PBR loves JB

I must admit I am a bit behind on actually watching the PBR, but thankfully DVR is letting me keep up with them when I get the chance. That being said, I do check on the website fairly regularly in the hopes that someone has climbed to the top of the leader board ahead of JB Mauney. Looking at the website and the comments, I can tell I am not the only one that feels this way.

Bull riders can be cocky--I get that, I do. I have known some personally. And they need to have that formula of confidence, attitude, and perseverance. Getting on the back of a huge beast that just wants you off and don't care how, you have to have some kind of gumption. Confidence is a great thing. Arrogance is not. Throwing a temper tantrum when you don't ride or get called for a slap or don't get the ride you thought you should is very immature. So is being in it for the money. Mauney RARELY misses the opportunity to talk about money in an interview during a PBR event. We get it JB, you're greedy. Great.

But he has stayed up at the top, so he must be great right? Nope, unfortunately there is another formula involved and JB has got it figured out. The PBR has instituted a draft, where there used to be a draw. As long as a person is high enough on the leader board at the end of a round, they have the opportunity to pick a bull sooner in the draft. If you are towards the end of the round, the judges can look at who is ahead of you and score you or the bull just high enough to get above that other person. That means that you can be a judge's favorite, have a crappy ride, and still come out on top of the leader board. Call it a conspiracy theory if you want, but as sloppy as JB rides, and as many times as he "slaps" a bull (usually an instant disqualification), and he is still ahead on the leader board? The cow **** isn't the only thing that stinks at the PBR. He has also figured out what bull he can ride. And that would be "Troubador." As of January 17, Mauney has ridden the bull 5 times. Picking a bull you know you can ride when you are at the top of the draft doesn't indicate greatness, it indicates laziness. Stock contractor Don Kish even went so far as to call JB a coward for not picking his bull "Necessary Evil." In January JB literally hung on to the side of the bull "Code Blue" and was given a score of 76.25, yes given. Anyone else would have gotten DQd. But by golly, since it was JB, HE RODE!

Just as JB loves to talk about the money, even stating something to the effect of "won a butt load" in an interview, he doesn't often say a lot about the bulls. Unless of course they help him to win. In an event last year, he even blamed the bull (and its "floppy horn")for his slap and disqualification. To me, a great bull rider talks about the bull, win or loose, as a number of other bull riders do. They also take the opportunity to get on different ones, not the same "moneymaker" over and over again.

Unfortunately, JB will likely win the 2010 World Championship. It won't be singularly by his own accord, but with the "help" of others. Not that we haven't seen that before in the PBR as well.