News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, August 3
Bull rider Jordan Spears will not be making a fifth trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2020.
Spears’ season is over due to a partial tear in his left rotator cuff, a broken bone in his left shoulder and broken right wrist. He will have surgery on his wrist over the next couple weeks. He’s expected to be sidelined until October.
“It’s just like any sport, when you put your body on the line each and every time you nod your head there are going be times when things don’t go your way,” said Spears, 28. “I’m pretty happy to find out that my shoulder is only going to keep me out a few months. I thought I was going to be out six months to a year.”
Spears suffered the injury July 4 at the Killdeer (N.D.) Mountain Roundup PRCA Rodeo when he was bucked off J Bar J’s Jokers Wild.
“I got hung up, and it was a fluke deal,” said Spears, who qualified for the NFR in 2014, 2016-17 and 2019. “My hand hung in the rope for about four seconds and I was kind of wrapped around his belly in an awkward position. It put a lot of pressure on my shoulder. It (his shoulder) didn’t really make any loud pops or anything, but it dang-sure felt like something was messed up.”
Spears had surgery on the same shoulder in 2015 which caused him to miss that season.
“I hate missing rodeos, but I will be able to stay at home (in Caldwell, Idaho) riding colts, training some horses and working in construction or driving trucks,” Spears said. “Hopefully this fall I also will be able to do some hunting.”
Spears finished sixth in the 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $211,933. He placed in four rounds at the NFR, finishing third in the average and taking home $90,385. He also won the Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale in Ellensburg, Wash., to earn $27,410.
The Heart O’ Texas Fair and Rodeo this fall in Waco will include a livestock show and a rodeo but won’t include concerts or the popular midway carnival and games, organizers announced July 31.
“We waited as long as we could, hoping the numbers would take a turn and we’d be able to continue with our planning for a full fair and rodeo, but when considering how to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible we recognized the need to adjust what we offer our community this year,” President and CEO Wes Allison said in a press release.
“The decision is being made now to mitigate expenses for an event that likely would not be able to open as normal,” he said.
The livestock show will be spread out over 19 days from Sept. 30 to Oct. 18 in the Extraco Coliseum to ensure that social distancing and other health guidelines are followed.
The rodeo is scheduled for Oct. 10-11 and Oct. 15-17, and a bullfight is scheduled for Oct. 18, all at the coliseum.
Rodeo capacity will be limited to 50%.
Face coverings will be required, and high-contact areas will be sanitized frequently.
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Courtesy of PRCA