About: Ted

LAS VEGAS – A little history lesson on Monday night helped Coleman Proctor handle his business during the fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I had a steer that was like my first-round steer,” said Proctor, who, with partner Ryan Motes, stopped the clock in 4.4 seconds to share second place on the fifth night of ProRodeo’s championship. “Chad Masters had him and said that the steer didn’t score good and that I needed to take a normal start. That’s what I did. “The great thing about our sport is the comradery; everybody’s trying to help everybody win. I tried to take the right start. Heisman hit the nail on the start. I can’t be an inch closer. That’s Lady Luck right there.” Masters is a two-time world champion who had the steer in Friday’s second round, so his scouting report gave Proctor all the information needed. With that, he earned his second straight paycheck of this year’s NFR, this one worth $18,129. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $48,923 and his season earnings to $153,241. He is fourth in the world standings. “That steer hit wild and was long down the pen, and Motesy did a great job of finishing it off,” said Proctor, a five-time NFR qualifier in heading from Pryor, Oklahoma. “If you’re rockin’ a pink goatee, how can you not be a full-size man when you heel one like that?” Monday’s round was Pink Night at the NFR, a designation to help support the fight against cancer. It’s happened on the fifth night of the finale for more than a decade, and Proctor has had plenty of success in the fifth round; that includes two go-round wins. Motes always dyes his facial hair to go along with the special night. After a slow start in the opening three rounds, Proctor and Motes have cashed in strong each of the past two nights; they were second in the fourth round, too. Both remain in the hunt for a world championship, though Proctor’s focus now is to try to secure that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle for his partner. “I told my wife, ‘Wow, what a difference 48 hours makes,’ ” he said. “I appreciate all the concern and the worrying about me, but our preparation and ground work were laid, and I have played with what brought us here. We stuck to what we do. Motesy is going to have a great chance to win the world at the end of the week. “I’m just sticking to what I know. I knew I was lucky when I started this game, and I feel like everything’s going to go our way these next five rounds.”

LAS VEGAS – Megan Duvall has more influence on her husband than she may think. “My wife made me stay positive,” Riley Duvall said. “I didn’t have a choice, but it worked out good.” Through the first four nights of the National Finals Rodeo, it was hard for him to stay positive. He had thrown down all four steers but was a tad slow to collect Vegas cash. He changed that Monday night with a 4.1-second run, which guided him to a third-place finish in the fifth round. That was worth $15,654. “My goal this year was to start off with a bang; I wanted to place right off the bat,” said Duvall, a three-time NFR qualifier from Checotah, Oklahoma, the Steer Wrestling capital of the World. “My first three steers weren’t bad, but they were toward the bottom of the pen. Things weren’t going very well. “I had a really good one (Sunday) night, and I screwed up pretty bad. I had one I liked (Monday) night, and I just tried to stay positive.” It worked. “I was wanting to whine around and mope last night, and my wife said, “There are six rounds left, so stop being a baby.’ She was right, and I hate to say that.” While he has struggled, throwing down steers is vital. He sits third in the all-important average, which pays out the top eight cumulate times at the end of the 10-round championship. If he were to remain third, Duvall would pocket more than $43,000 when the NFR concludes. Still, go-round winners will earn $26,231 each night, so he has plenty of opportunities before him over the next five rounds. “I just need to make a good run at everything,” he said. “My horse has been working great. Sam (Duvall, his father) is doing a great job hazing. It just wasn’t clicking so we just had to get the ball rolling.”

LAS VEGAS – Jordan Spears’ philosophy about riding bulls at the National Finals Rodeo is pretty simple, but it might just work out well for him after all. “My dad always said, ‘If you ride every one, eventually they will have to pay you,’ ” said Spears, originally from Redding, California, now living in Caldwell, Idaho. “It’s great to win money here, but I can’t complain. I’ve not been placing as high as I want, but I have been doing my job. “With bull riding, if you just keep doing your job and staying on, you will get paid eventually.” He earned his first paycheck of the 2019 NFR by riding Flying U Rodeo’s Countin’ Cards for 86 points. With that, he finished in a tie for fifth place in the fifth round and pocketed $5,500. More importantly, it was the third time in five nights he had a qualifying eight-second ride. Now he sits sixth in the all-important average race with a three-ride cumulative score of 252.5 points. That’s big, because none of the cowboys has ridden all five so far and only two have ridden four of five. If Spears can remain consistent and battle to stay on, he can really cash in when the NFR concludes Saturday night. The top aggregate score will pocket a bonus worth $67,269. Of course, it’s nice to be matched with a bull he’s been around. “I’ve seen him quite a few times,” he said of Countin’ Cards. “I was born in Grass Valley, California, which is about an hour from Flying U. I have seen that bull the last couple of years, and I’ve always wanted to get on him. I was really excited about my match-up with him.” It also was proof that the hard work he put in prior to arriving in Las Vegas is paying off. “I went with working out and focusing a little more on being prepared when I got here for the 10 rounds,” Spears said. “Halfway through, I feel as good as I did on Day 1. Physically I am fit and ready for five more bulls. Dedicating myself and putting my all into winning as much money and being as healthy as I can, I can definitely tell a difference. “From being her the last few times, I have learned from it. I’m starting to get a little smarter and just trying to do my job and stay on every bull I can. Being in shape is definitely helping, and being fit is a big part of staying healthy after 10 days in a row. It is a little tough on you.” It also affects the mental aspects of the game. In bull riding, 95 percent of what happens on a bull is based on a mental approach. Riding bulls is muscle memory and reaction, and Spears is working hard to not let the outside stuff affect him. “I’m not worried about the average or winning the round,” Spears said. “I’m just keeping it simple and trying to stay on every bull. I’ve been doing pretty good so far.”

LAS VEGAS – It seems as though bareback rider Tanner Aus is going to have to be close to 90 points at this year’s National Finals Rodeo if he intends to win any money. “I knew it was going to be like this,” said Aus, a four-time NFR qualifier from Granite Falls, Minnesota. “It is taking 90 or better to win every round. This is the cream of the crop.” On Monday night, he rode Three Hills Rodeo’s Weenie for 89.5 points to finish fifth in the fifth round. That was worth $6,769 and pushed his NFR earnings to $43,000. He sits 10th in the world standings with just shy of $125,000. At most rodeos, and even at most rounds of the NFR, Aus’ 89.5 would have been enough to win. Not at this NFR, though. There were four rides in the 90s on Monday night alone, taking the total to 10 through the first five rounds of his year’s championship. “That is what we call the ‘TV pen,’ ” Aus said. “Of course, every horse deserves to be there, but those are the ones we really hold out for. Those are the ones when we show up to big rodeos throughout the season, we’ve got our fingers crossed to draw then. “It doesn’t get any better than that. If we could do 10 nights like this, we would. It is tough. I was just hanging on for a check tonight with an 89.5, and I’m thankful for every cent I make here. It’s tougher all the time, and after five nights, everyone is still just amped up and ready to go.” That means there are five nights remaining in the 2019 season, five more opportunities to cash in at the richest rodeo in the world. Aus won the third round with a 90-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Full Baggage, which paid him $26,231. He’d like to do that a few more times over the next few days. He knew there was a good chance to make some money when he arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center on Monday. “Weenie is a great horse,” he said. “She has a little bit of a reputation for being psychotic in the chute. (Three Hills owners) Dave and Jake Morehead were both there when I got back with my rigging, and we were all loving up on her a little bit, keeping her calm. “She’s always good, always performs in the arena. The Moreheads have gotten to be great friends of mine. They have helped me out a lot.” That help has paid off over the years, and he hopes it continues through the rest of this campaign.

LAS VEGAS – It’s been almost nine years since Richmond Champion first rode Picket Pro Rodeo’s great horse, Top Flight, an electric bay that has led many cowboys to the pay window. Champion revisited his old friend on Monday night, and the two danced across the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 89 points to finish sixth in the fifth go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I won my first rodeo on her at the rodeo in Belton, Texas, and I was 89 points on her that day,” he said. “I was 89 on here eight years later here at the NFR. “That’s just a cool horse. She is a veteran. She loves it. She’s done it before. The horseman in me likes that part. When you get back on the bucking chutes, you go to battle. It was really fun, and I was happy with how it went.” At most rodeos, and even in most rounds at the NFR, an 89-point ride is a winner, but that’s not happening at this NFR. On Monday night alone, there were four scores in the 90s, so Champion’s great ride fell to sixth place in the round. Still, it was worth $4,231. “I was happy to place,” said Champion of The Woodlands, Texas, now living in Stevensville, Montana. “I had a couple of dry rounds. The ‘E (Eliminator) Pen’ didn’t go the way I wanted it, but it woke me up, too. I was in a little daze and having fun. I had one test me, and I had to go back to the basics.” He kicked off his NFR run with by winning the opening round after receiving a re-ride. That 91.5-point ride opened the flood gates, and bareback riders have posted 10 rides of 90 points or better in the first five rounds. Still, that was a test of his endurance and training. “When you get on two in the first round, you are feeling it the next day,” he said. “It seemed like whenever I got off the third round, I started feeling better the next morning. That’s the way it goes from out here. You feel consistent the last five horses you get on. Your body is changing through the beginning, then you hit that spot where, as long as nothing crazy happens, you just stay that way. That is where we are now.” When these bareback riders are feeling that way and getting on this caliber of horses, big things are bound to happen. “At this point, I’m expecting nothing but 90s from everybody,” said Champion, who has earned $56,115 in Las Vegas and sits fourth in the world standings with $186,944 in earnings this season.