About: Ted

Beslpug Invitational to feature world’s best bull riders and bullfighters on Feb. 24 CLARESHOLM, Alberta – In its first four years of existence, the Chad Besplug Invitational presented by Century 21 has been a marquee event among many Canadian bull riders. Year 5 will bring more attention from beyond the United States border with a renewed vigor and the anticipation of the best ProRodeo has to offer. “This is an exciting year for us, because it is going to be co-sanctioned by the CPRA and the PRCA,” Besplug said of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “We are adding $10,000 to the event, so this is going to draw the toughest guys to the event.” The toughest guys will come from all over because they can earn points for both the Canadian Finals Rodeo and the National Finals Rodeo. “It really helps out the guys that are trying to make the NFR out of Canada,” said Garrett Green, a CFR qualifier from Meeting Creek, Alberta. “It allows you to double up, kill two birds with one stone because it counts for both. “That helps everybody. We had an influx of bull riders come up from the U.S. last year. It’s good to have them up here. It elevates the competition.” That’s a major drawing card for fans who flock to the 7 p.m. Feb. 24 show at the Claresholm Agriplex. But that’s not the only attractive piece of the puzzle. For the second straight year, the Chad Besplug Invitational also will feature three of the top men from Bullfighters Only to compete in a freestyle bullfighting competition. Like bull riding, scores are based on a 100-point scale, with 50 points going for the aggressiveness and agility of the bulls and 50 points for how close the bullfighters to the animals while showcasing their own athleticism in the process. “With the BFO, these bulls are as advertised,” said Justin Josey, a Las Vegas Championship qualifier from Apache, Okla. “They are hot, and they are all there.” Josey knows, and he’s expected to be part of the BFO competition. “I’m excited to be going to Canada and be part of the show,” he said. “This will be my first time to Canada, so I’ll take it for the opportunity it is and see what’s going on up there.” The action promises to be wild, exciting and dangerous. Those are the fuels that burn the fires of both bull riding and freestyle bullfighting. Green has been riding bulls for a decade, and he finished among the top 10 in both the CPRA and PBR Canada last year. He’s also done quite well in Claresholm. “I was third there twice, and I won it last year,” Green said. “Claresholm is a really good event. Chad’s events are really cool. Alpha Bulls is leading the way on how events should be put on.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is from the PRCA’s news release issued Wednesday morning. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has named George Taylor its Chief Executive Officer. Taylor is a former executive with Caterpillar, where he was most recently a company officer and vice president with responsibility for the marketing and digital division. Taylor takes over for Karl Stressman, who retired as PRCA commissioner after nine years. Taylor will begin Jan. 22. “I’m honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead an organization with the history and the brand recognition of the PRCA,” Taylor said. “It’s a dream for me to be involved, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future potential for our membership and the PRCA team.” Over his 19 years with Caterpillar, Taylor, 56, also served as chief marketing officer and president of Caterpillar Venture Capital, where he and his team drove enterprise brand, innovation and digital transformations for the industry-leading Fortune 50 company. Before working for Caterpillar, Taylor had extensive executive experience with IBM. He has a masters of business administration from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Illinois State University. “I have had the opportunity to work for two iconic global companies during my career, and I believe the PRCA is yet another example of an iconic organization representing the best in the sports and entertainment industry,” Taylor said. Taylor has built a reputation as a big-picture thinker who can manage and inspire people on a day-to-day basis. He’s also known for his positive attitude and forward thinking, and he’s keenly aware of how digital solutions impact customers and business. Among his early goals, Taylor wants to hear from PRCA members. “First of all, I am going to spend time listening to the membership of the PRCA and the staff to prioritize initiatives that will move us forward,” Taylor said. “Secondly, I think that we need to physically and digitally innovate both the customer and member experiences. We have to keep advancing our sport to drive fan and membership engagement.  Leveraging digital technologies and rodeo content will be an important aspect of that. “Lastly, PRCA needs to continue to expand rodeo’s reach to increase our fan base and deliver the Western lifestyle experience around the globe. In the end, it’s about continuing to grow revenue and the PRCA ProRodeo brand for the benefit of its members.” PRCA chairman Keith Martin praised the hiring of Taylor. “George’s business acumen and his ability to work with so many different types of people are going to be really strong attributes, because in our organization that’s really needed,” Martin said. “We appreciate his financial, digital and marketing strengths, and those things all enter into being a good fit for us, taking us into the next century. His communication skills are excellent, and I think that’s needed so much in our organization. “This is taking us to the next level.”

Brazos Heck wins all-around championship at Jr.NFR in Las Vegas KINGFISHER, Okla. – Brazos Heck is quite driven and focused. He knows exactly what he wants in his future to be. He’s a cowboy in every sense of the word, and in rodeo, he competes on the backs of bucking bovines and bucking broncs. “I want to ranch here in Oklahoma,” he said. “I think I can ride all three (roughstock) events, and it would just be a dream come true to win 10 all-around world titles.” Driven. Focused. Oh, and he’s only 9 years old. “I do this because I love to do it, and I think it’s my passion,” said Brazos, the son of Odie Heck and Shasta Yost. He’s also pretty good at it. In early December, he competed at the Jr.NFR in Las Vegas. He finished several days of competition as the No. 2 man in mini bareback riding, where he won two rounds. He also finished third in the middle saddle bronc riding. Because of his success, he earned the pee wee division all-around championship. No matter the age group, it is the most cherished prize in the sport. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he said. “I’m hoping to win more.” He stands a good chance, thanks in large part to his work ethic, his study of the game and having a couple of the best-known cowboys as friends and mentors. His father is a cowboy in Tupelo, Okla., and is close friends with Jet and Cord McCoy, two all-around champs who made their names on CBS-TV’s “The Amazing Race.” The McCoys have been rodeo champs since they were youngsters, too. “In a lot of ways, he does remind me of me,” Jet McCoy said. “He’s pretty special. I’ve been pretty impressed with him.” Brazos’ list of accomplishments is long. He’s been riding since age 5, and he’s progressed fairly rapidly, too “He started out wanting to get on sheep,” Odie Heck said. “He’d been at a rodeo, and they had mutton busting. He was always around Cord and Jet, so he wanted to ride. Then we were at a rodeo, and kids were riding little ponies in bareback riding. He wanted to get a rigging and enter the bareback riding.” Heck has been around rodeo all his life, but he was a timed-event cowboy. Roping and steer wrestling were good fits for the athletically built, 6-foot cowboy. “Brazos’ athletic ability is a little different than mine,” he said. “He’s a bucking horse guy.” In fact, Brazos craves it. When he’s not riding, he’s thinking about it, and he watches a ton of videos to help with those thoughts, from the bronc riding Wright family – brothers Cody, Jesse and Spencer have won world titles, as has Cody’s second-oldest son, the 2017 champ, Ryder – to the McCoys, to bareback riding world champions Kaycee Feild and Bobby Mote and world champion bull riders Cody Custer, J.B. Mauney and Cody Custer. “They just make me feel like I ride really good,” said Brazos, who is sponsored by the American Hat Co. and Oklahoma Ag Transports. “I watch them over and over again, and I want to ride like them.” Those are the types of champions he looks up to and wants to emulate. Even at his young age, he understands the need for constructive criticism if he is to improve. That’s why he looks to the McCoys for assistance. Both were five-time International Professional Rodeo Association world champions who competed in all three roughstock events. “I almost make him ask me for help before I offer any,” said Cord McCoy, a 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier in bull riding and a six-time competitor at the PBR World Finals. “If he wants to come to the house and train in our arena, I step back and let it be his idea. I let him show the desire. “I think all of us have our own natural style. He’s pretty natural. I know he’s been watching every rodeo in the area and on TV. That’s all he craves.” He knew Brazos was pretty good but admitted that there may have been some bias because of his relationship to the youngster. “Then they had the Jr.NFR, which was all the kids who qualify from across the country, and he’s the all-around champion,” Cord McCoy said. “He’s got raw talent. If he keeps the desire he has today, he’s going to be a contender when he gets older. “It was pretty inspirational to go to the Jr.NFR and see Billy (Etbauer), Ty (Murray) and Larry Mahan there. The superstars of rodeo got to watch the next generation compete.” Jet McCoy likened the Jr.NFR as the Little League World Series, and that young cowboys and cowgirls who compete at the pinnacle of their sport are taking the steps necessary to excel as teens and adults. “If you want to compete at the highest level, you’ve got to start early,” he said. “To have the opportunity to go to Vegas and spend three or four days to see what it’s like, it gives them something to visualize and something to shoot for.” For now, though, those closest to him support and believe in what Brazos Heck is doing because they see his passion for the sport. “You’ve got to have the want-to, and I don’t think anybody’s forced it on him,” Cord McCoy said. “When you nod your head, you’ve got to have the eye of the tiger. “He’s got that winning attitude to go along with the talent.”

FAIRVIEW, Mo. – There’s a gleam that shines across Dale McCracken’s face. It’s not about his first major ProRodeo award, the 2017 Comedy Act of the Year, but it could be. It’s not about his being in the hunt to be the barrelman for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, but it could be. No, McCracken’s twinkle arrives as he talks about the loves of his life, his wife, Janice, and their brood, and his faith in God. Nothing “Gizmo” McCracken has ever done in the rodeo arena will bring a bigger smile to his face than discussing Cassie and Mandy, their husbands and their children. They’ve enriched his life in so many ways, and they’ve been a big part of the family business. “They’ve always been a part of what we do,” he said of his daughters. “Now they’ve got two kids apiece.” Those kids – Cassie and Jeremy Crouch have Brimley and Raeley, while Mandy and Jimmy Evans have Bronc and Jaylen – are now the next phase of what the McCracken family hopes to do with his rodeo comedy. He travels the country – and even the world – as a rodeo funnyman and entertainer, and this year, he was recognized as the best in the business. “I’m honored to be in that crowd,” he said of the other four entertainers that were nominated with him: Bert Davis, David Whitmoyer, Johnny Dudley and Mark Swingler. “There are some great acts out there.” He knows. McCracken first began his funny business 41 years ago as a 15-year-old high-schooler, building acts while studying agriculture. He’s been part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association since 1992. This is just the first time in his distinguished career he has received a PRCA award. “You always hope you’re going to win,” McCracken said. “Everybody wants to win something like that. The first couple of years I was nominated, I was hopeful. I was a little jittery. Then we had a dry spell for a few years that we weren’t even nominated. “Last year (in 2016) I was nominated for Clown of the Year and comedy act. I had gotten a little numb to not winning. I felt like I was past my shot at winning it.” He wasn’t, and the moment he was called to the stage to be presented with his award, he had Janice, Mandy and Cassie by his side. “We used them in our act when we first started,” he said of his girls. “As soon as they could walk in the arena, they would doddle in there with a guitar or something, and we’d do some little music act.” He even got to unveil a long-time trophy he’d been keeping as another gag or gizmo that helps make his comedy what it is. “That little roll of adding-machine tape had become a joke in our family,” McCracken said. “The first couple of years we were nominated, I thought I’d take that up there if I won, because I’m a comedy act and I’m supposed to do something funny. I figured I’d take it up on stage and reel it out to thank all these people. “Then I’d take it back home and set it up on the desk like a trophy.” Now he’ll be able to wrap it around his Montana Silversmiths trophy buckle as a reminder of what resilience and faith can do. It wasn’t but a few years ago that McCracken watched so much around him crumble. Gizmo’s Event Center, a complex he had dreamed about creating, was unable to sustain. “That’s amazing how God works,” he said. “I’ve worked all my life to make things happen, and I went in way over my head. We lost a lot of things and had to start over. When you’re down to nothing, and the only thing you’ve got is God, it comes down to you and God. “I said, ‘OK, you’ve got my attention.’ And that’s when it started over.” He was first nominated for Comedy Act of the Year in 2002, then returned in 2005. He wasn’t part of the landscape until 2014 and hasn’t left the scene since. God definitely got his attention. “We put everything we’ve got into this,” McCracken said. “For a handful of folks to acknowledge that, it’s just amazing. It was awesome to have the kids and Janice there with me.” But there’s no place else for Janice McCracken to be. They’ve been married for 38 years, and they’ve made every step in this rodeo career together. “In this business, it’s tough, but we always go together,” he said. “She is my rock. Between her, the kids and God, we can do anything.” That’s exactly what faith and love can do, and that’s reason enough for McCracken’s gleam.

WEATHERFORD, Texas – Being the son of a rodeo personality, most things about the sport came naturally for Anthony Lucia. But he wasn’t afraid to work at it, either. That’s why, as a trick roper, he was asked to perform at the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s grand championship. He did it four straight years, from 2010-13, all while developing his skills as one of the young announcers in the game. “Announcing gives me the opportunity to be the voice of the contestants and to captivate an audience,” said Lucia, who will announce the RAM First Frontier Circuit Finals, set for Jan. 10-13 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. “Entertaining is in my blood, and I want to make sure the fans have the very best time. “Being a contestant myself, knowing what they go through, gives me an insight into what they feel whenever they win or when they don’t.” He is the son of Tommy Lucia, a decorated rodeo entertainer who was a contestant, rodeo clown and specialty act. For three straight years (2003-2005), the elder Lucia was the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Specialty Act of the Year; he worked the NFR as both barrelman and specialty act, and in 2015, just a few months before his death, was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Anthony Lucia is continuing that rodeo legacy in more ways than one. By working the regional finale in the Northeast, it serves as proof that his labor of love is working pretty well. “Seven years into my announcing career, to get to announce one of 12 circuit finals was an emotional moment for me,” he said. “My dad always encouraged me to announce, and I never got a chance to tell him that I got the finals. “Even though I didn’t get to tell him, I know that he knows. He never doubted my announcing ability.” Lucia announces several rodeos throughout the year, including two of the most prestigious events in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association: the Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco and the Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City. No matter the size, though, he takes the same approach to his tasks. He will put in countless hours of homework and study as he prepares for the First Frontier finale. In fact, he may work harder to call the action for the First Frontier finale than many of the others. “For the contestants that compete in the Northeast United States, the First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo is the NFR to them,” said Lucia, who credits some of his success to the sponsors that support him: CINCH, Justin Boots, Classic Ropes, Kerry Kelley Bits and Spurs, Resistol, Smarty Roping and Brazos Valley Equine Hospital. “I want to work hard and do my job so the contestants are given the due they deserve.” “What matters more is those contestants qualified, and they all have the opportunity to make their way to Kissimmee (Fla.) to compete at the National Circuit Finals Rodeo.” Only the top 12 contestants on the money list in each event advance to the regional finale. The year-end and circuit finals average winners advance to Florida to compete for the national championship. Each step along the way is a better opportunity to cash in. Each dollar earned at either Harrisburg or Kissimmee counts toward the 2018 world standings, and the cowboys and cowgirls will have the opportunity to chase their qualifications to the NFR. Lucia has seen it at all levels, and he enjoys being more than a fan. He began his rodeo regime following his father to events. “My dad told me, ‘Be the best Anthony Lucia you can be,’ ” he said. “When I started to realize that, the announcing became fun. “I love rodeo as a whole, and rodeo makes my heart happy. I think a lot of it has to do with the people in it. It represents true Americana. Rodeo represents the way our nation was founded, through true grit, determination and try, never giving up no matter how the odds seem.” Lucia utilizes social me to stay in touch with rodeo, its contestants and its fans. He is active through is Instagram account – @SuperLucia33 – and has big goals. Of course, nobody that knows him would expect anything different. “My ultimate goal is to do God’s will,” Lucia said. “If I can’t leave a lasting mark and build His kingdom through my actions and through my words, inspiring people, then everything I do is for not. I feel like God has given me the tasks of no matter what I’m doing, I’m going to be the best.” He’s well on his way.