Monthly Archives: December 2010

Whether it is weight loss or an attitude change, most people have something they want to make as their New Year’s resolution. What’s yours? I resolve to get back on the path of eating healthier and exercising more. I’d lost 25 pounds through 2010, but I’ve gained some back, and I can tell I’m not  Continue Reading »

If it’s happened in bull riding, Tuff Hedeman’s probably seen it. He’s won three bull riding world championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and one in the Professional Bull Riders, where he once served as the organization’s president. Now he’s president of Championship Bull Riding, another stand-alone bull riding association. The CBR is following  Continue Reading »

Jeff Medders has been the television voice of rodeo for two decades. His sound is familiar and strong, a great correlation for the sport and its stars. Now as the man in charge of Geronimo Productions, Medders’ schedule gets a little more intense in 2011. You see, in addition to producing every Championship Bull Riding TV  Continue Reading »

I visited today with a longtime friend and cowboy who has never been to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It’s time my friend goes. He’d like to take his wife and another couple to the final two performances, and I think that’s a great time to experience ProRodeo’s season finale. It’s when champions will be  Continue Reading »

As the clock nears midnight on Christmas Eve, we can find many things for which to be thankful. And like the children with wide eyes and wild dreams, we can hope Santa brings us our favorite goodies while we reflect on the real reason for the season with our close friends and family. If you  Continue Reading »

I’d like to talk to the folks at the PRCA who are in charge of the annual convention and trade show, because I’d like to know how this year’s attendance compares to other years. There seemed to be good numbers during some of the talking points at the convention, but the numbers inside the trade  Continue Reading »

During the PRCA Awards Banquet, I was honored to visit with Rick Thompson. During the 10 rounds at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, I was pleased to learn more about Derek Barton. The men of Talk Rodeo earned their honor. http://www.rodeoattitude.com/spur/eventnews/bullriding/talkrodeoorg-wins-broadcast-award-19400.shtml

No matter how he tried to paint a good picture in Las Vegas, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo had not been kind to Ardie Maier of Timber Lake, S.D. Outside those that were injured, Maier was having the worst ProRodeo championship. He’d earned a spot among the top 15 in the PRCA’s bull riding world  Continue Reading »

I didn’t know A.J. Franzen, but plenty of my friends did. Franzen, of Carpenter, Wyo., died Dec. 18, in a car wreck near his home. He was 26. He was too young and leaves behind a young family – his son, Jace, and wife, Barbara, who is expecting a second child in May. I feel  Continue Reading »

The nice thing about friends is they like to tell stories. Jerry Norton is a world champion bullfighter, one of the last guys to be crowned in the Wrangler Freestyle Bullfights finale during the National Finals Rodeo. He’s also been one of the featured bullfighters at the annual Dodge City (Kan.) Round-Up Rodeo, and every  Continue Reading »

I made a whirlwind trip to western Kansas. Was on the road for 16 hours, in my hometown for 15. It was as close to rodeoing as most folks might get, and it’s pretty far from rodeoing. For cowboys and cowgirls, 15-hour stays are rare, especially in the heat of the season when there might  Continue Reading »

The only thing more important to winning the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo average is a world championship. But how important is the average title? Of the nine ProRodeo contestants to win the 2010 world titles, four won the average – Dean Gorsuch tied Billy Bugenig with the best bulldogging cumulative time of 45.7 seconds, and  Continue Reading »

Ten years ago, 47 cowboys finished the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association with more than $100,000 in earnings, led by Joe Beaver’s $225,396. This year, there were 82 PRCA cowboys over the $100,000 marker, led by Trevor Brazile’s $507,921. A lot has changed in the last decade, with more money available. But the cost of competing has  Continue Reading »

After the third go-round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith took the South Point Hotel & Casino stage for the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation. That’s when Treston Brazile took the stage for the first time during the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He waved his hat in the air  Continue Reading »

Rodeos don’t need intermissions, mainly because people find some events more interesting than others. Stand-alone bull riding came about because bull riders paid special notice to how popular their event is. There are those that save their money to be inside the Lazy E Arena near Guthrie, Okla., for the annual Timed Event Championship. So  Continue Reading »

I’ve never been to Arizona other than layovers in Phoenix, but I came pretty close after the eighth go-round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. That night, Arizonans Sherry Cervi (barrel racing), Derrick Begay and Cesar de la Cruz (team roping) were at the South Point Hotel & Casino to be recognized during the Montana  Continue Reading »

There was a lot of talk about the families that were part of this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and rightly so. You had the team roping Tryans, Travis, Clay and Brady; the tie down roping Coopers, Clint, Clif and Tuf; the bronc riding DeMosses, Heith and Cody, and Wrights, Cody and Jesse; and the  Continue Reading »

What most folks don’t realize about those of us covering the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is that we get involved in the work and miss most of the action. The NFR media room isn’t conducive to the coverage, because it’s as far away from the action as you could be while still being inside the  Continue Reading »

After his fifth-round winning ride on Kesler Rodeo’s Street Dance, Will Lowe walked on the South Point Hotel & Casino stage for the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation with his 18-month-old son, Garrett. Garrett is the dancer in the family, and when the music played, Garrett danced. Daddy will was proud, but he prodded his  Continue Reading »

Flint Rasmussen is one of the best funnymen in rodeo-related sports. He has a nice contract with the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series, but he regularly works Vegas in some regard during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He has a talk-show type program during the day, and he teams with Randy Corley every  Continue Reading »

Sherry Cervi learned last Friday night she had clinched the 2010 WPRA barrel racing world championship. That was about 21 hours before the final go-round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Nobody in the field could catch her. But a champion is as a champion does. That gold buckle was no reason for the Arizona  Continue Reading »

Overall the judges at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo did an outstanding job. But … They failed in the sixth round of the championship, if not more. And that failure almost became a factor in deciding the 2010 world champions. The evening started with Wes Stevenson’s 88.5-point ride on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Wise Guy. That  Continue Reading »

The Ram Top Gun award was established for the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to reward the contestant who did the best over 10 days at ProRodeo’s championship. But maybe the Ram folks (formerly the Dodge folks) should consider a name change and call it the Tough Gun award, given to one tough-luck contestant who  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – His right hand is swollen with torn ligaments, black and blue. His left wrist might be fractured, and his upper back and neck just plain hurt. Such is the result in a nasty, 10-round heavyweight fistfight under the bright lights of Las Vegas. For every punch, every kick, every whollop D.V. Fennell  Continue Reading »