Congratulations to the new class of Honorees in the 30^th annual Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, which was held at Temple , Texas , February 10^th and 11^th.  The weekend, which marked the 30^th year since the Hall of Fame was started, began with inductees signing autographs for children and having time to see old friends and reminisce prior to the induction.  The Board of Directors of the Hall, under the direction of Tom Ray, and their volunteers are to be commended on their diligence and success in raising monies toward a permanent place.

            Those inducted were:  Contesting Cowboys:  DON GRAHAM,  Tyler, a bull rider and bareback rider, who also worked for Justin Brands for many years;  DAVE HOPPER, Hereford,  started his rodeo career in Junior and amateur rodeos, graduated from Sam Houston and has run the largest feed lot in the state;  SANDY KIRBY, Malone, was born in New Jersey to a rodeo family and began trick riding at five.  He rode bulls and bareback horses in RCA and went to the National Finals in 1968, ’70 and ’71;  RANDY MAGERS, Comanche, a bull rider that qualified for the National Finals nine years;  PHIL LYNE, Cotulla, All-Around Champion of the World twice, Champion calf roper twice; and Steer Roping Champ once;  JACK WARD, Odessa,   won the World Champion Bareback title in 1977 and 1978.  Contesting Cowgirls:  DONNA FAYE HANKS, of Comanche, successful barrelracer in the Girls Rodeo Association, which she joined when she was fourteen years old;  BLANCHE ALTIZER SMITH (deceased), of Del Rio, Girls Rodeo Association calf roper, also rode bareback and barrel raced, was secretary of GRA from 1955 to 1958.  Deceased Cowboys:  CLYDE H. MARTIN, Brenham,  a bronc and bull rider whose father produced rodeos in the Port Arthur area of east Texas ;  CECIL VICK, of McGregor, who rode bareback horses, bulls and mules in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Stock Contractor:  BURR ANDREWS, of Clarksville , got his RCA card in 1941 and started producing professional rodeos.  Outstanding Husband & Wife, Contesting and Contributions:  NEAL & KAY GAY, of Terrell, who not only have been the core of Mesquite Rodeo for many, many years, have also been instrumental in helping numerous cowboys along the way.  Cowboys from several eras attest to the fact that the Gays have influenced them positively, and that they got their start at the Mesquite Rodeo.  Rodeo Clown – Barrelman – Specialty Act:  J. G. CROUCH, Marble Falls , who at age thirteen saw Kajun Kidd and knew he wanted to be a rodeo clown.  He worked the National Finals, Old Timer Rodeo Cowboy Association Finals, was Coors Man in the Can in 1988.  Although he is suffering from cancer he still works the arena on occasion for Mack Altizer with Bad Company Rodeo;  SKIPPER VOSS, of Waco , put on the makeup and working as a bullfighter and Tommy Steiner, well known stock contractor, liked his style and hired him.  He worked both the IRA and PRCA Finals.  When the Wrangler Bullfights started in 1980 he won the first five bull fights.  He continued competing until injury forced him to quit in 1988.  Rodeo Committee:  KILLEEN ROEO COMMITTEE.  They have taken a fifty-eight year rodeo that had ‘almost died, with an attendance of around 200 fans,’ and have revitalized it and had about 5,500 spectators at their three day event most recently.  Special Recognition:  DEAN SMITH, of Breckenridge, was a bareback rider and calf roper in high school.  He played football and track in college.  He played halfback for the University of Texas Longhorns .  He won the Gold Medal at the Olympics at Helsinki , Finland , in track.  He eventually made his way to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood by being a stuntman.  Smith was in the movies; The Alamo, Rio Bravo, The Birds, etc., and on television series, such as Gunsmoke and Walker , Texas Ranger.  He has worked with Academy Award winning directors such as John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.  At the age of 45 he ran in a competition for 100 yards in under ten seconds!  Smith has held two successful Celebrity Rodeos in 2002 and 2004, and is making preparations for the third to be held at Abilene , Texas , October 20 and 21.  He has previously been inducted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Stuntman Hall of Fame.  He finished by saying, “If it hadn’t been for a start in rodeo, and what I learned there, I don’t think Dean Smith would have amounted to much.”                                                  

            I had the good fortune to sit down and visit with Phil Lyne, who I mentioned previously, as one of the inductees.  Over the past twenty years that I have been gathering and writing rodeo history I have been told by many rodeo cowboys that Phil Lyne was the best All Around Cowboy of any era.  Naturally I was very curious to meet this World Champion.  He was compared to the late Gene Rambo by many oldtimers because of his winning abilities in all events.  Lyne grew up on a ranch in the George West, Texas , area and started competing at a very early age.  He and brother, ‘Poochie’, and their dad, Joe, ran cattle and there was much time to practice roping and other cowboys skills.  The first championships Lyne won were in Junior rodeos, followed by high school competitions and then in college.  He was ‘Rookie of the Year’ in the Rodeo Cowboy Association in 1969 and two years later he won the Calf Roping World Championship and the All-Around World title for 1971 and 1972.  Although Calf  Roping and Bull Riding were his most active events, it was not unusual for him to be entered in all events.  Lyne was considered to be the most versatile competitor of his era, or any time in rodeo.  He had a natural ability and those that knew him and traveled with him early in his rodeo days were aware of his talents.  He has been considered part of ‘The New Breed’ of his era (the late 1960s and early 1970s) as he had come up through the ranks of youth, high school and college rodeo competitions, and when he began serious professional competition he bought a plane and began to fly to rodeos.  This, of course, allowed him to make more rodeos, but it also meant he had to furrow someone else’s horse for each competition.  The year he won his first Calf Roping title he rode over forty different mounts to get there.  Lyne’s versatility and adaptability is quite evident when visiting with him.  He is easy going, and could adjust to the situation at hand without getting ‘up-tight’ or worried.  His era was during the time calf ropers were beginning to get off on the ‘right side’ for more speed in getting to the calf, however, there were those competitors who still dismounted from the left side.  It was not unusual for Lyne to dismount from one horse on the left, and another on the right, according to the horse’s owner, and what worked best. 

            Lyne announced his retirement from full-time competition in 1973, but continued to enter rodeos in his area.  However, he eventually learned to rope steers from James Allen, Guy Allen’s dad, and for ten years Lyne went to the National Finals Steer Roping competition and won the World Championship in 1990, and first in the average in 1983 and 1986.   

            Today he ranches near Cotulla , Texas ,  with his wife, Sara K..  It did not take me long to understand why so many regard Phil Lyne as the best All Around Cowboy of any era.  He still has that winning way about him while considering himself no different than any other cowboy.  He said as he accepted the Hall of Fame honor, “I consider myself real lucky to have competed against the cowboys of my time and to make the friends I did.  My buddy, Ronnye Sewalt, told me, ‘You were born under a lucky star’.  I think we all were.”

Frankly, I think Sewalt was wrong.  Lyne proved luck had nothing to do with his success, it was consistency and natural ability.  He is the only competing cowboy that has won the National Finals Rodeo average in three different events – bull riding, calf roping, and steer roping.