A pause for the cause
Both the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, and the National Western Stock Show in Denver took a break from their Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association performances. The Odessa rodeo, which features six performances, ran last Friday-Saturday, then resumed Wednesday night for the final four shows. The Denver event used Monday-Wednesday’s show times for […]
Headlining in Houston
This week the Houston media released the concerts that will take place during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and it looks to be a terrific showcase of musical talent. Over 20 nights, RodeoHouston will host the top rodeo contestants in the land, and they’ll serve as the opening act for consecutive nights of concerts. […]
Fennell ready to get healthy and back on the rodeo trail
The rigors of the rugged 10 nights of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo can take their toll on the athletes involved. From sore muscles and strains to broken bones and torn ligament, folks who walk away from ProRodeo’s championship event without the gold buckles given to world championships tend to feel every ache, every pain. […]
Cord on the board
A lot has happened in Cord McCoy’s life in the last couple of years. Since November 2009, he has proposed during the PBR World Finals; videoed the 16th season of “The Amazing Race;” promoted the reality series in which he and brother Jet finished second; chased another qualification to the PBR World Finals in 2010; […]
Barrels and blogs
Tana Poppino is a superior athlete and one of the elite barrel racers in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, a three-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. A Coloradoan by birth, she’s been in the northeast Oklahoma community of Big Cabin for a long time. She’s married to a cowboy, steer roper Marty Poppino, […]
Global contest
The Professional Bull Riders has considered itself a global organization for a long time. There’s good reason. Adriano Moraes, Ednei Caminhas, Guilherme Marchi and Renato Nunes are all Brazilians, and all own the title of PBR world champion. Australian Troy Dunn also carries that prestige. This past weekend, Brazilian Valdiron de Oliveira won the Madison […]
That’s just unheard of
Angie Meadors has a lot going for her. This past December, she qualified for her sixth trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, where she won two go-rounds outright and split the final night of competiton. In all, she walked away from ProRodeo’s season championship event with $50,700 in earnings, which just about anyone would […]
Magical 21
More than half the cowboys competing at in the first round of the Madison Square Garden Invitational on Friday night rode their bulls the qualifying eight seconds. That’s pretty incredible, especially in the Professional Bull Riders’ Built Ford Tough Series, where the riding percentage isn’t near that good most go-rounds. Douglas Duncan of Alvin, Texas, […]
PBR picks
There are thousands of fans who are plenty excited for the start of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series schedule. They show up in packs to events all across the country, and when they’re not on site, they tune in to all the action on the Versus network. They all have their favorite […]
The season begins tonight
The Professional Bull Riders will kick off the Built Ford Tough Series schedule this weekend at the Madison Square Garden Invitational in New York City. It’s the first of 29 events for 2011 and will feature the top 40 bull riders to open the campaign – made up mostly of the top 40 from last […]
Testing your short-term memory
My holiday visits reminded me that oftentimes we remember things from many years ago but struggle to remember recent activities. So this trivia question is about testing your short-term memory. Who were the average winners at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo?
Thinking of playoffs
Sunday afternoon, I plan to be inside Arrowhead Stadium rooting on the Kansas City Chiefs in their first-round playoff game with the Baltimore Ravens. It’s the Chiefs’ next step at fighting for a world championship, and it’s why the playoffs is a fantastic time of year in sports. In rodeo, we have the Wrangler Million Dollar […]
Rodeo’s new year
The 2011 ProRodeo season has been going since early October, but the first rodeo of the new year has begun in Denver with qualifications for the National Western Stock Show. The first performance of the Denver rodeo is Saturday afternoon, and there are some guys who will have to miss their shot at competing at […]
A good Reid
Neal Reid is a talented writer with a work ethic that’s just as strong. He has worked countless hours at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, where he serves as managing editor of ProRodeo Sports News. But he’s done much more than that. As one of the few members of the PRCA’s communications department, Reid wears […]
A West Texas jewel
It’s more than 650 miles from Denver to Odessa, Texas, and there will be plenty of rodeo folks making their way across every foot of pavement over the next two weeks. It’s time for the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo at the Ector County Coliseum, a six-performance rodeo that takes place over nine days. Two […]
On the Bright side
Matt Bright knew he had a chance to win the eighth go-round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo when he was matched with Carr Pro Rodeo’s Real Deal, the 2005 Bareback Riding Horse of the Year. What happened was a wreck when the big brown gelding reared and smashed Bright into the back of the bucking […]
Thinking of Oklahoma
A month ago right now, the opening round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was in top form in Las Vegas. Now I’m already thinking of the next major championship event, the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, set for March 31-April 4 at State Fair Arena (or Jim Norick Arena) in Oklahoma City. It will […]