PRCA Weekly Press Release - August 17, 2009

By Courtesy Of PRCA
Posted Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Cannon batters down regular-season earnings record

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four more rodeos and four more paychecks over the Aug. 14-16 weekend allowed bareback rider Clint Cannon to break the PRCA regular-season earnings record for his event – with six weeks still left on the 2009 schedule.
Cannon, of Waller, Texas, needed just $43 to surpass Bobby Mote’s two-year-old record of $152,184, and Cannon earned $2,494 by placing in rodeos at Hermiston, Ore., Coffeyville, Kan.; Sonora, Texas, and Mesquite, Texas.
“I’m riding at the top of my game right now,” Cannon said. “I’m very competitive and enjoying riding right now. The record means a lot. I’m excited to be at this level.
“Bobby Mote is one of best bareback riders ever to walk the face of the earth. I’m in awe every time I see him ride, the way he gets in rhythm and the way he spurs. I want to be recognized in that same way.”
A new, more positive, attitude about his sport, a ferocious work ethic and growing confidence have produced what has been a dream season for Cannon, with 10 wins in PRCA rodeos and a steady succession of checks that now total $154,192.
Cannon has cashed in 11 consecutive rodeos, missing the pay window only once this month, at Phillipsburg, Kan.
“I was looking at my books the other day,” Cannon said, “and I haven’t been bucked off all season. I haven’t missed out, slapped off, or been bucked off all year.”
That record of consistency covers 97 rodeos – 75 of which count officially toward his world rankings total.
Cannon, 30, has been competing in four rodeos a week pretty steadily all season, and he considers that workload part of his physical training, along with the 100 push-ups and 100-200 sit-ups he does every morning.
“It keeps my mind strong and on task,” he said. “I might lose focus if I weren’t going hard every week. I want to people to look at me at the (Wrangler) National Finals Rodeo and say, ‘This guy’s a contender.’
“I was doing an interview, and the guy said, ‘there’s a lot of pressure on you now.’ And I just said, ‘Pressure is pleasure.’ You only have pressure if you are doing well, and that’s what you are competing for – the chance to be under pressure.”

Brazile harvests pair of titles at Farm-City Pro Rodeo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Trevor Brazile advanced his bid for a second Triple Crown in three seasons Aug. 12-15 with victories in the tie-down roping and the all-around at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston, Ore.
It was Brazile’s eighth all-around title at a PRCA rodeo in the past three weeks, and the $6,294 he earned in this Wrangler Million Dollar Tour silver-tier event presented by Justin Boots raised his season total to $189,194.
That’s $9,165 ahead of the pace Brazile set when he broke the PRCA single-season earnings record in 2007, and his win in the tie-down roping increased his lead in the world standings to more than $12,000 over the rest of the field.
Brazile and heeler Patrick Smith also earned $2,662 in finishing fifth in the team roping, keeping both men in the top three of the world standings in that event.
The six-time World Champion All-Around Cowboy from Decatur, Texas, finished first in the two-head tie-down roping average with a time of 17.9, including a 9.4-second run in the second round on a kicking calf.
“My first calf was good enough,” Brazile told Butch Thurman of the East Oregonian. “I placed on my first calf, so I had 10-flat to win it. The calf wasn’t exactly the one I would have picked, but he was plenty good to be under 10 on. You can’t have it all.”
Brazile is happy to be in the Northwest for the last six weeks of the season.
“We’ve been to rodeos across the country – four or five per week – and now it seems that, when we get to the Northwest, the weather is great and we get to (compete in) just two or three rodeos a week and relax a little bit. It’s been a fun year, and it’s been great. We hope to finish it that way up here.”
Ardie Maier of Timber Lake, S.D., had a 91-point ride on Korkow Rodeo’s Swamp Donkey on the first night of the rodeo, and it held up for the win. Maier came within a point of tying the arena record shared by Cole Mewborn (1999) and Beau Hill (2001). His win jumped him from 47th in the PRCA World Standings to 30th.
“That was the second time I had been on him,” Maier told the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune. “I had an 88 on him in Bremerton (Wash.) in 2006. Now, he’s grown up a bit and he’s a lot stronger. He’s a good draw. If you do your part, he’ll give you a good ride.”
JoJo LeMond and reigning World Champion Heeler Randon Adams won both rounds of the team roping, finishing with a two-head average time of 9.6 seconds to earn $6,561 each.
The other champions at Hermiston were bareback rider Ryan Gray (87 points), steer wrestler Cody Cassidy (8.9 seconds on two head), saddle bronc riders Louie Brunson and Bryce Miller (84 points each) and barrel racer Kelli Tolbert (34.55 seconds on two runs).

Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
Aug. 17 Dacotah Stampede Rodeo, Aberdeen, S.D., begins
Aug. 18 Canby (Ore.) Rodeo begins
Aug. 18 Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo begins
Aug. 19 Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne, N.Y., begins
Aug. 20 Great Plains Stampede Rodeo, Altus, Okla., begins
Aug. 20 Gooding (Idaho) Pro Rodeo begins
Aug. 20 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo, Kalispell, Mont., begins
Aug. 20 Whoop-Up Days Pro Rodeo, Lethbridge, Alberta, begins
Aug. 20 Moses Lake (Wash.) Roundup begins
Aug. 21 Athens (Texas) MDA Benefit Pro Rodeo begins
Aug. 21 Imboden (Ark.) PRCA Rodeo begins
Aug. 21 Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo begins
Aug. 21 Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Pro Rodeo Series begins
Aug. 21 Riverboat Days PRCA Rodeo, Yankton, S.D., begins
Aug. 21 North Texas State Fair & Rodeo, Denton, Texas, begins
Aug. 21 Norco (Calif.) Mounted Posse Rodeo begins
Aug. 22 Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., begins
Aug. 22 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J.
Aug. 22 Brown County Fair Pro Rodeo, De Pere, Wis., begins
Aug. 22 Mountain States Steer Roping Finals, Sterling, Colo., begins

Rodeo News and Notes

Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center opens in Fort Pierre
The Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre opened its doors to the public after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 14, the culmination of a two-decade fundraising effort.
The museum pays tribute to the history of South Dakota rodeo and its 17 world champions, including the legendary Tibbs, who won nine gold buckles, including a record-tying six in saddle bronc riding.
Before his death in 1990, Tibbs gave his blessing for a museum bearing his name, as long as its focus was the sport itself, its competitors and Western heritage.
“That’s what we have tried to do with this center,” said Dayle Angyal, a niece of Tibbs’ and president of the Casey Tibbs Foundation since its inception in 1990. “We wanted to make a facility that would make Casey proud and all South Dakotans, as well.”
More than $100,000 raised for son of PRCA steer wrestler
What had originally been planned as a “small spaghetti dinner” turned into a big fundraiser for 3-year-old Jace Peterson, the son of PRCA steer wrestler Jesse Peterson of Dillon, Mont.
Jace has had seizures since he was 3 months old and is believed to have severe myoclonic epilepsy. Repeated visits to the hospital left Peterson and wife Jenny with high medical costs, so Dillon-area residents and members of the rodeo family stepped in to help.
About 800 people, according to the Dillon Tribune, attended a benefit July 31 at Keltz Arena, on the campus of the University of Montana-Western, where about $80,000 was raised through live and silent auctions. Additional donations came to the family directly, and the Jace Peterson fund exceeded $100,000.
“Tons of cowboys are helping with Jace’s needs,” Jenny said. “They donated stuff. They bought things. It was just unreal.
“I called the hospital and made an appointment with them to go and pay my bill. That is going to be a great feeling.”
Many in the rodeo community have been making phone calls and e-mailing friends to help raise funds. PRCA contestants donated items for the auction and sent money. Among the supporters were reigning World Champion All-Around Cowboy Trevor Brazile, two-time and reigning World Champion Steer Wrestler Luke Branquinho, saddle bronc riders Jake Hayworth and Jake Costello, along with award-winning barrelman and entertainer Flint Rasmussen.
A benefit account has been opened on the Petersons’ behalf at State Bank and Trust Company, 110 S. Idaho, P.O. Box 1257, Dillon, MT 59725.
State Bank and Trust Company in Dillon
http://statebank-dillon.com
- Johnna Espinoza

Cowtown Rodeo pays tribute to the U.S. Marshals Service

The kickoff to a nationwide celebration of the U.S. Marshals Service’s 220th anniversary was held Aug. 15 at the Cowtown Rodeo Series in Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J. – and they did it old school.
David Thomas, U.S. Marshal from the District of Delaware; James Plousis, U.S. Marshal from the District of New Jersey; and Salem County Sheriff Chuck Miller joined Cowtown owner and producer Grant Harris on horseback for the pre-rodeo tribute.
“Grant said if we were coming, he had to have the marshals ride,” Plousis told the Salem County (N.J.) News.
The Marshals Service was formed by President George Washington, and the name invariably seems to evoke images of the Old West when much of that area was comprised of territories and the marshals kept order.
It’s one of the reasons Cowtown was selected as the site for the opening ceremony.
“It’s quite an honor,” Harris said. “This is a national event. To be recognized by the marshals as the venue to celebrate their 220th anniversary is a cool thing.”
Larsen named rodeo coach at Dickinson State University

PRCA member and former College National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc riding champion Eudell Larsen has been named head rodeo coach at Dickinson (N.D.) State University. He replaces Scott Kleeman, who stepped down this summer after five seasons.
PRCA barrelman Zabel loses son to motorcycle accident

Casey Friesth, the 20-year-old son of PRCA clown/barrelman Matt Zabel, died Aug. 8 as the result of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Funeral services were held Aug. 14 at Northfield Church of Christ.