Mauney to Get X-rays this Week
By: Justin Felisko
January 08, 2017
J.B. Mauney plans to get X-rays on his hip and be further evaluated by Dr. Tandy Freeman. Photo: Andre Silva
NEW YORK – Here are three things we learned from this weekend’s Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden on Sunday afternoon.
Mauney to get X-rays on injured hip (1-8-17)
Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney is leaving New York with a big question heading into his 30th birthday on Monday.
Mauney has been dealing with a chronic hip injury for years, but the Mooresville, North Carolina, cowboy believes he may have severely aggravated his hip or sustained a new injury inside Madison Square Garden this weekend.
Mauney has been barely able to walk ever since he was bucked off by WSM Auctioneer’s Dew
Rag Dan (4.82 seconds) in Round 1 on Friday night.
After bucking off in Round 2 (Big Tex Rocks The Chute, 3.21 seconds), Mauney had a further conversation with Dr. Tandy Freeman and decided that he would undergo X-rays when he returns home to North Carolina this week.
Mauney landed on his backside and did a back roll when he hit the dirt hard against Dew Rag Dan and believes that might be where his latest injury occurred.
“I am real sore,” Mauney said as he held himself up on a Monster Energy cooler. “Either tomorrow or Tuesday I will get X-rays. Usually I will get over it. It will hurt when I ride, but by the next day when I get up moving around it goes way. This here – it has been hurting ever since I got on that bull the other day.”
Mauney had never begun a season with two consecutive BFTS buckoffs in his 12-year career until this weekend.
He bounced back on Sunday afternoon with an 87.5-point ride on Big Tex Walk Off, but later bucked off Mystical in 6.67 seconds during the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.
“You keep your hand shut and don’t quit until that whistle blow,” Mauney said before the championship round.
Freeman said it is too early to speculate on any potential scenarios that could keep Mauney out long term. However, Freeman said there appears to be an issue near Mauney’s SI joint and trochanter.
For now, the goal is to get a better picture of what is going on with Mauney’s right hip.
“It is something new and we are going to get some X-rays, and hopefully he will get them done tomorrow or the next day, and go from there,” Freeman said. “Part of it is stuff that he had. He has some problems with his SI joint on that side and it is really stuck down and not moving like it is supposed to. It is bad enough that it is making it a little hard to evaluate the other stuff. J.B. is real tender over his trochanter. All of the muscles that attach to it hurt when he tries to make those muscles work. He may have something going on with it.”
Mauney said he is unsure of what his decision will be if surgery is recommended.
“We will get the X-rays, send them Tandy and see what he says,” Mauney said.
Mauney understands he is in the latter half of his career, but says he is far from done.
“I am not through yet,” Mauney said. “Yeah, I am getting a little older, but I ain’t done yet.”
Lockwood wins first PBR Major
Jess Lockwood overcame a few demons from 2016 this weekend in New York by winning his first PBR Major and a career-high $117,183.33.
Lockwood went 4-for-4 and clinched the victory with a gritty 82.25-point ride on Naughty List.
“This is the way to kick off the season,” Lockwood said. “I couldn’t be happier. It helps so much having my family here. This is so special. This is the greatest thing that ever happened in my career. The points that came with it. The money. My family here. It means a lot.”
It is the first event the second-year pro and new world leader has not bucked off a bull.
The 19-year-old was competing in his first event since bucking off all five of his bulls at the World Finals, while also heading into Sunday’s championship round with five consecutive buckoffs in championship rounds.
“No I wasn’t thinking about that,” Lockwood said. “I was just pumped up. I knew he was going to be a really good bull and fit my style really good. I started to mess him up, but I just kept my hand in my rope, let him pull me down and did whatever it took to make the whistle.”
The ride was his second 82.25-point effort Sunday. In Round 3, Lockwood covered Pitch Black for 82.25 points.
Lockwood earned 860 points toward the world standings with his victory. He earned 625 of those for winning the event average.
He began his season by tying for the Round 1 victory (87.75 points on Dennis the Menace) for 100 world points and followed that up with a second-place finish and 75 world points in Round 2 (87.25 points on X Factor).
Marco Eguchi (550 world points), Ryan Dirteater (378. world points), Fabiano Vieira (258.3 world points) and Matt Triplett (175 world points) rounded out the Top 5.
This is the first time Lockwood has ever been ranked No. 1 in the world standings.
He heads into next weekend’s Chicago Invitational with the other 34 riders in the locker room wanting his No. 1 world ranking.
“It is the first event,” Lockwood said with a big grin. “It is a long way from the Finals. We have to follow up the season with this now.”
Dirteater overcomes injury with monster ride
Ryan Dirteater’s right riding arm and calf were covered in deep and dark bruises, but the minor injuries weren’t going to slow him down on Sunday afternoon.
Less than 24 hours after being roughed up by St. Patty in Round 2, Dirteater came right back with an 85.75-point ride on Pneu Dart’s Captain and then a monster 90.5-point ride on Handsome Jeff to win the championship round.
The ride was the first 90-point ride of the season.
“That is a good way to start the season,” Dirteater said. “I wish I would have stayed on my bull last night. I didn’t finish it. I rode three out of four, that is a good way to start the season. L.J. Jenkins said to pick his bull Handsome Jeff and I didn’t second guess myself.”
The ride was Dirteater’s 11th 90-point ride of his career and first since Sept. 2013.
“I don’t have very many, but I have had some 90s before,” Dirteater said. “If I keep riding the rank bulls, the judges will have to keep scoring me 90.”
Dirteater said there was no way he wasn’t competing on Sunday.
“You have to shake it off,” Dirteater explained. “I guess it is that Cherokee tough.”
Dirteater finished 3-for-4 and in third place overall. He leaves New York as the No. 3 rider in the world standings after picking up 378.33 world points.
The Hulbert, Oklahoma, bull rider earned 220 world points for finishing third in the event average, 120 for winning the championship round, 30 for tying for fifth place in Round 3 and 3.3 points for tying for seventh in Round 1.
“It is a lot of confidence, especially coming off the Finals,” Dirteater said. “I am rolling.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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