Rodeo umpires offer critical eye

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • Rodeo Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  There is a room in a hangar here where only a select few are admitted, but every competitor at Rodeo 2005 wants access. It is the room where scores are recorded and winners are identified for every event this year.

Providing the raw data for the score keepers in that room will be 250 umpires -- men and women who are exceptionally skilled at the events they will judge, said Royal Air Force Wing Commander Martin Walsh, the chief umpire for the competition.

“The umpires will be looking for checklist compliance,” he said. “In the cockpit, there may be one umpire, but for each ground event, there will be more looking at the activities from different angles.”

Event winners will be calculated each night.

“However, we’re not publicly revealing the ongoing scores,” Commander Walsh said. “The clever ones would start adding up the scores and have a good idea of where the teams stand. We want some surprises.”

At the end competition’s closing ceremony June 24, competitors will learn how each team racked and stacked for each event, said Maj. Scott Saunders, Air Mobility Command staff coordinator for Rodeo 2005. But until then, scoring will be conducted covertly

Scores will be tracked behind locked doors. Airmen of the studies and analysis division in AMC’s plans and programs directorate will crunch the numbers.

Should a competitor disagree with an umpire’s score, it can be appealed.

“If you think you’ve been unfairly judged, take your case to the senior umpire for that event,” Commander Walsh said. What cannot be resolved at that level will be decided by the chief umpire. “I am the final authority.”

However, competitors should not argue directly with the umpires, he said.

“Both sides will have different perspectives. That’s why we will need the impartial senior umpire to adjudicate,” Commander Walsh said.

“By virtue of being an expert in their Air Force specialty, our competitors will have strong opinions,” Major Saunders said. “We expect to hear some spirited discussions around tent city in the evenings.”

Many of the people selected to be umpires will come from standardization and evaluation jobs. And that will be their greatest challenge. “These guys are evaluators,” Wing Commander Walsh said. “They are used to jumping in when they need to. However, during Rodeo competition, they must sit there and observe.”

The only time an umpire will interfere is when safety is compromised. Umpires can stop the event if they believe it is necessary.

“Other than that, we expect the umpires to have no interaction with the competitors so as not to influence competitor actions and adversely (affect) their score,” Commander Walsh said.

That may be impossible, he said. “An umpire can inadvertently influence a crew by the simple act of writing something down,” Commander Walsh said. His advice to the competitors is to take no notice. “The umpire may just be writing down a lunch appointment.” (Courtesy of AMC News Service)