McConnel/Nunes dispute resolved; judging questions remain
GREENVILLE, S.C. (September 12, 2010) - With time to reflect, both Ryan McConnel and Renato Nunes agree that the impulsive actions of one and the reaction of the other Friday night at the Greenville Invitational were motivated by heightened emotions.
In the first of the Final Five Showdowns, Nunes challenged McConnel’s qualified ride after all four judges clearly missed a slap as he came out of the chute on Real Moody.
It’s the first time in PBR history that one rider has challenged another rider’s score and had points removed from the leader board.
More confused than anything, McConnel at the time said that Nunes didn’t hold up to the cowboy way of conducting himself. “I would never do that,” he said. “I thought he failed in that way.”
Twenty-four hours later, a cooler McConnel said, “Yeah, go ahead and think before you say. I’m not good at that stuff.”
“I hope everybody understands that was a defense mechanism,” McConnel explained. “It was nothing personal.
“He didn’t want to make sure I was caught. He wanted to point out that judges are missing all kinds of stuff. Like I said, I’ll be the first to admit that I knew darn good and well that after about a jump and a half out of there I slapped that bull.”
Nunes had grown upset with what he perceived to be judging inconsistencies throughout the opening round of the Greenville Invitational.
Silvano Alves had been called for a slap by the back judge Jim Bob Custer, and the call was upheld by replay judge Dean Wilson after review footage proved inconclusive. Custer was then involved in disqualifying Valdiron de Oliveira for taking too much time in the chute.
Both Nunes and Ednei Caminhas later said they felt Oliveira’s disqualification was in response to Nunes’ outward displeasure with the Alves call. Nunes disputed Custer’s ruling because the alleged infraction had occurred on the opposite side of the bull from Custer.
“I understand Renato’s defense [in supporting] his own countrymen and everything,” McConnel said, “and, shoot, I’d almost be with him on that, to be honest with you.”
Friday, while Nunes readied himself for the final ride of the night, McConnel engaged in a verbal confrontation with Caminhas.
All three parties have since spoken, and according to McConnel, “There are no hard feelings.”
“I took it the wrong way,” said McConnel, who admitted to being upset with having points removed from the board. “Before I even went to bed [Friday night], I had a lot of people tell me that’s not what that was about. I was pretty disappointed if it was, but it isn’t, so things are better now. We’re all getting along.
“There was no reason to get hard feelings in the first place, really.”
In an interview with Versus, which airs during Sunday night’s television broadcast, Nunes said that he was sickened about affecting another rider’s score in order to prove a point about judging.
However, he said Saturday morning, “Somebody had to pay.”
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