Bull rider’s success is a tale of the tape

Victoria Sun

Thursday, June 13, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

At a glance

Before a regular stop on the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Tour, bull rider Cody Hancock might be prone to pop a tape into his VCR to scout his next bull.

He likens the process to a basketball player watching game film of his next opponent.

"Just like, I'm sure (New Jersey Nets point guard) Jason Kidd has been watching how (Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant) Shaq and Kobe are going to tear him up (in the NBA Finals)," Hancock said. "That's what we do.

"We see what the bull's done, even in the same arena here last year."

He won't have that luxury at the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. Cup Finale that starts tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But if history is any indication, the rider from Taylor, Ariz., won't need the advance screening.

The one-time world champion will defend his USSTC Cup Finale bull riding title as he tries to earn his share of the $470,000 total purse this weekend.

Bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping and barrel racing are the other events featured at the Finale.

Hancock leads the Jack Daniel's World Standings with $36,964 and is fourth in the WPRT standings with 30 points.

At most rodeos, bull riders normally find out a week to two weeks in advance which bull they will be riding. At the Finale, they won't know until the first day of competition.

"During the regular year when we know ahead of time, we can look at films or call people who've been on the bull and do some research on it," Hancock said. "Sometimes, doing all that, it doesn't help you.

"It makes you try to trap the bull instead of doing instinctively so there's lots of rodeos where I don't even call back for my stock. I just show up to the rodeo and see what I've got."

He's got a battle scar resembling the seams on a baseball situated on his face right between his eyebrows.

He got the souvenir last week after a ride in Sisters, Ore., when his bull head-butted him.

Like most rough and tough cowboys, Hancock chuckles about and down plays his bumps and bruises.

"I've been lucky," he said. "I just got stitches right between the eyes.

"The bull hit me with his horn, but I just got seven stitches, no big deal. I've had some stitches in my chin and I've broken my ankle. That's about all my injuries."

In just four years, the 26-year-old Hancock has established himself as one of the premiere bull riders on tour.

He made history in Las Vegas at the 2000 National Finals Rodeo where he rallied from No. 15 -- the final qualifying spot -- to win the world championship. He followed up that season with a second-place finish at the NFR a year later.

Last year, at the Finale, he scored a 94-point ride on Mister USA, which remains an MGM Grand Garden Arena record. He rode him again for 96 points at the NFR, eclipsing the highest-marked ride previously held by eight-time world champion Don Gay and 1999 world champion Mike White, only to finish second.

"I feel so lucky winning the world title my first year," Hancock said. "Because now whenever I decide to quit, I won't have any regrets.

"I definitely want to win the average at the finals. I've ended up second in the average the last two years so that's definitely a goal of mine and I dang sure want to win another world title.

"I've had a great season so far. I'm sitting first in the world right now. The finales are really cool because they make it where you can win lots of money and don't have to go to as many little rodeos so I'm excited to be here."