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JUNE 23, 2008
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Backstage
At The BFI
Williams & Tuftin Send Regular
Season Out With A Bang In Dallas
Masters & Bach Match Money
With Champs In The Big D
By Kendra Santos
Special To Ropers Sports News |
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The Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship, held
November 9-11 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, was “last
call” for cowboys trying to make the 2007 Wrangler National Finals
Rodeo cut.
The last leg of this year’s Ariat Playoffs series was host to heartwarming
to-the-wire stories, such as Jimmy Edens and Ryan Motes squeaking into their
first Finals based on one steer in the semifinals of the last rodeo of the
regular season. But for every happy happening like that one, there’s
a heartbreak on the other end of the line. Matt Funk, who had a fabulous
first Finals showing last year, got bumped at the finish line among the
headers, and Cody Hintz’så streak of two straight NFR appearances
ended there when he got ejected to the 16th place heartbreak hole.
Now with 47 NFR showings between them, great ones Jake Barnes (riding Peppy
Doc) and Clay O’Brien Cooper (aboard Jazz) kicked things off with
4.5-second win on opening night. Forever humble, they likened the steer
they drew to a lay-up on the basketball court.
“The luck of the draw was in our favor tonight,” Barnes said.
“Anytime you draw a steer that’s easy, it makes it look easy.
Every time you win it’s a memorable run. That steer was just so good
that he presented the opportunity. Roping him was like roping the dummy.”
“I was pleasantly surprised by that steer’s pattern,”
added Cooper, who won Dallas a year ago with Speed Williams. “He ran
straight and slow, so it all came together just the way you’d plan
it. This is the smallest arena we compete in. That steer was textbook, so
he set it up and made it easy. Winning’s great. It’s what we
do this for.”
The top two teams in Dallas in terms of total earnings were Speed Williams
and Dean Tuftin, and Chad Masters and Allen Bach. Each roper pocketed $17,145,
though the two teams went about it completely differently.
Williams, who’s just $2,053 behind Masters among headers heading into
the December 6-15 NFR, and Tuftin, who has a relatively commanding $24,289
lead (though that’s still less than two NFR go-rounds) over Michael
Jones among heelers, basically bombed out and were the 10th-place team in
a field of 10 on opening night with a barrier and a leg. But they rallied
to win round two with a 4.1-second run.
“We got put in a hole last night (they were 4.7 plus 15),” Williams
said. “I took an aggressive start and broke the barrier, then that
steer got heavy and dragged, and Dean roped a leg. Because of what happened
last night, we didn’t control our own destiny. Other people had to
mess up for us to make it (into the top eight semifinals).
“This is exactly the same score as the Thomas and Mack. If you get
a good start, it’s easy and you set your heeler up for a good handle.
If you don’t, everything gets hard. We weren’t so worried about
the round. It was all about getting to run another one tomorrow (in the
semis).”
“We backed ourselves in a corner,” Tuftin agreed. “We
had no pressure. Basically, if somebody dropped the ball we had a chance.
We were just trying to go for the day money and see where the cards fell,
and they fell in our favor. So we live to rope another day.”
Meanwhile, after finishing second and third in the first two rounds with
matching 4.8-second runs, Masters and Bach won the two-steer average in
9.6. Their 5.7-second semifinal-round run missed the four-team cut by one
spot, so they were done in Dallas. But not without a pretty pricy pay day.
“You work so hard all year to get here, so this is a really nice reward,”
said Masters, who was back on his bay horse Cody for the first time since
he pulled a suspensory ligament this spring. “It’s so great
to get back on this horse. He’s especially good in the barns (buildings),
and riding him does give me extra confidence.”
Bach is fifth in the pre-NFR heeling standings behind Tuftin, Jones, Walt
Woodard and Mike Beers, who’s been heavy on the Heel-O-Matic practice
while trying to get healed up from a broken pelvis. The four-time and reigning
world titlist has developed into quite the Chad Masters fan.
“In the last year, Chad’s stock has gone way up in my eyes,”
said Bach, who rode Kinney Harrell’s bay horse Taz in Dallas, and
plans to borrow him back for the NFR. “He went from being a good header
to a superstar. I put him up there with guys like Jake and Speedy now. He
can turn one to be 4 flat, or run down there, catch one, handle him and
set things up to win the average. He’s got a long game, a short game
— he’s got it all.”
Williams, who rode Dollar, and Tuftin, who was on the 2004-05 PRCA/AQHA
Heel Horse of the Year Chili Dog (12), which he bought from Williams’
fellow eight-time champ Rich Skelton last year, placed third in the semifinal
round of eight teams with a 4.7-second run. They picked up the crystal cups
with a 3.7-second clutch closer in the four-team finals (on that sweet tweet
Jake likened to a lay-up).
“It’s a great honor to come in here and do good,” Williams
said. “Honestly, to have such a bad first night then come out with
a victory is very uplifting. Hopefully, this momentum will carry over into
Las Vegas. We’re going to the Finals with high hopes. We practice
for situations like this all year long. We started practicing for the Finals
the very first session in January.”
“I’m really excited,” Tuftin added. “This is a great
rodeo, and this is a big boost for us. Roping behind Speed is amazing. It’s
like getting to play in a Ryder Cup with Tiger Woods, or playing two-on-two
basketball with Michael Jordan. Speed bleeds confidence, and he has the
ability to carry it out at the big events.
“I feel like we’re prepared. We’re riding good horses,
and we’ve prepared for this setup — the tour finales and the
NFR — all year. Speedy’s turned me thousands of steers for these
conditions, so we didn’t have to cram at the end. Speedy’s set
every record there is. I feed off of his confidence. He’s the quarterback,
and if he throws me the ball I’m supposed to catch it.”
Masters is one of Williams’ best friends. That seems to happen a lot
at the top in this sport. Masters knows Speed’s sarcastic wit as well
as anyone, so he was hardly shocked to get a text from Williams just minutes
after the final round that read, “I almost got you.”
“I’m pulling for Chad,” Williams smiled. “Not as
hard as I’m pulling for me, but I’m pulling for him.
“I don’t know that there’s one team to beat. Any one of
the top six or so have more than a fair chance to win the title. Chad and
Al had an outstanding Finals last year, Clay (Tryan) and Walt (Woodard)
have had an outstanding year, Travis (Tryan) and Michael (Jones) can be
as fast as anybody. You can’t take anything away from Jake and Clay.
They’ve won seven titles and they’re going back to the Thomas
and Mack. If Brandon and Mike (Beers) pick up where they left off —
who knows what will happen?”
Tuftin’s a bit more tunnel-visioned on his opinion of the team he
expects to be their toughest challenge.
“Chad and Al,” he said. “They’ve got magic and they
proved it last year.”
Williams and Tuftin have worked hard all year on Tuftin reading the corner
and taking quicker shots. That perfect practice has paid some fancy dividends.
“Dean’s roped good all year, and has roped fast time and time
again,” Williams said. “He’s roped outstanding all year.
I think Dean’s going to go there and have fun.”
Tuftin’s take on his impending first showing at The Show?
“It’s surreal,” he said. “It doesn’t seem
normal. I’ve been on the outside looking in, dreaming of being here,
for 30 years. For me to look at it from a different angle, inside the arena,
I’m not sure what it’s going to be like. I’m going to
try to keep it the same, like I’ve done it all year, but I’m
not sure that’s realistic. Because it’s not the same. I’ve
sang in front of thousands of people and on national TV, and I feel more
comfortable roping than singing. Roping’s fun. So I’ve got that
going for me.”
In case you haven’t heard, Tuftin’s an award-winning country
music sensation up in Canada. He topped the Canadian charts with his “Wide
Open Highway” in 2005. He also just won the Columbia River Circuit
Finals heeling for Brandon Beers. They were 5.2 on their first steer for
second; set an arena record on their second steer in 4.3; finished second
in round three with a 5.5-second run; and set a three-steer average record
in 15 flat.
Tuftin’s NFR cheering section will be headed up by his wife, Leslie,
and little girls, Maysa and Maggie. Williams’ wife, Jennifer, will
also be front and center with their kids, Hali and Gabe. The entire Western
world will be watching to see if Williams will take sole possession of the
world team roping titles mark with nine.
“There’s no way to deny that it wouldn’t be special,”
said Williams, whose sponsor partners include Wrangler, Hot Heels, Fast
Back Ropes, Priefert, Coats Saddlery, SSG Gloves, Timber Creek Veterinary,
Resistol, Safe-T-Lighting, Micro Rain and Lucchese. “Have I sat and
given a great deal of thought to winning my ninth title? Not in the last
couple years. It hasn’t been a priority. I don’t have Bob and
Viper anymore. When I had the two big guns, I felt like the odds were in
my favor to be able to overcome different things that happened. Dollar (11)
is coming into himself, but he still makes a lot of mistakes.
“I’d like to win another world title. There’s no doubt
about it. My horse still makes mistakes, and I have such a high standard
after riding Viper in those buildings. Can we be fast? Yeah. We need to
draw good, make good runs and see what happens. There are a lot of things
to overcome, create and do in those 3 or 4 seconds. Do I think we’re
going to go in there and blow their doors off? No I don’t. I think
there are 12 or 13 teams with a legitimate chance to win a bunch. I’ve
seen every team at the Finals get in a hot spell this year and make 10 or
12 runs in a row.”
They call it good watching. And they call Tuftin “The Singing Cowboy”
up in Canada.
“I am so excited to go the Finals,” said Tuftin, who endorses
Les Schwab Tires, Rattler Ropes, Priefert, Hot Heels, Reinsman, Bloomer
Trailers and Cinch. “Roping behind Speed at the Finals is every heeler’s
dream. I’m excited to get the opportunity.
“I’d rather rope than sing 10 times out of 10. Part of my problem
with music is I couldn’t stop thinking about roping. I rode colts,
roped and cleaned my pens, and all I could think of was, ‘Man, I want
to be at the NFR.’ I’m addicted. The whole time my music career
was taking off it was exciting to see my songs go up the charts. But my
heart was in roping the whole time. It still is.”
Tuftin describes he and Williams’ practice sessions as “intense
and productive.”
“Speed can see a fly fart on your horse at 300 yards,” he said.
“He’s broken it down to such a level, and not just his end but
the heeler’s end, too. It’s a complete team effort with Speed,
whether we’re traveling or practicing. Speedy’s 100 percent
about the team.” |
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