News & notes from the rodeo trail, March 31, 2014
by ProRodeo.com | Mar 31, 2014
Team roping header Erich Rogers will have surgery on his right knee April 1 in Phoenix to repair a torn MCL and ACL. Rogers suffered the injury when he was kicked while unloading his horse. “The doctor said I will have full-blown surgery and I could be out as long as six months,” Rogers said. “I’m hoping I’ll be back in a couple of months, the end of May, the first of June. I’m hoping to (at least) be back by Reno. I believe I can fight through the pain if I have to.” The Reno (Nev.) Rodeo is June 19-28. Rogers is in his second year roping with Cory Petska. Rogers has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo three times – 2011-2013. He finished ninth in the world standings last season and was a career-best fifth in 2012 …
Injuries continue to bring change to the lineup for the April 10-12 Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Guthrie, Okla., including the loss of 2012 World Champion Bull RiderCody Teel and three-time NFR bareback riding qualifier Casey Colletti. Teel is out on a doctor release for at least a month due to a broken right ankle and will be replaced on the Texas Circuit team by Reid Barker while Colletti, who had right knee surgery on March 25 and will be out of action for 12 weeks, will give way to Zach Curran on the Mountain States roster. Bull rider Rocky McDonald of Chihuahua, Mexico, will be unable to represent the California Circuit (groin strain) and will be replaced by Sammy Matthews. In the Great Lakes Circuit, bareback rider Bee Jay Scott is out and Tyrel Nelson is in …
 Country musician Aaron Watson won three awards at the Texas Regional Radio Music Awards for his song “July in Cheyenne,” which is a tribute to the late bull rider Lane Frost. Lane’s parents, Clyde and Elsie Frost, attended the event and helped Watson accept his awards. “The most important line in this song is at the end,” said Elsie, as she accepted Video of the Year on Watson’s behalf, “If you’re washed in the blood someday you’ll see him again and it won’t be in the rain and the mud in July in Cheyenne.”… Photo by Darren Davis |
ProRodeoLive.com will cover all five performances of the RNCFR, with broadcasts at 10:45 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. (CT) on April 10, 7:15 p.m. (CT) on April 11 and 12:45 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. (CT) on April 12 …
The votes are all counted and two-year PRCA Executive Council terms begin April 1 for officers representing the rodeo committees (Steve Gander, Gary Williams and Keith Martin), stock contractors (Mike Corey and T.J. Korkow), contract personnel (Benje Bendele and Dustin Brewer) and contestants (Rusty Allen-SB, J.P. Wickett-SR and Darrell Petry-SW) …
Colorado Senator Vickie Marble will introduce a resolution in the state legislature April 17 honoring the PRCA, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and the more than 50 PRCA rodeos in Colorado for the economic impact they bring to the state …
Cactus Saddlery has donated a special ProRodeo Hall of Fame 35th anniversary saddle to be used as a raffle item. The saddle, currently on display in the lobby of the Hall, is a Ranch Cutter with a 15-inch seat, floral border, two-inch aluminum stirrups and leather bottoms that retails for $2,800. Raffle tickets are $10 each or three for $25 and can be purchased through the Hall at 101 Pro Rodeo Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80919. The drawing to determine the winner will take place Dec. 1 at the Wrangler Gold Buckle Gala in Las Vegas …
Former PRCA announcer Michael Donald (“Mike”) Munro, who worked Mountain States Circuit rodeos while serving as Chief Satellite Officer at the Cheyenne Mountain center in Colorado Springs, Colo., died March 22 at his home in Tulsa, Okla. He was 60 …
Walter “Kayo” Morgan, one of the founders of the Evergreen (Colo.) Rodeo and a PRCA Gold Card member, died Jan. 2 at the Home Lake Veterans Home in Monte Vista (Colo.) at the age of 85 …
Vena Vesta Gorrell, who worked with her late husband, Alvin, on creating the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame, died March 25 at her home in Gooding, Idaho, at the age of 81 …
Gail Sheppick, the father of Badlands Circuit saddle bronc rider Sam Sheppick, died March 24 at his home in Fort Pierre, S.D., after a long battle with cancer. He was 68 …
Texas Circuit team roping header Casey Gattis lost his primary competition horse, 9-year-old “Major,” last week when his right hind leg shattered just above the hock. “Major didn’t go down,” Gattis said. “He kept chasing after that steer. We stopped and I stepped off of him. I felt sick to my stomach looking at his leg. It was like losing my brother. He was my buddy.” …
Two-time Wrangler NFR steer wrestler Bray Armes‘ horse, Ote, had orthoscopic surgery to remove a bone chip from his hock on March 26. “I just picked him up from the vet (March 31),” Armes said. “I might ride him in Guthrie at the (Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo, April 10-12), but I don’t know yet. It will be close. We are just going to have to wait and see how he is doing. We are not going to rush anything if he is not ready.” …
A 2003 graduate of Lake Roosevelt High School in Grand Coulee, Wash., Shane Proctor is going back home April 8-9 to preside over a bull and steer riding school at Nespelem Rodeo Arena. The 2011 world champion will be joined by fellow PRCA bull riders Colby Reilly and Ryan Dirteater as instructors in the school for aspiring cowboys 12-18 years old …
A 28-minute film by Rex Jones of the University of Mississippi Media Documentary Projects Division chronicling the life of ProRodeo Hall of Fame clown Lecile Harris is available online at http://vimeo.com/51310965. Harris, 77, began his career as a bull rider and bullfighter, but a devastating accident in the arena at the age of 52 led him into comedy full-time. Since then, he’s been named PRCA Clown of the Year four times (1992, 1994-96) and inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (2007) …
Former Wilderness Circuit bareback rider Jeremy Churchfield – he was a PRCA member from 1997-2004 – was promoted earlier this year to the position of lead detective in the Emmett (Idaho) Police Department.
Courtesy of PRCA