ProRodeo Sports News - January 25, 2019

BY THE NUMBERS Cowboys who were in the top 20 at the end of January often qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the end of the season. Below are the number of cowboys who reached either the Wrangler NFR or the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping after finishing January among the top 20:

LUKE BROWN – TEAM ROPING HEADING Age: 44 Hometown: Rock Hill, S.C. Joined PRCA: 1998 Career earnings: $2,042,131 “I think that you only go to about 15 rodeos before Reno anyway, so the rest are the other 60 we usually go to. We really start in the summer, but the ones in the winter are great rodeos like Fort Worth and San Antonio, and if you do good at them it adds up fast. You don’t want to go all winter and not win anything, but if you go to Denver and get $10,000 and then do a couple more, you have a huge advantage going into Reno. “Everyone gets the same amount of rodeos, but from Reno to the end of the year you might have to go to rodeos that don’t pay as good as the big ones. If you go to the big ones in the winter (and don’t do well), it really doesn’t matter, because some guys do good in the summer, but had almost nothing won before Reno. “It doesn’t matter when you do good, you have to do good at some point, but the self-comfort level going into Reno makes it not near as stressful. There have been a couple of years I haven’t had a good winter, and the different

Bareback riding 2018: 9 2017: 8 2016: 10 Steer wrestling 2018: 6 2017: 8 2016: 5

mind frame where you really have to buckle down and make things happen, that’s not near as fun. It’s more stressful, but it happens every year. But it sure makes it a lot more fun when you’ve got $20,000-40,000 won before Reno.”

JOE FROST – BULL RIDING Age: 26 Hometown: Randlett, Utah Joined PRCA: 2012

Team roping heading 2018: 6 2017: 9 2016: 7 T eam roping heeling 2018: 6 2017: 10 2016: 6 Saddle bronc riding 2018: 9 2017: 9 2016: 6

Career earnings: $1,194,016 “The biggest thing that has helped is the circuit finals. I have done well there so you have a cushion to start off with $7,000-10,000 in November. Consistency at the winter rodeos is a bonus that helps, you don’t have to have it, but it makes it nicer going into the spring and summer having a little bit won. “I always use the approach of looking at the winter money as bonus money, Joe Beaver told that to me. In the summer you fight for position, when it counts is August and September. I’ve had years where I hardly won anything in the winter and I’ve had years where I basically had the Finals made by June.

Tie-down roping 2018: 8 2017: 8 2016: 7

“You start to get a little nervous if you haven’t got a lot won. Last year, I was out of the top 20 going into the Fourth of July and hadn’t had good breaks and hadn’t ridden good. But you learn that the law of consistency will eventually turn your way if you do your job enough. The table has to turn, and you’ll get lucky somewhere, the good luck will come. “If you have a good winter, it changes a guy’s outlook from your goal of making the NFR to all of a sudden you are racing for a world title. That’s when making the

Steer roping 2018: 10 2017: 10 2016: 9

NFR, I don’t want to say is easy, but it’s easier because you’re not stressed – you’re thinking about the world title and looking at the top spots as opposed to the bottom.”

Bull riding 2018: 11

2017: 7 2016: 5

ProRodeo Sports News 1/25/2019

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