PRORODEO Sports News | January 24, 2025

MANAGER’S MESSAGE TRACY RENCK 1995 was a year to remember, especially at rodeos T he year was 1995 – actor Brad Pitt was voted People magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year and Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” was the top song of the year. Braveheart with Mel Gibson won the Oscar for Channel Plus App. Now let’s flash back to February of 1995 to the Southwestern Exposition Livestock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas – renamed the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Legendary Ty Murray had a rodeo to remember.

best picture and Toy Story , Pixar’s first feature-length film and the first computer-animated film in history, was released. Also: • O.J. Simpson’s trial captivated audiences • ER, Seinfeld and Friends were the most popular TV shows. • eBay debuted on the internet • Starbucks released the frozen Frappuccino It’s crazy that those events happened 30 years ago. Well, in the world of rodeo – specifically the PRCA – future ProRodeo Hall of Famers were making noise on the trail in January and February. At that year’s National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, the tie-down roping average champion was Joe Beaver. Beaver was a five-time PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Champion (1985, 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1993) at that time. Beaver clocked a 28.6-second time on three head. He left town after earning $10,388. That paycheck helped propel Beaver to his first PRCA All-Around World Championship in 1995. He claimed the coveted title with $141,753 to edge second place ProRodeo Hall of Famer Roy Cooper ($108,734). Beaver won his final two world championships in his storied career in the all-around in 1996 and 2000. It was worth noting in Denver in 1995, the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo sold a record 190,083 tickets over 12 performances from Jan. 11-22. The 2025 NWSSR concludes Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. (MT) at the Denver Coliseum and can be seen on The Cowboy Channel or streamed on the PRCA on The Cowboy

A 25-year-old Murray split second in the third round of saddle bronc riding to pocket $1,833 and then placed in the first two rounds and won the short round of bull riding to grab another $10,771. In the bulls, Murray won the average with 249 points on three head, defeating second place and fellow future ProRodeo Hall of Famer Jim Sharp, who had 234 points on three head. Unfortunately for Murray, his 1995 PRCA season ended abruptly the third week of June when he tore a knee ligament. Murray, who had won six straight all-around world championships (1989-94) as well as a world bull riding title in 1993, underwent knee surgery June 30 to repair a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. That was part of a slew of injuries suffered by Murray later in his career, but he did show his true grit by bouncing back to win his final two career PRCA World Championships in 1998 – in the all-around and bull riding. Cowboys will make more memories at the 2025 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which began Jan. 24 and concludes Feb. 8. Maybe the next Ty Murray is lurking in the wings or Stetson Wright – a modern-day Ty Murray – will reestablish his dominance at Dickies Arena. It is worth noting that Wright is only one PRCA World Championship away from tying Murray who has nine. Until next time.

Tracy Renck is the Manager of Communications and Media. He previously served three years as the editor of the ProRodeo Sports News , and before that he spent seven years as a media coordinator at the

PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism.

ProRodeo Sports News 1/24/2025

ProRodeo.com

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