last three events that got scores when their hand clearly came out at 7.8. This process will only take about 1-3 minutes per review and will only apply to a few rides at an event, if that many. When you are in the short go, the calls become even more critical. In the NFL coaches can challenge a call. However, in the final two minutes of the game the only calls that can be reviewed are called by the replay booth upstairs. This process in the short go would be similar.


3) Giving judges the same respect as other sports - The judges/ref/umpires in most of the major sports are known to the fans. They are not part of some secret society club. In the PBR the judges are kept under wraps for the most part and many fans don't know who these guys are. So much so that on a recent telecast, four judges' names were put on the screen and Justin McKee almost lost it when he started laughing and mentioned about the judges names being on the screen. Bring the judges out of hiding. Yes, they will catch some flack, but the PBR should make some changes and give the judges some respect. First, when a ride is being reviewed by a replay judge, the rider should not be standing by the replay judge, looking at the screen. There is no other sport that would allow this. The rider may be curious, trying to intimidate, or trying to hold the judge accountable, but none of these three are the responsibility of the rider.

Second, the rider should be able to plead his case by talking to the judge, but not argue with them. If you disagree with the call, go push the challenge button.

Third, at a recent event, Cody Lambert was arguing with some of the judges about some of the calls that they made. I know this was being done because this was the first event after the four other judges were suspended. With that said, it sure doesn't help the PBR's cause seeing the guy in charge of the bulls and keeping the event moving, arguing with the judges. If Cody Lambert is scolding the judges in front of the crowd, how is that going to give the fans confidence that the judges know what they are doing and trust that they are making the right calls?


4) The challenge button - Overall, I think the challenge button is a good idea. There are plays reviewed in almost any sport. The main thing is to get the call right. Judges are not perfect and the rider should have the right to say I want it reviewed. Many people were upset at Renato for pushing the button on Ryan. However, the call was reviewed and changed, which is what it's all about, getting the call right. I know some said this broke the "cowboy code", but if the judging problem gets fixed and the number of bad calls goes down, I don't think you will see any rider push the button on another rider. If those two things happen, then Renato pushing the button was the best thing in the long run for the sport.


5) Explain judging to the fans - On a Versus telecast or JW and Justin's show on RFD-TV have a judge come on the shows and explain what they are looking for/at in a ride. Explain how a ride is scored. Show a couple of rides and the score that came out of that ride. Was the rider spurring, if so, how do they score that? Was the rider moving with the bull or just holding on and how do you score that? What are you looking for when a bull bucks and how is that scored? If you combined better judging with more knowledge from the fans about judging, to me, that's a win win situation.

Well, there you have it. I will state again - I am not a judge. However, as a dedicated fan I hate to see the sport get questioned because of bad calls. The PBR says they are going to make improvements, and because of the past problems, I believe they have to. Do you have any suggestions that you would like to throw out there?

Judging Controversy - The Button Challenge

In any professional sport there are some major ingredients that will make that sport prosper. First and foremost the sport has to be interesting to a large number of people. No matter how hard you try, playing chess will not raise the excitement level for most people beyond a collective yawn. Second you have to have the athletes. The men or women that have sacrificed time and effort to become the best at that sport. Third you have to have a sport that with minimal effort the general public can understand and watch the sport, without having to have a master’s degree in sports psychology. Lastly, the people that are in charge of making sure the rules are followed, the judges, referees and umpires, have to be competent, well trained and keep human errors to a minimum. If people that are watching the sport, the fans, perceive the judge to be bias, incompetent, or just simply making too many mistakes, the integrity of the entire sport will be called into question.

I have been a PBR fan for several years. Over a year ago I left my first comment on the PBR comment section, on the main PBR website. There were several events that took place and there were obvious judging errors. I have been a sports fan since I was a kid, and understand that judging can determine who wins and who loses. For someone to win, someone else loses. This is a simple concept for sure, but a concept that some forget and think that these riders are pulling for someone else as hard as they are for themselves. From the very first comment that I ferviously banged out on computer to this last event, I have talked about the poor judging. Over the last year, it seems to have gotten worse. There have been too many missed calls, too many missed slaps, too many calls that are not in the rule book, but a judge threw a reride flag anyway. The scoring has been all over the map and consistent judging is paramount to the integrity of the sport. In my opinion, there has been calls that certain riders get and others don’t. If fans believe a judge is showing favortism to certain riders this will/does/has created a backlash to the PBR, the judges and the riders that fans believe are the benefactor of those calls.

This last weekend the event in Greenville brought to a head problems that have been festering for quite sometime. In case you have been under a rook or under snowdrifts in the Artic, there was some controversy. I know for those that have been watching the events for the last year, that’s a shocker. During the long go, two major events happen. Silvano Alves was called for touching himself or the bull. After the ride was reviewed, the replays were inconclusive. However, since the judge said he committed a foul, the reply had to show that he didn’t for the call to be overturned. Therefore, no score for Silvano. One of the problems with this call is that the judge on the opposite side of the ride called the slap. From his vantage point, it would have been nearly impossible to call the foul with 100% certainty. Don’t call the foul until the ride is over, then call for a review. If the foul is inconclusive, then the rider still keeps the score.

The second controversy was that Valdiron de Oliveira was disqualified for taking too long in the chutes. He did seem to be taking too long, however, I have seen other riders taking the same or more time and not get disqualified. If you are going to DQ riders for taking too much time, you better make sure you do it across the board, otherwise it looks like you have something against that rider and you will let others slide by, based on the same rules.

Then we have the biggest controversy of the night, in the 10 extra rides for the Final Five Chase. Ryan McConnel came out of the chutes and within the first few jumps, his free hand came across his body in front of him and went down and he touched the bull. Ryan continued the ride and got a score. At this time Renato Nunes went to a judge and asked him if he saw Ryan touch the bull. The judge said no and Renato made a split second decision that may change the sport of bull riding and the PBR as we know it. Renato went over to the challenge button and with a quick jab, he pushed the challenge button. A challenge of another rider's ride has never been done in the PBR. Due to the fact that a blind man in a dark room with blinders on could have seen that Ryan slapped the bull, the review determined that Ryan did foul and his score was taken off the board.


Renato said that he pushed the button because the judges have been inconsistent with their calls and they totally missed Ryan's slap, yet they saw Silvano’s from a bad vantage point and it being inconclusive. As Ty Murry said, everybody in the building saw it, except the four judges. Simply put, Renato did the right thing. Some have said that to challenge the ride of another rider is not living up to the “cowboy code”. We are not talking about being on the wide open range and coming home to a log cabin. We are talking about bull riding, which has grow to become one of the fastest growing sports in the US. The key word in that sentence was - sports. The cowboy code, to me, is to do the right thing and Renato brought to the attention of the PBR and fans that they, as the athletes in the sports, no longer trust the judges to make the right calls. If the athlete does not believe in the quality of the judging, how can anyone expect the fans to believe in it? When you start losing the fans belief in the fairness of the calls, you lose fans and the sport starts to implode.

There were other calls that were missed during this event and scores that seem to be out of line between the judges. When a ride is scored, how can there be 3 to 4 point differences between the highest scoring judge and the lowest scoring? Are they looking at the same ride? Also, on JB’s ride on VooDoo Child, his riding hand is clearly out of the rope at 7.8. The ride was without a doubt a great ride, but not for the full 8 seconds. The ride should have been challenged by the judges. Now, after the review, the replay judge could have determined that he made the 8, but it still should have been reviewed. If you can say that a rider commit’s a foul, from a vantage point that is opposite side from the rider, you can call for a review, in the short go, when it’s that close. In my opinion, ANY ride and ANY rider that is that close to the 8 seconds, should be reviewed in the short go. There is too much at stake to not make sure you got it right.

The PBR comment section exploded with comments. Some positive for Renato, some negative. Some of the negative comments were personal and/or racist insults against Renato, this I do not understand. Even if you did not like the fact that he challenged another riders score, to condemn Renato is totally misguided. If you are upset, then be upset with the PBR for having the challenge button in the first place. You don’t condemn an athlete for following the rules that are available to him. Renato did not push the button to harm Ryan McConnel or challenge him. He used the button and the rules to challenge the judges, which again is completely within the rules to do so. Some have called Renato’s character into question. This is just completely out of bounds. If you disagree with someone’s actions, then say so and discuss (intelligently) those actions, not the personal character of the rider, for simply pushing a button. Come on folks, this a sport, not life and death.

As of late Tuesday, Renato has been somewhat vindicated. The PBR has announced they have suspended all four judges from the Greenville event for the remainder of the season. They have also announced that they will be looking into ways to improve and implement training of the judges. I think is a great move. Some of these judges will improve their skills or have to look for employment somewhere else. I think this is a long time in coming. The PBR should have been making the changes that they are now talking about way before this event. Since the Sacramento fiasco, it doesn’t look like much has been done in the way of fixing the judging problems, other than suspending one judge.

I will have another blog in a few days about what I think regarding what the PBR could do to improve the judging situation and give some examples of others being suspended in other sports for bad calls.

Final Five Chase - Will it Make A Difference?

Do you ever feel like there's just not enough time? What if someone told you that they were going to add time to the clock and thereby giving you more time to accomplish something you wanted to do. Well that's what the PBR has done with the "Final Five Chase", added more potential time/points to the game. This year the PBR reduced the finals from 7 days to 5 days. This created two less rounds and less opportunity for points. The decision was during the offseason to set up a system, similar to NASCAR, that would give the top 10 riders more rides and more opportunity for points. I will tell you that I am not in favor of this set up, but I don't run the PBR, so there you go. By adding these rides, the PBR has done the same as adding time on the clock during an NFL or NBA game, or maybe deciding to play 10 innings in a MLB game instead of 9. This is clearly an advantage for the guys that are behind, not the guy that is in the lead. If you are in the lead, you want the clock to tic down as fast as possible. If you are behind, any time on the clock, or any added time, is to your benefit. The guy that is behind wants and will get a few more opportunities to prove himself and the opportunity to catch up or gain ground.


Here's how it's going to work: Many people have confused the title "Final Five Chase" and think that this is just for the top five riders. That is not the case. The final five that the PBR is talking about is the final five events. The top 10 riders will get on an extra bull (bonus bull) during the first night of each of the final five events. This will be done after the last rider is finished with his ride during the long go. All of the top 10 riders that have qualified for the beginning of the chase, will get the opportunity to get on a bull during the last five events, even if he falls out of the top ten. If a rider makes his way into the top ten, during the remaining four events, he will have the opportunity to get a bonus bull. If a rider in the top ten opts out of an event, due to injury, the next rider that is line that is not in the top 10 will ride. In other words there will be minimum of 10 rides at each event, and there could be as many as 10-15 rides or more.


Now, that we covered who rides, how are the points going to work? Each rider, if he has a successful ride, will get the total points of that ride. So, if a rider scores an 87.00 for that ride, he gets 87.00 points. Also, the PBR is awarding double bonus round points during this round of riding. Normally, each round the bonus points start at 100 for the top rider and decrease by 10 points for each rider in the order they finish the round, with the number 10 rider getting 10 points (if there are 10 or more rides). In this case the bonus round points will start at 200 and decrease by 20 points, with the number 10 rider getting 20 points. The maximum points at each event that can be won with this “chase’ points is 300 (possible total ride score of 100 and bonus round points of 200).


There, are you confused? Well, maybe just a little. We will all get the hang of this as each event unfolds. Kind of like someone telling you how to play a new card game, and you have no clue until you actually play it, even though they spent 30 minutes explaining all the rules.


Will this make a big difference? I don’t think so. I think that there could be a change in positions between Renato Nunes and Austin Meier. Austin is only 218 points behind and the “chase” rides could make a difference. Assuming that one guy rides 4 out of 5 of his bulls during the five events. If he scores an average of 87.00 on each ride and finishes number 3 during the events, and gets 160. His total points that he would have made, for the five events, would be 988. If another rider only rides 2 out of 5 of his bulls and also averages 87.00 and finishes number four in each event, which would give him 140 points for bonus round placing, his total points for five events would be 454 points. The difference between these two guys would be only 534 points, over five events. That’s enough for Austin to catch Renato, but not enough for the number three guy, JB Mauney -behind the leader by 1584.25 points - to catch either Renato nor Austin.


The difference between McKennon Wimberly, the tenth rider and Travis Briscoe, the fifth rider, is only 700.25 points. With Travis, Guilherme Marchi and Robson Palermo being injured and either not riding at all or riding hurt, there could be some movement from 5 through 10. With that said, McKennon Wimberly has no realistic shot at catching the top guys. So in short, these “chase” rides could see some movement in the top two spots, and the bottom six spots, but there will be no major movement from the bottom spot to the top. If there is a tremendous movement in any of these spots in the next five events, it will be from the points gained in the events themselves, not from the “final five chase”.


As I stated before, I am not a fan of this format. Let the guys ride bulls and not make up rules during the year that change the format. If a rider has not been riding good most of the year, but gets hot at the end, thereby getting more points in the “chase’ that is not representative of the year that rider has had, yet he has been given the opportunity to get “extra” points. Nor is it representative of the rider who has been consistent most of the year, and just happens to have a slump near the end and loses the “extra” points. Also, what about the guy who wins the long go for that night, is not in the top ten, but has had to compete against 39+ other riders? He wins points, but the points are only half of the rider that gets the bonus bull but has to compete against four times the riders. These bonus bull rides are also coming in the same night that the top ten riders would have just gotten on their bulls and now riding extra bulls. This subjects the top ten riders to more injuries. I know, I know, the riders have to do the same, ride two bulls in the same day when you have a long go and a short go. However, the top ten would have to do this twice in the same weekend. If you have a three day event, the top ten riders could get on a minimum of 5 bulls and that is assuming that they have not had to get on reride bulls.


My prediction: By the end of the next five events, I think Austin will overtake Renato. Renato will come out of his slump - 3 out the last 10 - he’s too good to stay in this slump. With that said, I think Austin is riding with more confidence and has already come out of his slump. Both of these guys have more grit and determination than anybody in the top ten and that’s why they are at the top this year. Also, it doesn’t hurt that they have been the most healthy of anyone in the top ten. I think JB and Valdiron will still be in the same spots, 3 and 4, just not sure which will be number 3 and number 4. There will be some jockeying from the 10th to the 5th place, but in the end, none will catch the top two, Renato and Austin, either after the final five events are over or after the finals.


What do you think? Do you like the format? Who do you think will benefit the most from the “chase”? What is your prediction of who will be on top of the standings at the end of the regular season?