Gaffney earns redemption, $20,000 prize

Victoria Sun

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 10:23 a.m.

There have been times, Michael Gaffney admits, that he gave up too soon.

Times when he let bulls get the best of him because he just wasn't determined enough to hang on.

On Thursday night, he redeemed himself.

Gaffney, riding the bull "Super Star," was the real star as he scored a 91 in the first round of the $1.5 million Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup World Championships at the Thomas & Mack Center aboard a bull that got the better of him once before. Gaffney was awarded $20,000 for finishing first.

Terry Don West finished second with 90 points while riding "Free Loader" and Dave Samsel on "Whistle Stop" followed with 89.5 points. The second round of competition starts tonight at 6:30.

"I got by him the first six or seven seconds, then at the end it was a close call and I didn't make the whistle there," Gaffney, of Albuquerque, N.M., said. "Tonight, I thought, I couldn't let him buck me off twice."

It was a close call.

Gaffney got behind the bull and had to claw his way back in position.

"He was a lot better tonight. He lunged to the left, reversed, straightened out. I had to cut him off to catch up.

"I stepped up tonight. I think the bottom line here is I don't have any excuses. I came in here healthy."

Gaffney was hampered last year by a serious knee injury and was out much of the 1998 season with a shoulder injury to his free arm.

This year, Gaffney has participated in all 28 events and is ranked sixth in the Bud Light Cup Point Standings.

He avoided another injury Thursday night after being bucked off of Super Star.

"I fell inside the well," Gaffney said. "He's coming into me so you're in a hot spot.

"You're thinking get your butt out of there and scramble away. I'm glad we have these vests on."

Surprisingly, Ty Murray and Chris Shivers failed to stay on their bulls for at least eight seconds, resulting in scores of 0.

Shivers is leading the Bud Light Cup Standings with 9138.5 points while Murray is in second with 7,308. Murray is the defending champion of the event.

Two former UNLV riders, Justin McBride and Ross Coleman, were successful in the first round.

Both were members of UNLV's rodeo team in 1998.

McBride was beaming after he scored an 86.5 and Coleman was content with his score of 85.

Last year, in their first year qualifying for the event, McBride cracked the top 15, but Coleman wasn't close.

"Any score is a good score for me," Coleman, who rode "Fire Ball," said. "I've had a great year and I'd like to have a good finish."