ProRodeo Sports News - Nov.20, 2020

DIRECTOR’S CUT SCOTT KANIEWSKI

Finals in Texas will cap off challenging season W elp, here we are – Finals time! I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but we’ve made it. The first ride of the 2020Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is just days away. Not bad The natural who won the all-around title as a rookie in 2019 is in third heading into the Finals, yet will be competing in two events this season. Wright qualified in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He’ll be trying to track down leader Tuf Cooper, while two-time defending Team Roping Heading World Champion Clay Smith is also in the hunt.

for an event that many thought might not happen. Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, is about to host the world’s biggest annual rodeo. It’ll be the first time since 1985 that the National Finals Rodeo doesn’t take place in Las Vegas. Like anything new, I’m guessing there will be some growing pains over the first several nights. It likely won’t be perfect. But does anyone care? Isn’t the fact that this rodeo is going to happen perfect enough? Prepare yourself for changes aplenty. If you’ve been reading ProRodeo.com daily you’ll have noticed the stories about the NFR round records and how those are unlikely to fall this year in the timed events because the arena in Arlington is bigger (like so many other things in Texas Texans like to remind us). Want to know more about those dimensions and the difference between Globe Life Field and theThomas & Mack Center? Check out page 42. Dedicated fans probably also know that this is the first time since 2003 that multiple cowboys fromAustralia have qualified for the Finals. Read about them on page 50. Then there are a few story lines that aren’t so new. Sage Kimzey is gunning for his seventh consecutive PRCA bull riding world title. The champ heads to the Finals in the same place he’s always been – on top. Kimzey’s lead this year is less than $3,000 over Ky Hamilton, one of those Australians in his Finals debut. Defending all-around champ StetsonWright is also back.

This season has been a strange one, no doubt. But it’s shaping up to be a fun finale. Only tie-down roping seems to possibly be out of reach. But even Shad Mayfield’s lead of just under $90,000 isn’t insurmountable at the Wrangler NFR. Every event is certainly up for grabs. Even the ones where a leader has about $30,000 are yet to be decided. What makes it more exciting is the unknown – no one knows how the arena is going to affect the competition; no one knows what it’ll be like being in Arlington. There is no routine this year. Some cowboys have said they’ll stay home and commute to the arena. Others have said they could do that but they’re opting to stay in a hotel to treat it like any other year. The amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes to get this thing done has been that of a small army. And it’s not just the rodeo that has demanded the utmost detail. The ProRodeo Zone, awards banquets, galas, welcome reception, gold buckle ceremonies – all of it has had to be built from the ground up. And don’t forget, the Herculean effort is all being done under the watchful eyes of fans, members and the state of Texas. Everyone wants to make sure this thing goes off as close to perfect as possible and as safe as possible. The Wrangler NFR is heading back to its roots. So … let’s rodeo!

Scott Kaniewski is the Media Director at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He previously served more than two years as the editor of ProRodeo Sports News. He has nearly two decades of experience in sports journalism, with the last few being consumed by ProRodeo.

12 ProRodeo Sports News 11/20/2020

WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO