Daily Notes for Round 7 of the Wrangler NFR

Steve Amerson is the opening act and the national anthem will be performed by the 3rd Division Marine Aircraft Wing Band. Boyd Gaming is the performance sponsor.

WRANGLER NFR LIVE ON TELEVISION, RADIO AND INTERNET
Tonight’s Wrangler NFR will be televised live and in HD on CBS Sports Net (DISH Network channel 158 and DirecTV channel 221) from 7-10 p.m. (PT) with Jeff Medders and Butch Knowles announcing, Joe Beaver and Don Gay providing commentary, Kadee Coffman the arena-side interviews and Suzanne Alexander the pre-game show from the ProRodeo Zone. Live HD coverage will be broadcast in Canada through CBS SN carriers Rogers, Bell Aliant, Cogeco, SaskTel, Canadian Cable Systems and Ontario Inc. ProRodeo Live is airing coverage on a network of radio stations, including Rural Radio, and also online at www.prorodeolive.com with Steve Kenyon, Wade Wheatley, Freya Ford and Jolee Jordan announcing.

THE BRAZILE WATCH
Having safely put away his second gold buckle of the season on Saturday, Dec. 6 – the record 12th all-around title to go with his earlier steer roping crown – Trevor Brazile is now taking aim at a Triple Crown. Brazile is second in the team roping and fourth in the tie-down roping world standings and tied for third in the average in TD and fourth among team roping headers. Brazile’s total earnings of $369,015 is fifth on the all-time single-season list (he’s accounted for the top eight totals in the sport’s history), with four nights of competition and the average checks still to be distributed. The all-around title was his ninth in a row, moving him out of a tie for second on the list of most consecutive world titles with the team roping pair of Speed Williams and Rich Skelton; he now trails only Guy Allen (11, steer roping, 1991-2001). If Brazile can win either the team roping or tie-down roping title he will equal Jim Shoulders’ record of three Triple Crowns (1956-58). Brazile previously won the Triple Crown in 2007 (AA, SR, TD) and 2010 (AA, TR, TD); if he were to win the Triple Crown with AA, SR and TR, it would be his third different combination.

ROUND 7 MATCHUPS TO PONDER
Bareback rider Tilden Hooper is aboard Andrews Rodeo’s PTSD Power Play, who was the Round 2 Bucking Stock Award winner after bucking off Tim O’Connell. The horse carried Kaycee Feild to 90 points to win the final round at Rodeo Austin (Texas) while Bobby Mote rode for 87.5 pints at the Wrangler Champions Challenge in Amarillo, Texas, in September. PTSD Power Play was recognized as the top bucking horse in Round 10 of the 2013 WNFR … Bareback rider Steven Dent is on New West Rodeo Productions’ Right Spur tonight, the horse that Steven Peebles covered for 85.5 points to win Round 2 … Bradley Harter hopes for a better fate tonight than Cody DeMoss had with Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Killer Bee last Friday, when he was unceremoniously bucked off in Round 2 of the saddle bronc riding; Killer Bee received the Bucking Stock Award for that round … Rafter H Rodeo Livestock’s Spade carried saddle bronc rider Jacobs Crawley to 82.5 points and the Round 2 win, but is in the re-ride pen tonight. Crawley will ride Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Four Aces tonight. Crawley, the 2013 WNFR average champion, sits fourth in the average after six rounds … Bull rider Brennon Eldred draws Frontier Rodeo’s Kojack, the bull that Sage Kimzey covered for 87 points to win Round 4. Jordan Spears, who, like Eldred, is competing in his first WNFR, rode Kojack for 89 points to win the final round of the Dodge City (Kan.) Xtreme Bulls Tour event in August … Ty Wallace drew Silver Spurs Club’s Hang ’em High, the top bull from Round 4 who bucked off Cody Teel, the 2012 world champion, on a re-ride … Tyler Smith will try to end the streak of Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Mind Games, a bull that has not been ridden in 10 outs and has bucked off 2014 Wrangler NFR qualifiers Tim Bingham, Reid Barker and Eldred (in Round 4) … Josh Koschel draws Kesler Rodeo’s White Devil, a bull Eldred rode for 90 points to win the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup during Cowboy Christmas in July.

NEWS & NOTES
There was one change at the top of the Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings on Tuesday night with Heith DeMoss using a tie for third place to surge past Taos Muncy, who had held the No. 1 spot in saddle bronc riding since June 2. But it’s kind of a minute-to-minute deal. DeMoss’ total of $141,766 is just $329 better than Muncy and $735 ahead of Cort Scheer in third place. Two-time World Champion Cody Wright and Wade Sundell are also within one round win of the world standings lead … The next closest race is in steer wrestling where Luke Branquinho, bidding for his fifth world title (only Homer Pettigrew, with six, has more), holds a lead of $4,635 over Nick Guy and is $5,910 ahead of Trevor Knowles; Branquinho and Guy are also 1-2 in the WNFR average standings while Knowles is 14th … World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote became the seventh person to earn $1 million in WNFR competition on Tuesday night with a second-place finish in Round 6. He follows Brazile, Cody Ohl, Billy Etbauer, Sherry Cervi, Fred Whitfield and Joe Beaver into that elite territory and Mote’s $48,282 thus far has moved him into eighth place on the overall career earnings list ahead of ProRodeo Hall of Fame Saddle Bronc Rider Dan Mortensen, with a career total of $2,591,057. Four-time World Champion Steer Wrestler Luke Branquinho is within $25,722 of reaching seven figures in WNFR competition and Rich Skelton, the eight-time world champion heeler, is just $45,712 shy of reaching the $1 million mark at the WNFR … Sage Kimzey, on the verge of  becoming just the second bull rider to earn a gold buckle in his rookie season (Bill Kornell did it in 1963), has already surpassed Steve Woolsey’s rookie earnings records for a single event ($197,646) and overall ($202,128). After Tuesday night’s second-place finish, Kimzey’s total stands at $222,546 with four rounds and average checks still pending; he is leading the average with 412.5 points on five head, the only rider to cover five of six … The second place finish allowed Kimzey to take over the lead in the RAM Top Gun Award standings (highest WNFR earnings total in a single event) with $79,381 … The Kids are Doing All Right: The four 20-year-olds in the field – Kimzey, fellow bull riders Ty Wallace and Brennon Eldred, along with tie-down roper Marty Yates – have combined for earnings of  $148,801 thus far … Jake Barnes, the oldest contestant in the field at 55, is leading the team roping average with rookie Junior Nogueira (38.0 seconds on six head), and is trying for his fourth WNFR average title in four decades; Barnes won previously in 1985, 1994 and 2007, each time with Clay O’Brien Cooper … Through six rounds of the rodeo, 111 of the 119 competitors have earned at least one check.

Record times and scores for the 7th round of the WNFR:
Bareback riding:          91.5 points, Bobby Mote, 2008 (also arena record)
Steer wrestling:           3.2 seconds, Cash Myers, 2001; Rod Lyman, 1989
Team roping:               3.6 seconds, Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 2009; Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 2012
Saddle bronc riding:   90 points, Billy Etbauer, 2009
Tie-down roping:        6.7 seconds, Trevor Brazile, 2007
Barrel racing:               13.56 seconds, Lindsay Sears, 2011
Bull riding:                  94.5 points, J.W. Harris, 2010

Courtesy of PRCA