Jody @ the finals

[AmandaNewberry]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you all in on some things that happened behind the scenes. I do not feel like I need to justify anything; however, I feel like the fans should know the whole story before they make assumptions about my husband and his character.

First of all, Cody Lambert told Jody that he thought he has hanging knots. He told him he didn't know if he did it intentionally or not, but he needed to watch himself. Jody agreed and went in Saturday night with every intention of being careful about this infraction. When Jody nodded for the gate, the bull took two jumps in the chute. Jody repositioned his feet and in turn caught his knot. He does not deny doing so, but he does deny doing it intentionally. However, that really doesn't matter. The call was made and Jody respected that. In fact, after the event he went to find Lambert to ask for a replay. Cody started to get upset, but Jody didn't. Instead, he hugged him up and said, "Don't get upset. I love ya man." Jody has the upmost respect for Cody Lambert as a judge. He believes that it was a hard call to make and respects Lambert for standing by his call. Jody was more upset that the commentators were calling him a "cheater" than he was about the call.

Jody does not cheat in bullriding...or anything else. He is a great bullrider and does not need to cheat to ride successfully. The knot was unintentional, but the slandering was not. However, we are ready and able to put everything behind us and move on to the next season with our heads held high.

I am very proud of Jody for the way he handled things. He did so with dignity and respect...without saying anything bad about anyone. He did this not only on the camera, but off the camera as well. Several of the bullriders (including Justin) told Jody he had the greatest respect for him because of the way he handled the situation. Most men would want to get upset and fight. Jody just smiled and told Cody he loved him. That should tell you something about the man I am married to.

Thanks to all of you who believe in and stand by Jody. Look for great things from him this season.

God bless,
Amanda

[endfield1863]

Thank you Mrs. Newberry, and please let Jody know that no one ever considered him a cheater. Your husband is truly a better man than those running the PBR here of late. Good luck to him, you and your son in the future, whether it involves the PBR or not, and who could blame you if it didn't?

[cowboy4443]

Miss Amanda,
First of all it was a pleasure meeting you and Jody in Vegas. No explaination necessary on the unintentional looping. There was never a doubt in our minds, and 2006 is a new season.
Charlie

[twinpinesmt]

Thank you for posting the whole story Amanda. I have a great respect for Jody and how he handled the situation.

God Bless
Tina

[lonny]

Mrs Newberry,,,I too think Jody handled the who situation with such class.Jody is a great bull rider and I have the utmost respect for him.Its unforutant that this happened to him but as he has shown he will return to the top of his game next year,,,,,,,,,,,Good Luck to Jody in 06........Lonny

[HThrash]

Amanda, I don't think any of us here at the board thought he did it intentionally. I personally congratulate him on how he handle the whole incident. It just shows what wonderful people you both are!!!
Tell him that we are all cheering for him next season!!! I think he can do better than 3rd:)
I hope you guys had a safe trip to and from the finals....And I hope you had a blast!!!
Thanks for posting the story!!!
Just remember...There is always next year!!

[crazy4bullriders]

Amanda, all of us know that Jody would never cheat. Congrats to him for being number 3 in the world. His 8 second addiction fans are proud of him. Good luck in the 2006 season. Hopefully he will finish number 1!!

[tenesseerustler]

I respect you coming on here clearing that up. I don't feel that he was cheating but when a judge catches someone rather it was intentional or not speculation will be there no matter what.
Jody is a man of god and i would like to believe that is was unintentional, but he was caught he got dq'd and now questions will arise.
Jody is a tremendous bullrider, only he knows what truly happened and i don't want to believe that he cheated or made a mistake i feel though what you told us here should have been stated by Jody in front of the millions at home watching like myself. He said and i quote "I don't know who, but somebody on the broadcast called me a cheater and i am not a cheater, and i dont appreciate being called one." If he would have just said that the bull took two jumps before coming out and while readjusting i caught my spur therefore it looked in the eyes of the judges that i looped my rope. Cody made the decision to DQ me. i think we all would have understood. He had the oppurtunity to clear up what happened yet did not take the chance to clear it up. That leads to even more speculation after what you said to us.
I wish Jody all the luck in the world he is a tremendous ambassador for the sport and i just hope he isnt put in this situation again.

[carpshooter]

i am another one of the fans that want to congratulate Jody on his handling of all things. He seems like such a fine man, and you must be very proud of him. i know i am. it was a pleasure to watch him on the "Flint" stage and see another side of him. he is truly a gentle man and always a man of God. We should all try to be the best representative of the Lord's family as we can be.
I wish you all the best in the future, family is the only things that really matters.

[firecracker]

I liked the way Jody responded as well. I do feel, however, that the way it aired left some doubt as to Jody's integrity. Was he hooking knots all week? It made me wonder. The fact that it was an accidentally hooked knot that was caught by a judge is good. It means the rules are being enforced and that is good for the sport and the rest of the riders.

Ty's comments were along the lines of "I accidentally hooked a knot maybe twice a season. Jody was warned earlier in the week, is under suspicion for hooking knots and is being closely watched" or something to that affect. That is the impression that was put in our minds.

Glad to hear the story and most of all that Jody is a very true cowboy and a cool, even headed man. Jody you have to figure a way to keep those knots away from your spurs 100% so this never happens again! Thanks for being so cool about the call by Cody!!

I was there Sunday and was rooting for you too! Go get em in 2006!!


Rich

[AmandaNewberry]

As to the comment about what Jody said or didn't say during the interview....I was standing next to him listening to the interview. He was only given a brief moment to explain the situation. He had just been confronted by several of the riders and Leah Garcia about what the commentators were saying. (We didn't know first hand b/c we hadn't seen the broadcast.) Jody just wanted to clear up the fact that he didn't cheat and he didn't appreciate the commentators making those assumptions. He didn't have time to go into detail as I did in my previous post.

Also, Cody Lambert told Jody he thought he hooked his knot on Red Alert on the Sunday the first weekend. Jody agreed that he did during the ride, not in the chute. The rule states that once you're out of the chute, it's all free game b/c you are not completely responsible for your feet during the ride. Jody tried very hard to be consious of this, but didn't want it to mess up his riding. (As it did Sunday) Unfortunately he accidentally hung his knot on Sat and got called for it. Although disappointed, he understood and handled the situation with great dignity and character.

Yesterday Jody visited a friend of ours who has a leather shop. They created a leather device that goes around the bullrope. This will make it impossible to grab the knots/rope. Jody says, "From now on they'll just have to out-ride me!"

God bless,
Amanda

[HThrash]

Jody says, "From now on they'll just have to out-ride me!"

That statement from Jody cracks me up!!!