Five years ago, the Professional Bull Riders World Finals took a giant leap.
In 2004, organizers opted to change the amount of points that a contestant potentially could earn during the Las Vegas championships from 1,500 to 6,500.
I was one columnist who pushed for that type of change, because this is the World Series of bull riding. It's the bull riding equivalent of the NFL playoffs, and the World Finals needed to carry a lot more weight.
Prior to 2004, the World Finals didn't carry much more weight than a regular-season show. It was a time when a rider who dominated the regular season and came in to the Finals with the world title clinched.
Cody Hart did just that in 1999. He did not have to stay on one bull at the World Finals to win the world buckle. In fact, he had a very poor Finals, but still walked away No. 1.
A year later, Chris Shivers came in with a big lead in the world standings after one amazing regular season. But at the World Finals, he was bucked off in all four preliminary rounds and didn't make it back to the short go. Yet, he walked away with his first gold buckle.
In the early days of the World Finals, it seemed like the average winner was as big or a bigger story line than the World Champion. That was because we reporters pretty well knew who the World Champion was going to be going into the World Finals. It was like the big news at the World Finals was who was going to win that big chunk of money for finishing with the highest aggregate score.
But after awhile, organizers realized that this format was not right. I remember challenging the PBR in a newspaper column after the 2000 to make changes. Why call it a World Finals when Chris Shivers comes in and bucks off of every bull but he walks away
In 2000, Tater Porter won the average winner and his victory was more compelling than Shivers winning the world title.
Organizers made sweeping changes in 2004. They added three rounds (from five to eight) and made round and average victories worth a lot more title race points. They awarded 400 points (in addition to the score) instead of 100 points. They awarded 2,500 points for winning the average instead of 500.
Overall, a rider could earn 5,000 more points than the previous year. Randy Bernard, the PBR's longtime chief executive officer, said it was the right thing to do.
"At Las Vegas, the lights are brighter. We wanted to step up the pressure," Bernard said.
"We didn't want to have anyone coming in here and thinking they had it won. We wanted to make sure that the world title was earned. Our new point system and allowing so many points here at the World Finals made it a very, very exciting great race."
During the 2004 World Finals, Mike Lee took advantage of the new system by winning the average and moving ahead of Adriano Moraes in the world title race. Lee became the first cowboy to win the world title and the World Finals average in the same year.
Moraes, who competed despite a nagging biceps injury in his riding (left) arm, entered the World Finals with 9,200 points, 1,985.5 more than Lee. Under the old system, Moraes would have entered the Las Vegas championships with the title clinched because he led by more than 1,500 points.
But under the new system, that lead was far from safe. Lee got on a big roll during the World Finals and surpassed Moraes on the last day.
All of a sudden, the PBR had a format and point system at the World Finals that made the Las Vegas championships carry a lot more weight. And without question, it made the World Finals more appealing for fans.
In 2006, Moraes trailed No. 1 ranked Guilherme Marchi by 2,874 points going into the World Finals. But he earned 4,007.5 points after mounting eight bulls, and he edged Marchi by 342 points in the world title race.
Moraes turned in two scores in the elite 90s on the last day of the Las Vegas show. It is billed as one of the most exciting finishes ever at the World Finals, but it could not have happened had there been only 1,500 points that could have been earned.
"I think it's fair that they have (a lot more) points at the World Finals for the simple fact that it's the biggest and hardest event to win," said Troy Dunn, the PBR's 1998 World Champion from Australia. "It's the hardest place to earn points because you have the best blokes and the best bulls."
The 2009 World Finals, which are running tonight and Sunday and Nov. 5-8 at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center, could conclude with a very close race between three riders. Going into tonight's second round, Kody Lostroh of Longmont, Colo., will enter the show leading the world title race with 12,025 points. Marchi is ranked second with 11,646 points, 378.75 behind Lostroh.
J.B. Mauney is ranked third with 11,645.75 after winning the first round with a score of 89.75. Mauney enters Round 2 trailing Lostroh by 379.25 points.
Marchi said the margin between he and Lostroh can be easily erased with the abundance of points available at the World Finals.
"The difference in the points that I and Kody Lostroh have (between us), is really nothing at the World Finals," Marchi said. "Everybody is excited to see what happens at the Finals this year."
One other thought: The PBR began awarding $1 million to its World Champion in 2003. So, with a seven-figure paycheck on the line, it's even more imperative to make the World Finals carry lots of weight.
Veteran bull rider Cord McCoy said he agrees with the World Finals offering lots of points.
"When a rider is winning it coming in, you might have a little edge, but at the World Finals, I wouldn't go counting your $1 million dollars until they bucked that last bull," said McCoy. "More points just puts more excitement into the Finals. A guy might have a great year (regular season), but it's like the World Series that's now going on. You have to finish strong.
"It doesn't matter what your stats are all season. If you don't perform while you're here at Las Vegas, somebody will take the world title away from you."
It should count for something to be good even great all year long. Perhaps bonus points for the leader at year-end would reward those riders long haul up to the finals.