News and Notes from the Rodeo Trail, March 12
PRCA Freestyle Bullfights will take place March 15-17 at the Southeastern Livestock Exposition in Montgomery, Ala., after the bull riding each night. The rodeo begins at 7 p.m. (CT) March 15-16, and there are two performances, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., March 17. The bullfights will take place after the 7 p.m. performance March 17. The contestants in the Montgomery bullfights will be Cody Emerson, Wayne Ratley and Dakota Knight. All three bullfighters will compete against one bull during each of the three performances. They will be competing for $6,000 in prize money.
Steer wrestler Cole Edge tied the arena record at Rodeo Austin (Texas) with his 3.2-second run March 10. Edge shares the record with Levi Wisness (2007), which was matched by Matt Reeves (2009) and Casey Martin (2014).
Livermore (Calif.) Rodeo organizers are putting out a call for help – it’s time to round up every old rodeo program, photo and buckle that might have been tucked away for decades and corral them for a once-in-a-hundred-years project. The goal, underway for a year now, is to gather as much history as possible to be compiled into a book marking the 100th anniversary of the “World’s Fastest Rodeo,” which first opened its chutes in 1918. “What’s sad is that over the years, with as much as was saved, we didn’t really (develop) a great archive of photos and information,” said Livermore Rodeo Board member Sheila Fagliano in the March 12 issue of the East Bay Times. “We’re now working hard to scan those items and organize them so that we have an ongoing historic file for generations to come, which should have been done years ago. The volunteers have done the best they can, but we’re now focusing so that 100 years from now we’ll have this information, which will be amazing.” The 2018 Livermore (Calif.) Rodeo is scheduled for June 9-10. Organizers have already gathered many items but hope to find more, particularly from the event’s first 25 years. They’re asking community members who may have memorabilia to call or email the group to arrange for their items to be seen and potentially scanned or photographed. To arrange for historical rodeo memorabilia to be seen and possibly included in the book project or archive, contact Fagliano at 925.250.7485.
ProRodeoLive.com will broadcast the Southeastern Livestock Exposition in Montgomery, Ala., at 7 p.m. (CT), March 15-16 and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., March 17.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I was second out, and I had a really good idea what the start would be and I knew my steer was good. I just wanted to get out of the barrier and make a good clean run and that’s what I did.”
– Steer wrestler Cole Edge about his arena-record-tying run at Rodeo Austin (Texas) March 10.
Courtesy of PRCA