Monthly Archives: December 2011

The new year begins tomorrow, and with it comes great expectations for many. From resolutions to challenges, there is much in store for all of our lives. Like the rest of the world, the sport of rodeo is about building on experiences. For world champions and those who missed out on their title dreams, the new season offers new hope, a chance to live out their gold buckle dreams. Along the way, I look forward to the fantastic stories I will be blessed to tell. The work has already begun, and I hope you enjoy. For now, though, let’s say a toast to the fading 2011 and warm our hearts for what we all hope are wonderful things to come over the next 12 months. Happy new year.

After I made the finals the second time in 2010, I decided I had nothing to prove; it was just time for me to have fun and spur buckin’ horses. Last year was just a train wreck, so now I’m just ready. After last year, I have something to prove. I feel good, and I’m ready to get after it. We’ve got Odessa (Texas) next week, then later next month we’ve got Denver. I’m a little older, a little longer in the tooth, but that’s just in age. You know, what I’ve figured out is that you can go get on five head, and you still won’t know anything. Heck, you can get on 10 head and still know nothin’. What you need to do is just go rodeo all winter and all summer, then you know something. You can’t dwell on the season, and you can’t dwell on one weekend. You’ve just got to keep rodeoing and take advantage of the opportunities you get. Some times you have a jam-up ride, and sometimes you look like Don Knotts. Last year it boiled down to the fact that I didn’t capitalize on some of the horses I needed to. I’ve got something to prove to myself this year. It’s time to get started.

Chandler Bownds looks like any 12-year-old boy, except, of course, that he’s a 20-year-old bull rider who just qualified for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He’s a pretty bad cat, too. Bownds, of Lubbock, Texas, rode just three bulls during this year’s NFR. When he made the qualifying eight seconds, Bownds made the most of it, winning the second and sixth go-rounds and finishing second in Round 9. In all, he won just shy of $50,000 and finished eighth in the world standings. Bownds was joined by fellow first-timer Jacob O’Mara of Prairieville, La., who, as it happens, is also just 20 years old. O’Mara rode four bulls, placed in four rounds – including the third-round victory – and finished sixth in the average race. What these two young cowboys prove is there is a brilliant future for bull riding. That’s a good thing.

Another year is almost gone, and as I reflect back, I am very thankful for all the blessings of the year. My family members are all healthy. Cowboy Rigs is still providing service for people and an income for our family and two others. We have been blessed with some rain this year, and have hay. We have a barn full of great horses. The sun is shining today, and it is warm. Although we did not make the NFR, we had a good year; I am thankful. Amigo had half an awesome year. I have learned many things that don’t work with Goose and have learned that persistence pays off. Never, never give up. Your breakthrough may be just around the corner. I learned to cherish friends and time with them, because you don’t know when someone might get called home. One thing I know is that I will see many of my good friends again in heaven. I look forward to a huge reunion. I am thankful to my partners, MAXX Sunglasses, Professionals’ Choice, Cowboy Rigs, Total Health Enhancement, Martin Saddlery and EquiPride. Some of these friends are new, and some have been with me several years. I encourage all of you to check out these companies and their products. I believe in them, and I use them.

I first met Luke Branquinho about a decade ago, visiting with him about finishing 16th in the world standings and just missing his first qualification to the Wrangler National  Finals Rodeo. Since then, he’s missed just one other year-end finale, that coming in 2005 when an injury pushed him to the sidelines. Oh, and he’s also won three world titles. He’s come a long ways since that 2000 season, and Branquinho has earned every kudo he has received. Personable and funny, the big man from California is the kind of cowboy everybody wants to see win. He’s done his fair share. At this year’s NFR, Branquinho won $146,779, nearly $46,000 of which came for finishing first in the 10-round average. He knows what it takes to win the world. I suspect he’ll win a few more Montana Silversmiths gold buckles before he’s done.

It’s been a few days since I last posted on TwisTED Rodeo, and I apologize. At my family’s home for Christmas, our bed and breakfast didn’t have Internet. But also I decided to focus on time with my family instead of updating. I hope you understand, and I plan to make it up to you in the coming days. Thanks to all who have checked in on TwisTED Rodeo. Keep coming back, and let me know about any storylines you want brought up.

If you haven’t met Ted Stovin, you should. Stovin is a bull rider from Drayton Valley, Alberta, who attended New Mexico Junior College and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he competed on the rodeo teams. The 21-year-old cowboy moved back to his native Canada, where he runs Everything Cowboy, a rodeo news and information blog. Stovin and I share a similar passion, to promote and grow the sport of rodeo in our own little ways. In his heart, he’d love to do so on the backs of bucking beasts. In the interim, he’s busy trying to become one of the big places to go to gather your rodeo news, along with TwisTED Rodeo, of course – he’s definitely the source if you want the scoop on rodeo in Canada. Stovin just covered his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and he was the man behind the camera on the videos posted here. I appreciate all that he did during the NFR, and so do others who have seen it. So take a look at what he does. You’ll be impressed with so much of it, especially his passion.

As we roll into this magnificent holiday weekend, I can’t help but be amazed at all the blessings in my life. From living my dreams to making a living doing something I love to having the unconditional support of those closest to me, it is simply remarkable. I’m blessed to be involved in the world of rodeo, around you wonderful people who fulfill and enrich my life and the lives of my wife and daughters. Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, because we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We celebrate our faith and our love, the things He brought into our lives. May this Christmas season be awesome for you and those closest to you.  

Nobody really understands the pressure of playing on the biggest stage in one’s sport. Whether it’s the Super Bowl or the World Series or the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, there’s so much more to it than just going out and tackling the fundamentals. That’s why you see some contestants struggle in the spotlight. Sometimes it’s a one-year struggle, a bout with the inconceivable. In rodeo, the hope is the 10-round NFR is a big profit to a year where earnings are virtually equal to the expense of getting down the trail. That’s why making a significant living those 10 days in Las Vegas are so important. But money is even a bigger deal in rodeo. Baseball players, football players and all those in “other” professional sports are provided guaranteed paychecks, whether they compete, watch from the sideline or don’t make the trip because of an injury. In rodeo, dollars serve as championship points. Arizonans Derrick Begay and Cesar de la Cruz were the world standings leaders in team roping heading into the NFR with nearly $119,000. Inside the Thomas & Mack Center, they struggled, pocketing just $15,288. They fell from first to seventh (Begay in heading) and eighth (de la Cruz in heeling) in the standings. Those are the breaks in sports. The reality is Begay and de la Cruz made money in Vegas; several others didn’t. But each earned the right to play in Sin City. That’s worth everything.

When Taos Muncy won his first world championship in 2007, he was just 20 years old, and the end result was a shock to the system – to the saddle bronc riding nation and to the young New Mexico cowboy, too. He had just completed a dream season, winning the saddle bronc riding championship at the College National Finals Rodeo that June. In fact, his college and world titles put the then-Oklahoma Panhandle State University student in rare company, joining just all-around cowboy Ty Murray and bull rider Matt Austin as the three cowboys in the history of the sport to have won both prestigious titles in a single year. Just a couple weeks ago, Muncy, in just his fourth qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, strolled into the media room at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas with his family after clinching is second Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. Toting 4-month-old Marley and walking side by side with his wife, Marissa; his parents, Blaine and Johnnie; his sister, Jordan Muncy-Taton; and his traveling partner and brother-in-law, Cody Taton, Taos Muncy was a much different man than the child who first captured the world five years earlier. The politeness and respect remains a big part of Muncy’s personality, but the fear and “deer-in-the-headlights” conversations that once were part of every media interview have been replaced by confidence and, quite honestly, a fatherly touch. Taos and his sister attended Panhandle State, and both were crowned college champions – Jordan’s came in the all-around and breakaway roping in 2010. Their coach, Craig Latham, has had nothing but great things to say about the family, which knows the value of hard work. “They’re just good people,” Latham said. Taos Muncy won $94,471 at the 2011 NFR and finished the season with $249,914. He’s been one of the greatest bronc riders in the business even before he became a pro; he’s become a great man along the way.

Casey Colletti celebrates his 26th birthday today, and he has a lot for which to be thankful. So do I, for that matter. Over the past couple of months, I got to know a lot more about the Colorado cowboy. I’ve been very blessed to be able to help tell his terrific story. The son of a bareback rider, he was raised on a ranch west of Pueblo, Colo. A few years ago, he accepted a rodeo scholarship to Garden City (Kan.) Community College, where he competed for coach Jim Boy Hash – Hash, by the way, is my wife’s longtime friend from their college days at Panhandle State University. During his first qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Colletti earned $82,644. That’s a pretty good living for 10 nights worth of work.  He placed seven times and proved why he deserved to be in Las Vegas. Each night he collected a check, Colletti got his arm wrapped in ice and walked to the media room for our nightly visits. By the time he won the ninth go-round, I wasn’t sure what questions I could ask him. But we made due. In the process, I hope the people who read the stories enjoyed them. Furthermore, I hope they enjoyed the opportunity to know a little more about a great young cowboy. I sure did.

By now, everybody knows Kaycee Feild won $179,327 during his fantastic 10-day run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which culminated in his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. But did you know that four-time world champion Bobby Mote won $105,673? Feild’s run is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in bareback riding in a long time, if not ever. But what’s impressive about Mote’s feat is that he was shut out of the money in the first four go-rounds. The Oregon cowboy then placed in the final six rounds and finished second in the average. Of course, his 10-head total was still 27 points behind Feild’s, but at this point, who really cares?

LAS VEGAS – The 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was a display of awesome athletic talent, showcased over 10 nights in the Nevada desert. For contestants who are part of Team MGM Grand, it was spectacular, featuring three world championships, two NFR average titles and $1.74 million paid out to the 31 cowboys and cowgirls. That is a substantial take for contestants who stayed at the Home of Champions, the fitting tag line for the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino properties. Atop the list is 16-time world champion Trevor Brazile, who owns nine of the last 10 all-around world titles, a record the Decatur, Texas, cowboy continues to strengthen. Brazile, who also won the steer roping world title earlier this season, was the only cowboy in the field to compete in multiple events in Las Vegas. He finished the NFR with $106,250 in earnings, most of which came in team roping with his partner, Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas. Brazile had nearly $32,000 in tie-down roping. While Brazile’s status is as high as anyone who has ever played the sport, no other Team MGM Grand contestant had a better 10 days of competition than barrel racer Lindsay Sears, who earned $133,558, won the NFR average with a cumulative time of 139.50 seconds on 10 runs and won her second Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. “You are as good as your horse is in barrel racing,” said Sears, who teamed with her well known partner, an 11-year-old sorrel mare named Martha. “We’re like peas and carrots. She is the one for me. If I wasn’t going to get to get on her again, I’m not sure if I wanted to continue doing this for a living. “I got to the finals on my backup horse, and Martha got to come here and be the star. She got to prove herself here in this arena again. It’s indescribable.” The tie-down roping race was as tight as any in the game, with Team MGM Grand cowboys battling it out to the wire on the final night of the competition, Matt Shiozawa and Tuf Cooper. Shiozawa, of Chubbuck, Idaho, won the average championship, roping and tying down 10 calves in a cumulative time of 88.3 seconds; in all, he won $106,154 in Las Vegas. But he finished runner-up to the world title to Cooper, the 21-year-old son of legendary roper Roy Cooper, who owns eight world championships. Tuf Cooper, of Decatur, Texas, won just $46,731 at the NFR, but his pre-finals lead carried him to his first world championship, the family’s ninth gold buckle. Tuf is one of four NFR qualifiers who are part of Team MGM Grand, joining brothers Clif and Clint and cousin Jim. “We didn’t have the Finals that we were expecting, and if you look back on paper, that’s the ones we were expecting,” said Tuf Cooper, whose brother-in-law is Brazile. “It’s definitely worked out the way we wanted it to, and it all works out in the end. “Everything’s going to change from this point on. We’re trying to take the steering wheel and do the driving instead of being along for the ride. I’ve got a big responsibility to a lot of people, and I’m going to try to do the very best job that I can.” In all, Team MGM Grand contestants left Las Vegas with $1,739,132, nearly one third of the total prize purse available. That’s one reason why the MGM Grand is the Home of Champions.

Over the course of my career, I’ve been in contact with some great writers, men and women who love to tell stories and have a God-given ability to do so. Many of the ones who reach me most are the folks who tell rodeo tales, those who care about this industry and who have dedicated themselves and their talents to promoting the sport in their own way. They are talented and caring. Whether it’s Ed Knocke, a Dallas Morning News retiree who writes for Western Horseman; or Joe Kusek of the Billings (Mont.) Gazette; or Dwayne Erickson of the Calgary (Alberta) Herald; or Bryan Painter in Oklahoma City, rodeo has been blessed with wonderful storytellers. No mention of the best is complete without talk of Jeff Wolf, who for more than a decade covered the sport for the Las Vegas Review Journal. Wolf, who also covered motorsports for the publication, was part of the economic downturn that has hit the newspaper industry hard; he was laid off by the Review Journal several months ago but continued to write about rodeo and racing as a freelancer. Wolf, though, is leaving Las Vegas for Indianapolis, where he will work in motorsports full time. His vacancy in the City of Lights will be felt by many, because he educated those unfamiliar with the sport for so many years – all after learning about rodeo from the ground level up himself. Jeff Wolf is a good cat. Rodeo will miss him, but I think we all understand what it’s like actually fulfilling one’s dream.

What are your thoughts on Jane Melby’s run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo? In her first qualification to the biggest event in the sport, Melby proved she should be returning to Las Vegas for years to come. Beauty is, well, beautiful and fast. And Melby gave the great mare a little time off, using her backup horse two go-rounds. When Beauty got back to work, she did pretty well. In all, they won three rounds and placed in another, earning just shy of $60,000. I’d take it.

Lindsay Sears dominated barrel racing at the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, placing in eight of 10 go-rounds, sharing the first-round win with Brittany Pozzi and winning the seventh outright. She won the average and more than $133,000 en route to her second Montana Silversmiths gold buckle in four years. And she did it on her great sorrel mare, Martha. It’s a tremendous story, and when it appears in Women’s Pro Rodeo News, I plan to share it with you here. The only downside is that I wasn’t able to have a down-to-it review conversation with the newly crowned champ to get a deeper understanding of her thoughts now that she’s had time to reflect on this great accomplishment. I’m blessed by the knowledge that she trusts me enough to tell her story without that conversation. But there were many great stories from Las Vegas, and Lindsay’s is just one. In the coming days, I hope you’ll enjoy reading about Jane Melby make the most of her first qualification to the NFR, Lisa Lockhart still collecting a lot of cash despite knocking down a couple of barrels or Sherry Cervi finishing fourth in the average with a penalty.

Johnson, Round 10, 2011 NFR    

Bright, Round 6, 2011 NFR

Durfey, Round 7, 2011 NFR

Matt Sherwood, Round 6, 2011 NFR

Casey Colletti, Round 6, 2011 NFR

Casey Colletti, Round 9, 2011 NFR

Casey Colletti, Round 7, 2011 NFR

LAS VEGAS – The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is a place to showcase the greatest athletes in the sport on the biggest stage. Carr Pro Rodeo had its fair share. Bareback horse MGM Deuces Night led two cowboys to go-round victories and checks worth $17,885 each – Ryan Gray of Cheney, Wash., posted a 90-point ride on the 6-year-old bay/paint mare to win the fifth round, while Kaycee Feild of Payson, Utah, matched moves with her for 87 points to win the 10th round and close out his 2011 world championship in fine fashion. “Horses like that have a bucking style … it’s not easy in any means, but if you do stub your toe, you’re going to get bucked off,” Feild said. “But those horses are the ones where you can really show your ability to ride. They hang in the air, and they’re really electric.” It was the second time this season Feild had been matched with MGM Deuces Night, and both made for a winning formula – the two matched up in the final round of the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City for 90 points to share the round victory with Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., who had ridden a former bareback riding horse of the year to the same score. While it didn’t count toward the more than $300,000 Feild earned en route to his Montana Silversmiths gold buckle, it provided plenty of confidence. “I wasn’t quite sure if it was going to be enough points to help me win that round, because it’s a younger horse,” Feild said. “Then he left there that first jump, then the second, and I knew I had a chance to show my ability to my full ability. He slipped a little, but he got right back up and started right back where he left off. “He was just outstanding.” That’s the kind of bucking horse that is in the mare’s bloodline. Her father is Night Jacket, one of the most sought-after sires in the bucking horse industry, and her dam is Night Line. The 2011 NFR was her second invitation to the NFR, ProRodeo’s year-end championship that features the top 15 contestants in each event – in fact, the top bareback riders in the game select the horses that bucked at the finale. That suited Gray, who had been matched against MGM Deuces Night during the Justin Boots Championships this past September in Omaha, Neb. The mare got the better of the veteran bareback rider three months ago, but he stepped up to the plate in Las Vegas. “(I) settled down a little tonight and let the horse do her thing,” Gray said. “(I) was able to stay right with her and be aggressive. Last time, I overdid it and was all over the place. It worked out a lot better tonight.” Things worked out pretty well for Clint Cannon of Waller, Texas, in the eighth round of the 10-night contest, when he was matched against Real Deal, the 2005 Bareback Riding Horse of the Year. The two matched moves across the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 83.5 points to share the round victory with Mote and Feild. “That’s a rank bucking horse, but I’ve had some success on him,” Cannon said of the 12-year-old brown gelding. “He’s the kind that will chew you up and spit you out. He’ll hurt you, but I’d like to draw that horse at any rodeo I go to.” It was Cannon’s only round victory of the 2011 championship, but it was big. Clint Sciba, a good friend from hometown and rodeo committee chairman of the Waller County Fair and Rodeo, was on hand to witness the ride and the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation, where Cannon was presented a matching buckle with Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo, who happens to provide livestock to the Waller County event in Hempstead, Texas. “How often do you see that where the rodeo chairman gets to watch his hometown friend win the round on a bucking horse owned by the stock contractor he hired?” Carr asked that Thursday, Dec. 8. “I think that’s one of the great stories of the night.” So did Cannon. “I’ve been on that bucking horse a bunch of times, and we’ve done pretty well together,” said Cannon, a three-time NFR qualifier and two-time RodeoHouston champion. “He’s hurt me a couple of times, one real bad, but I’ve also been 90 on him three times.” In all, ProRodeo’s best cowboys earned $118,367 on the backs of Carr Pro Rodeo animal athletes. Casey Colletti of Pueblo, Colo., set the standard early with an 87.5-point ride on Black Coffee on the first night of action. That was worth second place in the first go-round, helping the Colorado cowboy to a $14,135 payday. That was the course of the play over the remaining nine days of rodeo’s most rugged test. Grass Dancer, a 10-year-old buckskin mare, carried Gray to second place in the second go-round and was the highest marked bareback horse of the night. Saddle bronc Empty Pockets bucked off Heith DeMoss of Heflin, La., in the seventh round; the 7-year-old bay gelding was named the high-marked bronc of the night. “Most people don’t realize how tough it is to win a go-round buckle at the finals, and we were fortunate enough to win three this year,” Carr said. “These are the best guys and the best animals in rodeo; you have to get pretty lucky to ever win one round.”