ProRodeo Sports News - May 4, 2018

ANNOUNCERS

Wayne Brooks, right, has announced at plenty of prestigious rodeos,

Sounding Off

including the RAM NCFR in Kissimmee, Fla., April 5-8. PRCA ProRodeo Photo by Billie-Jean Duff

BY MATT NABER F rom the back of the parking lot to the front of the stands and down into the chutes, the rodeo announcer’s presence is everywhere. Though fans and competitors might not always be able to see them, it’s their job to keep the crowd informed and entertained from start to finish. Like every rodeo having a different vibe, each announcer brings a different style to paint a picture of what’s happening in the arena, so newcomers and lifelong fans alike can know what’s going on. Four of ProRodeo’s announcers shared what it’s like behind the mic and how they got there. Tucker Reese, 20, the youngest ProRodeo announcer, and Ty Miller, 21, share a similar experience in getting their names out there and their voices heard. Two of the biggest names in rodeo announcing, Wayne Brooks and Randy Corley, were in the same position as Reese and Miller not too long ago and they reflected on what it took to go from the “weekend warrior” schedule to announcing on rodeo’s biggest stages. Announcers bring voice to ProRodeo

TUCKER REESE Born: Sept. 22, 1997 Hometown: Hugo, Okla. Joined PRCA: June 2016 THE NEWBIES

Rodeos announced: The Blackhawk Casino ProRodeo and Xtreme Bulls in Shawnee, Okla. (May 2017), and the Northeast Texas PRCA Rodeo in Bogata, Texas (Sept. 2016) When did you announce your first rodeo? My mom drove me to my first rodeo. It started in FFA with speech contests. Then a guy needed me to announce a benefit bull riding in Pauls Valley, Okla., and I did that when I was 15. My voice changed a lot between then and now, and luckily it changed for the better.

How does your young age influence your announcing? Everyone has someone to look up to and watch –Wayne Brooks, Randy Corley, Bob Tallman, Hadley Barrett, when he was with us. You take a lot from those guys and put it into your own way. You listen to the older guys and the things they say, and you try to paint a picture. Most of it comes off the fly and we may be just as surprised as you when we say it. I am not big on scripts, but I’ll have notes on the guy for where he was and what he’s won. We have the PRCAMedia Guide for stats and the Internet. It’s easy to get those stats, but you have to know when to place them and use them, as well. What’s the best advice you’ve been given? We were in Fort Worth (Texas) for the Stock Show, and Bob Tallman said, ‘to remember it’s the N-F-R, ’Nother Freaking Rodeo.’ Just announce it like anything else. What are your goals as an announcer and how do you plan to achieve them? I would love to do this for a living, and it’s a hard business to make a living at. But, to make the goals happen you have to keep on it and bump elbows and have to know people, just as you would at any other

ProRodeo Sports News 5/4/18

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