UPDATES (Comments include hints to the answer): So can you name the only person to have qualified for season-ending championship for seven — yes, SEVEN — associations? Post a comment and let me know your answers. Name the contestant and the associations.

Two summers ago, the rodeo world said goodbye to a legend in the sport, Clem McSpadden. The former general manager of the National Finals Rodeo, McSpadden was one of the greatest voices in the sport. He died in July 2008. This past May, I was invited by his widow, Donna, to visit Clem’s office in[...]

Brazilian Renato Nunes parlayed a great season and a fantastic run at this week’s world finals in Las Vegas to earn the 2010 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough world champion. In the process, he became the third Brazilian in five years to win the title — Guilherme Marchi won the 2008 championship, and Adriano[...]

It was a great rodeo Saturday night at Kemper Arena. Here’s the story I wrote for the Kansas City Star. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/23/2346787/oklahoman-wins-bronc-riding-at.html

The third performance of the American Royal Rodeo was a pretty fair showcase of world champions. – Saddle bronc riders Taos Muncy and Billy Etbauer – Tie-down roper Monty Lewis – Steer wrestlers Dean Gorsuch, Jason Miller and Luke Branquinho. All faired very well Saturday night. Gorsuch led the parade of champions with a 4.0-second steer wrestling[...]

The 2010 PBR world championship is going to come down to the final three go-rounds of the long season. On Friday night, Brazilian Renato Nunes scored 89.25 on the bull Closet Gangster to win the third round and collect another $25,000. More importantly, it moved him to No. 2 in the Built Ford Tough Series[...]

Night Two coverage of the American Royal PRCA Rodeo. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/22/2344800/rider-from-south-dakota-has-best.html

Shaun Stroh had just finished riding Friday at the American Royal PRCA Rodeo, spurring for an 85 for the night’s best score in saddle bronc riding, yet he wasn’t done. On the cement floor of a makeshift locker room near small restrooms, Stroh sat in his bronc saddle and shuffled his feet, all the while[...]

There are many differences between the PBR and a traditional rodeo, but as the world finals takes place this week in Las Vegas, the points system employed by the PBR is the focus as it prepares to crown its world champion. In rodeo, dollars equal points, so the contestant in each event who has earned the[...]

At one time, the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo and the National Western Livestock Show and Rodeo were the first big events of the new season. Both take place in early January. But that’s changed with this year’s American Royal. Here’s a link to the Friday, Oct. 22, story in The Kansas City Star. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/21/2341523/riddle-and-dent-jump-into-lead.html