ProRodeo Sports News - Sept. 3, 2021

SHORT ROUND

B areback rider Tim O’Connell’s quest to win his fourth world title is on hold for the time being. O’Connell confirmed to ProRodeo Sports News he will be sidelined the remainder of the regular season after suffering a tailbone injury in Lovington, N.M., Aug. 5. “It’s something that’s been hurting really bad the last couple of weeks,” said O’Connell, a three-time PRCA World Champion (2016-18). “I broke my tailbone, or my coccyx to be exact. At first, we were going to try and go the adjustment route, but once my X-rays were out there, they decided it was something that probably needed to be removed.” O’Connell, 29, is first in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $156,056. He underwent a coccygectomy (removal of the tailbone) on Aug. 24 in Dallas. “I was set up with one of the best and most trusted guys in the country to do this surgery and right here in Dallas,” O’Connell said. “So, tomorrow morning (Aug. 24), Dr. Dossett is going to go in and remove my tailbone. “It was one of those things that really couldn’t wait. It became dangerous to not only my health in the sport but my overall health. It was something that had to be done, I really had no other option.” O’Connell said having surgery at this point will allow him to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo scheduled for Dec. 2-11 in Las Vegas. “That’s not really a goal, that’s when I’m going to be back regardless,” O’Connell said. “I’ll be back for the opening round of the NFR. My plans haven’t changed for winning a gold buckle this year. I’ll have four months to take off, recover, get myself ready, and we can throw down in Vegas.” Three-time world champion Tim O’Connell out until NFR Sidelined

O’Connell

Award-winning secretary/timer Crowder passes Brenda Crowder, the 2019 PRCA Secretary of the Year and 2020 Timer of the Year, passed away Aug. 21 in Stephenville, Texas. She was 69. loved helping the guys with anything they needed. She loved all the committees and contractors she worked for.” Judy Crowder Jackson, Brenda’s sister, is also a rodeo timer.

Crowder, who was a timer at the National Finals Rodeo in 2001, had been involved as a PRCA secretary and timer since 1974. She was the secretary at the 2020 National Finals Steer Roping in Mulvane, Kan. “She grew up in Dallas, and then after that we moved all over,” said Shawna Ray, Brenda’s daughter and the 2019 PRCA Timer of the Year. “Her dad, Bill (Crowder), was a roper, and her mom, Pat, was a rodeo secretary. That’s how she got involved with rodeo. What she loved most about the rodeo business was all the guys. She loved every one of them. She

“We get to travel all over the country working rodeos together,” Brenda said before working the Jr. NFR in June. “This is the best life that I can imagine living. We have so much fun together, and I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.” Brenda worked the RAM Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo for years and was most recently working as a secretary and timer for Stace Smith Pro Rodeos. Brenda is survived by her sister, Judy; brother, Dale; daughter, Shawna Ray; and son, Billy Jack Ray.

ProRodeo Sports News 9/3/2021

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