News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, March 2
by ProRodeo.com | Mar 02, 2015
Bull rider Trey Benton III, who finished a career-best third in the 2014 Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings, has been out of action since the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo concluded Dec. 13 after having surgery on both of his knees. “I tore the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and MCL (medial collateral ligament) in my left knee at the Finals,” said Benton, 23. “I injured my right knee (a torn ACL) in September of 2012, but I never got it fixed.” Benton said Dr. Tandy Freeman performed surgery on his right knee Dec. 23 and then did surgery on his left knee Feb. 9. Benton is hopeful he can return to action at the Xtreme Bulls Tour stop June 30 in Cody, Wyo.
Louisiana bull rider Josh Barentine, a six-year PRCA veteran who was taken out of the arena on a stretcher during the Feb. 26 performance of the San Angelo (Texas) Rodeo, suffered a fractured left (free) arm and is out indefinitely after surgery was performed Feb. 27 by Dr. Stacy Beaty. Nile Lebaron suffered a dislocation of his left shoulder while competing in the bull riding at the Feb. 26 Scottsdale (Ariz.) Wrangler Champions Challenge, presented by Justin Boots, and is also out indefinitely. He is to follow up with Dr. Tandy Freeman to determine what course of treatment is required.
Walter Philip Lore, a PRCA timed-event competitor, passed away Feb. 23 in Clinton, Mo., after a short bout with cancer. He was 70. Lore started rodeo at the age of 15, at the Cowtown Arena in Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J., and competed in rodeos all over the United States, once winning all six events at one rodeo.
The Quadrille de Mujeres, an all-women precision drill team, performed for the final time at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Ariz., on March 1. The group has become a mainstay at the rodeo over the years. They started in 1965, exactly 50 years ago, and performed at their first Tucson Rodeo in 1969.
As La Fiesta de los Vaqueros wrapped up its 90th anniversary celebration, plans are in the works to knock down the home of Frederick Leighton Kramer, the polo enthusiast who dreamed up the notion of Tucson’s annual rodeo with a few of his horse-riding buddies in 1925. Kramer’s home, built in 1924, is situated on a large plot just north of where Isabella Greenway would build the Arizona Inn in 1930. The first rodeo was held on a polo field near Kramer’s home.
Earl Blevins, a PRCA member for 25 years and a Tulsa, Okla., firefighter for the past 19, was presented with the Tulsa Rotary Club’s Above and Beyond Award on Feb. 18 for his work in the community as a volunteer. The 54-year-old Blevins, who lives in Bristow, Okla., with his wife, Sandy, has long been active as a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, has donated his time to charity bull ridings, college rodeo events and numerous fundraisers for firefighters who were injured on or off the job. He’s also been a PRCA judge for the past six years.
New leaders have been chosen for the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame with James Chamley, of Colorado Springs, Colo., being named president; Fred Sorenson, of White Earth, the vice president, and Gerald Stokka, of Cooperstown, the secretary/treasurer. Elected as the new chair of the NDCHF trustees was Bowman native and radio personality Jim Thompson. He will oversee the work of trustee members who vote on the 2015 Hall of Fame inductees. Phil Baird, of Mandan, has served for 20 years on the board of directors and has been selected as the interim executive director for the NDCHF.
The Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame is seeking recipes for its upcoming recipe contest and Western Heritage Cookbook. The cookbook will be available to purchase during the Gooding County Fair and Pro Rodeo in August. Judging of the recipe contest will be based on the dish participants bring to the Gooding County Fair & Rodeo Grounds Aug. 21. Prizes will be offered for first- through third-place entries, and more than one recipe will be accepted.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Physically, in that one ride, you see the same amount of pain inflicted on a cowboy as a football player endures in a whole game. It’s the most dangerous sport in the world. More dangerous than the NFL, more dangerous than the UFC. It’s part football game, part fistfight, but your opponent is a 1,200-pound beast.”
– Four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bareback rider Clint Cannon
Courtesy of PRCA