Happy New Year to everyone and congratulations to the new PRCA world champions, Chad Masters and Jade Corkill. This year’s champions came to the Wrangler National Finals with different partners but ended up as the high money winners for the year. Chad roped with Clay O’Brien Cooper at the WNFR and they were the only team to rope all 10 head to win the average with a time of 73.4 seconds. Many fans were hoping Clay O’ would have won the world on the heeling side because it would have been his eighth world title at the young age of 51, but he fell just a few bucks short of Jade Corkill’s final total. We all remember when Walt Woodard came to the WNFR at the age of 52 in 2007 and ended up winning the heeling world title while teamed up with Clay Tryan. Masters has always done well at the Finals roping with the seasoned heelers. No one was more disappointed about Clay not winning the world than Chad Masters. He was asked what it felt like to win his second world title, and said, "It’s kind of like the first one in a way, because I’m not here with my partner. Without Clay O’Brien Cooper I would never have won this. And not just the roping, but the frame of mind and everything that goes into all of it. It’s great to win it, but I wish he was here sharing it with me. I’ve become really good friends with him while roping together this year, and he has always been one of my heroes. I think I’ve got that in common with everyone else in the field here; he’s everybody’s hero." The first time Masters won the world was in 2007. He was teamed up with Allen Bach at the Finals but Walt Woodard was teamed with Clay Tryan and won more in the heeling than Allen to win the heeling title.
This year’s WNFR team roping wasn’t much better than last year’s team roping with 50 misses out of the 150 runs of team roping over the 10 day period. Most of this year’s misses were on the heading end with seven misses being recorded in the first go round by headers. It is no secret that I don’t think much of the team roping displayed at the WNFR year after year. I have always contended that the best ropers in the world are here and the fans come to see how they catch and what makes them so special. The fans get disappointed when they see seven of the best headers in the world miss their first steer. I have always said that the Finals should be a heeling contest now that there are only two loops allowed, but when the header misses, the heelers don’t even get a shot.
I will say that this year was better in the sense that there were three less misses than last year’s number of 53 misses compared to this year’s 50 misses. However, this year more headers took misses than I can ever remember. I truly think the mindset of today’s ropers is to come to the Finals and treat it as 10 one-head rodeos. No one seems to think of the big bucks that the average pays. The rounds pay $18,257 per man and the average pays $46,821 per man. In the ninth round four of the leading teams in the average took misses trying to win a round. This opened the average way up.
When it was all said and done, only one team roped all 10 head of cattle and only one team roped nine head. Keven Daniels and Chase Tryan were 65.2 on nine after missing their ninth steer. I thought Keven roped heads and handled cattle as good as anybody this year. The biggest disappointment in the heading came from Trevor Brazile. When he missed the second head it opened the field up as he and Patrick Smith had come to the Finals in the lead for another world title. He and Patrick came to the Finals as the favorites and ended up 10th in the average – however they did place in four rounds. Trevor did capture another World All-Around title to make this his record setting 10th. See related article on page 8 in this issue.
Every team placed in at least two rounds and the team of Erich Rogers and Kory Koontz placed in seven of the 10 rounds and won third in the average for a total earnings of $91,874 per man. Kaleb Driggers and Jade Corkill placed in six of the rounds and won fifth in the average for total earnings of $84,660 per man. Four other teams placed in five of the rounds and three teams placed in four rounds. Three teams placed in three rounds and three teams placed in two rounds. So every team got some money which is better than some years when there has been some teams go home without a check.
I like seeing a three-second run as well as anyone, but I would rather see a bigger percentage of catches in the four to six second range and better average roping at the Finals – but I fear this will never happen with the money distributed the way it is in the rounds and the score as short as it is. I hate to say it, but the team roping was rated the worst event of the evening more than once under the bull riding. It is just hard to stand up for team roping to the fans that don’t understand the event when they think that these guys just aren’t very good cowboys.
As the years go on, I have many team roping fans that are team ropers themselves come up to me and tell of their disappointment of the event at the WNFR. I don’t see it changing anytime soon with the mindset of the ropers and it for sure doesn’t display good horsemanship. I guess that’s why there are ropings like the BFI.
HHHHH
The South Point was once again the home of the amateur team ropers and the World Series of Team Roping Finale. What a first class event it was from the production to the participants. My Resistol is off to all involved in making this what it is today under the direction of the Gentry family. Be sure to read the results of this year’s Finals (page 22) and watch for upcoming events in 2013 for the World Series of Team Roping.
HHHHH
How about Mary Walker winning more money than anyone at this year’s WNFR? Her total was $146,941 (plus a Dodge Ram truck as the high money winner of the WNFR) and she also won the world barrel racing title with a total of $274,233 for the year. Nice job, Mary.
HHHHH
For those of you who like skiing or some good old fashioned winter fun, make your plans to come to this year’s 39th annual Cowboy Downhill at Steamboat Springs, Colo. This year the event will be held Jan. 21 at 1pm. Come and enjoy watching the cowboys and cowgirls compete in a head-to-head dual race, ski jump, rope and saddle on skis and a free-for-all stampede. Lots of wrecks and fun plus a concert by Blackberry Smoke. Join John Shipley and me as we announce the event from the finish line. Billy Kidd and Larry Mahan will be on hand as well as many past and present champions from the rodeo world. Hope to see you there.
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Have a great New Year and may we cross paths in the winner’s circle this coming year.