Snededor chases record at Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In the course of trying to repeat something he did a year ago, Scott Snedecor is looking to do something no one has ever done.
Reigning World Champion Snedecor enters the Nov. 13-14 Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping in Guthrie, Okla., with a $15,026 lead on the field, the odds-on favorite to claim the event’s gold buckle for a third time in his career.
If Snedecor can match his performance level at last year’s NFSR in Hobbs, N.M., and finish as high as third in the average, he will become the first steer roper ever to surpass $100,000 in single-season earnings.
Eighteen-time World Champion Guy Allen holds the record of $99,132 set in 1998, making it the oldest PRCA earnings record on the books.
Snedecor, of Uvalde, Texas, has a bit of personal history working in his favor at the Lazy E Arena. He holds the arena record in steer roping with a 9.3-second run in the 2007 Wrangler Timed Event Championships.
“I’ve always liked roping there,” Snedecor said, “and I’ve done well there. I think it will be good. I’m looking forward to it, and going into it No. 1, I have a little bit of a cushion. I can just go in there and rope and have some fun.
“The (regular) season ended on a good note in Amarillo (Texas). I placed in every round and won the average. My roping feels good, and I feel sharp. Everything’s going right as scheduled.”
Snedecor starts the week with earnings of $64,666, just a bit below the $65,183 he had at the start of last year’s NFSR. Kansan Rocky Patterson, who set the NFSR 10-head average record in 2001, is second in the standings with $49,640. He is followed by another five Texans – Cody Lee ($42,501), Vin Fisher Jr. (41,653), Trevor Brazile ($39,456), Shane Suggs ($34,732) and Landon McClaugherty ($30,864).
Brazile won steer roping world championships in 2006 and 2007, and had the highest earnings total in the 2008 NFSR, when he placed in seven rounds – winning two – and finished second in the average.
Circuit court judge gets bulldogging verdict in Southeastern Circuit Finals Rodeo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The first thing Bud Hallman did when he woke up this morning in his Webster, Fla., home was launch a search for the champion’s buckle he won at the Dodge Southeastern Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco.
“I told my wife Cathy that I was afraid I might have dreamed the whole thing,” Hallman said.
It was an understandable moment of doubt. Hallman is a 56-year-old circuit court judge from Florida’s Sumter County who, until he attended friend Spunk Sasser’s steer wrestling school in early 2008, had not competed in a rodeo, and not even ridden a horse in nearly 15 years.
Not improbable enough? Before Hallman could get to Davie, Fla., for the rodeo and way before winning the thing with a three-head time of 16.5 seconds, he had to have a number of elements that were utterly out of his control work out just right.
Hallman finished 25th in the Southeastern Circuit standings this year, but let Sasser talk him into entering the circuit finals “because you never know what’s going to happen.” Because a number of bulldoggers failed to meet qualification guidelines or were unavailable, Hallman arrived at the final cut in 13th place, as the first alternate.
Then Tyler Pearson, last year’s Dodge Southeastern Circuit Finals Rodeo champion, injured his knee. Hallman was in the field.
There was still the matter of his day job. Judge Hallman was supposed to begin a murder trial at the end of last week, which seemed to preclude him from being able to take advantage of his rodeo opportunity.
“That’s when the attorney for the defense filed a pre-trial motion to disqualify evidence,” Hallman said. “That is almost always automatic grounds for a continuance. Normally judges are irritable about delays like that. In this case, I thought, ‘Well, this is interesting.’”
Hallman had qualified for the Southeastern Circuit Finals four times previously, but not since 1994 when, at 40 and fully engaged in his law career, he decided to retire from the sport. For 15 years, his only connection to rodeo was watching the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo on TV each December.
After visiting Sasser’s 2008 bulldogging school and mixing it up a bit, Hallman got the urge to compete again. He competed in 12-15 circuit rodeos that first year and 26 this year, and although he had wins at the Orange Blossom Festival in Davie and the Williston (Fla.) Pro Rodeo this year, his goals remained modest.
“Making the circuit finals didn’t seem realistic, not at 56,” Hallman said. “I just wanted to enjoy myself. I’m a competitive guy, but it never dawned on me that I would qualify. Spunk kept pushing me. At one point I got aggravated with him. I didn’t want to have to go back to training like you need to do, but he kept after me, and the last few months I’ve really been training pretty hard.”
The win at the circuit finals automatically qualifies Hallman for his first appearance in the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, next April.
After he set up his championship saddle and buckle in his chambers this morning, Hallman started working on getting the time off to make the trip.
“I’ve been in contact with the chief judge of the circuit,” Hallman said. “He’s a rancher, too, so I think he’ll be OK with it.”
The other champions at the Dodge Southeastern Circuit Finals Rodeo were bareback rider Scott NeSmith (246 points on three head), team ropers Will Lynd and Daniel Salley (19.8 seconds on three head), saddle bronc rider Justin Browning (226 points on three head), tie-down roper Justin Thigpen (26.5 seconds on three head), barrel racer Jewels DeNapoli (46.76 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Friday Wright II (243 points on three head).
ProRodeoLive adds to its broadcast schedule in Las Vegas
ProRodeoLive.com, the Internet broadcast home of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, has a new entry to its live broadcast schedule – Wrangler NFR Today.
It can be heard 11 a.m.-noon (PT) daily from Dec. 3-12, broadcast from the PRCA booth at Cowboy Christmas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Wrangler NFR Today, hosted by Steve Kenyon, will feature live interviews with Wrangler NFR contestants and participants, as well as daily features and updates from the WNFR.
The Wrangler NFR is the World Series of professional rodeo, a $5.75 million dollar event that will celebrate its 51st anniversary this year – and its 25th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
In addition to Wrangler NFR Today, ProRodeoLive.com will also be on hand during the 2009 Wrangler NFR to produce the exclusive live radio/Internet broadcast of all 10 rodeo performances. Those broadcasts will feature PRCA rodeo announcer Steve Kenyon, PRCA World Champion Bareback Rider and ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Clint Corey, six-time Wrangler NFR team roping qualifier Wade Wheatley and two-time World Champion Barrel Racer Kelly Kaminski.
PRORODEOLIVE.COM - 2009 Wrangler NFR broadcast schedule:
Thursday and Friday - December 3 and 4
--- ProRodeoLive’s Wrangler NFR Today, 11 a.m.- noon (PT)
--- The Wrangler NFR’s first and second performances - 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Saturday and Sunday - December 5-6
--- ProRodeoLive.com’s Wrangler NFR Today, 11 a.m.- noon (PT)
--- The Wrangler NFR's third and fourth performances - 5:30 p.m. (PT)
Monday through Saturday, December 7-12
--- ProRodeoLive.com’s Wrangler NFR Today, 11 a.m.- noon (PT)
--- The Wrangler NFR's fifth through 10th performances - 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo restructures management
The Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo Board of Directors plans to hire a full-time salaried Chief Executive Officer in the next few months and eliminate the position of Executive Director. The Executive Director office holder changed every three years, leading to complications with long-term contracts and vendors. CFD Board President Jim Ward told the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle that the change is meant to bring more consistency and cohesiveness to the rodeo’s operation.
CFR to remain in Edmonton through 2016; team roping to achieve parity
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association has signed a three-year contract extension with Northlands that will keep the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton through 2016. CPRA President Dale Leschiutta also announced that team roping will have equal prize money in the CFR by 2014. That’s a significant step for an event that was not included in the CFR program until 2003. It was almost treated like a specialty act or an intermission fill-in, and the team ropers had to provide their own prize money. “It has come a long way,” Leschiutta told the Edmonton Sun. “It took a lot of work by a lot of people.”
Bullfighter to appear in January TV commercial
PRCA bullfighter Jeremy Sparks has been chosen by online voting to be among 10 people who will appear in a Mutual of Omaha - Aha Moment TV commercial campaign starting January 2010.
The balloting started with 75 people and online voting cut that number to 25 and then the final 10.
“I’m excited to be featured in the commercial and very thankful to all the people who voted for my Aha Moment and secured my spot in the top 10,” said Sparks, 32. “It’s always great to represent Wyoming, and there’s no greater way than a national commercial.”
Sparks is an eight-time Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo bullfighter and is currently serving as a captain in the Wyoming Army National Guard.
For more information on the Aha Moment campaign and Sparks’ career, visit www.jeremysparks.com.
Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
Nov. 12 Dodge Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo, Louisville, Ky., begins
Nov. 13 Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping, Guthrie, Okla., beginsNov. 13 Dodge Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo, Denver, begins
Nov. 14 Brawley (Calif.) Cattle Call Rodeo, begins
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