What should Cory Mac do?

[Gus]

I'm wondering if Cory McFadden might have to make a tough decision this weekend. He's leading the average at Cheyenne Frontier Days and is a lock for Sunday's short round. He's also up in the PBR event in Tulsa, which concludes on Sunday?

I understand if you miss a PBR event, you get suspended for a year. But I've never heard about what might happen if you miss a go-round. Meaning if Cory bucks off or gets low scores on his bulls tonight and Saturday, would he be better off to go to Cheyenne and have a chance at $15,000 or so? Or would it get him in hot water with the PBR?

Maybe he can hop a plane and do both.

As both a PBR and PRCA fan, this leads to a long-standing beef I have with the PBR, which intentionally schedules its summer events on top of the short gos of the biggest PRCA rodeos, making it impossible for those guys working both circuits to compete in both.

They scheduled the one-day Dallas event on top of the Reno Rodeo short round, so we didn't get Greg Potter (a past Reno champion), Paulo Crimber or any of the other top guys we usually get. Oh well, sorry for the rant. I hope Cory wins both events.

[HThrash]

Well that would be a sticky situation to be in wouldn't it....I have no idea what he should do....

[csb]

I dont think a rider can miss one of the rounds and still get on in the other(s). If he was to turn out his bull on Sunday to go to Cheyenne, he would probably still be suspended.

If I were him, Id be looking at the short go draw for Cheyenne. If I drew a good bull that you can be a lot of points on, Id try to go to Cheyenne. Hopefully he has thought of chartering a helicopter or a fast plane. Yeah, it can be expensive, but he is going to pick up a very nice check in Cheyenne which will certainly pay for the flight.

On the same token, he has dropped to around 40th in the PRCA standings, and the $15,000 he might win will bring him up to around 20th in the world. If he wins the Tulsa event, he has a PBR finals spot no matter what.

[pbrbigfan]

It is unfortunate for all involved but when the guys who are going to both PBR and PRCA events entered those rodeos, they knew of the potential conflicts. That is the chance they are willing to take when they enter those rodeos knowing that they may make and have to turn out of a short round at a rodeo.

[CThrash13]

See, that's what I was thinking too. I'm sure Cory knew this was a possibility, unless he just wasn't confident in making the short-go at the PRCA event. And that wouldn't be a good outlook.

I figure we will see him riding in the PBR, and he will just have to take his medicine and move on not knowing what might have been.

Edit: On a sidenote, I do think the PBR should modify their rules a bit for these situations. I am 100% pro-PBR, and I back them more than most people do. But I think they should be a little more leniant in these kinds of situations. They should let Cory ride in the short-go at Cheyenne and come back to the PBR next week. The one-year suspension is kind of goofy if you ask me.

[cowboytodd25]

Who Cares Mike Lee is coming back. He has ridden 4-20 so i mean who really cares what he does. Lets talk about the people that are competing for sure. Cody i dont belive the rules should be changed, you would end up having all the guys trying to do 5 events a weekend just like the prca guys do now. Why should the pbr change maybe the riders should decide the alligiance and stick with it. there are enough pbr, enterprize, challenger tour and humps and horns to go to so please pick one or the other.

[Gus]

I agree, too, that the PBR riders are aware of the conflicts when they enter the PRCA events. At the same time, Cory has made $35,000 and change on the BFTS this season in 25 events. If he wins Cheyenne, that would be about a $15,000 paycheck. I'm sure his mortgage company and bill collectors don't really care if it's PBR or PRCA dollars. So if he bucks off his first two bulls in Tulsa and has no chance to win the title, why not let him go ride in Cheyenne and return to the PBR the following week? Isn't that the best thing for the rider? Isn't that why the PBR was formed in the first place, to look out for the riders? I'm well aware of the politics between PBR and PRCA, but when you're hurting the riders, it surely doesn't make sense from the outside.

[csb]

cowboytodd25 said:

Who Cares Mike Lee is coming back. He has ridden 4-20 so i mean who really cares what he does. Lets talk about the people that are competing for sure.

Well, considering he is the latest PBR World Champion, a nice kid and a talented rider, Id say all of the bull riding world is awaiting his return. Of course you arent though, you are waiting for Greg Potter to make his 12th consecutive NFR appearance, right?

[Mike_LeeFan]

i'm so excited for mike to be back and i was going to go see him ride in cheyenne but no my mom had to be a butt about it. i'm still excited and have been waiting 6 months for this event

i didn't know you could get suspended for missing an event wow that's news to me.

[CThrash13]

I agree Gus. The PBR was definitely formed to look out for the best of the rider.

I have been looked at as being a PBR "fanboy" so to speak, but even I can see that this is wrong. Cory should be able to ride in Tulsa a day or two and then go to Cheyenne and finish out his event there.

Todd, you are being a little close-minded here. I mean, come on, you do want what's best for the riders right?

There are always going to be guys that are just PBR only. But there are also guys who aren't riding 60% of their bulls on the BFTS Tour that need to make a little extra money in the PRCA.

You would have a different opinion if it was you riding..

The suspension thing is silly. If they suspended him one or two events, I could possibly understand. But suspending someone an entire year for missing one event is just silly..

[pbrbigfan]

This debate has been going on since the inception of the PBR. The rule was put into place so that it was guarenteed that guys who committed to attend the event would be there. In the PRCA a guy with a big name enters a rodeo, draws a bull or horse that is undesirable and then doesn't show up. Joe fan buys a ticket for that rodeo knowing that big time guy is entered and big time guy doesn't show up. That is why the rule is in place for the BFTS events.
The situation still comes down to choices. Bull riders that decide to ride in both PBR and PRCA events know that there may be potential conflicts but they CHOOSE to buy their PRCA card and CHOOSE to commit to BFTS events.
In reality, there was a greater chance that Cory wouldn't make the short round at Cheyenne rather than make it. Not because Cory isn't a great bull rider but because it's Cheyenne and anyone that knows pro rodeo knows that at a big rodeo like that you are taking a chance of being 60 points 2 or 3 times with no reride and having no shot at making the short round. That's why Cory took the chance knowing the conflict with the short round.
The suspention rule might need to be looked at but in the end the PBR wrote the rule to make sure that when they say the BEST bull riders would be there, they would be there when they said they would and wouldn't be riding somewhere else. The fans can count on that.

[Gus]

Agreed. Draw outs by your top guys are a problem. It happened this year in Reno with Jason Jeter and Glen O'Neill, among others. Making the short round at a one of the bigger rodeos is no guarantee because of all the variables.

The fans are important and I'll bet the 18,000 fans in Cheyenne will probably be more disappointed that there average leader doesn't show up than the fans in Tulsa will be if Cory has bucked off his two first-round bulls and has only a shot at go-round money in the third round.

I understand why the rule is in place, but it seems to me it wouldn't hurt the PBR a bit to have one of their guys win one of the most prestigious PRCA rodeos, just the same as it wouldn't hurt them to have one of more of their guys qualify for the NFR.

[cowboytodd25]

People jump to conclusions and did not read it correctly my who cares went out to "cory mac" my mike lee is coming back is what i was looking forward too so please don't throw my greg potter thing in here i was right who cares about the whole problem with "cory mac".he will not win the world championshipo so go do what you have too.

Cody yes i really do mean Who Cares. They have a chance at a million dollars why waste the chance to win a million by entering to win 16,000 i say go for the million and screw the little s h i t. If you are pbr go to pbr sanctioned events as i previously said like challenger tour, Enterprize tour and humps and horns. If yopu do not compete at those please do not complain about not being able to compete at the prca events.

Honestly, the challenger tour event we have has the top 45, but most other cities do not and therefore the fans miss out on seeing the top riders. I do consider them selfish that they go to prca events and dont allow the fans of the pbr who are unable to attend the big events see them.

[csb]

cowboytodd25 said:

so please don't throw my greg potter thing in here i was right

Im just wondering how Greg has made 11 consecutive NFR's when he joined the PRCA in 1997? Boy, Im stumped!!!!!

I guess we will find out on Monday if Cory rides in both events tomarrow. I hope it works out for him and if not, he will still get a nice check for a round win and most likely a top 5 in the average.

[dairymary]

i feel that the cowboys have a commitment to the pbr. they know about that rule, and if they were to maybe let it slide for corey to skip an event, they would have to let everyone do it. i feel that the pbr is shadey for how they schedual their events. it would make things a lot easier if the two association would work together about events, but that will never happen. that is how i feel about it, just my two cents.