ProRodeo Sports News - November 19, 2021

RETURNING TO VEGAS

And he’s far from the only one ready to return to

familiar surroundings.

“I’m glad to be bulldogging back in theThomas &Mack,” said steer wrestler Stockton Graves of Alva, Okla. “This is where my career started.” Graves. 42, earned his PRCA card in 1997 and qualified for his first Wrangler NFR in 2004 and went on to reach rodeo’s Super Bowl the next six years. Now, he’s back after a decade-long absence. And boy, has Las Vegas changed since he first went. “After my first go-round win, the buckle ceremony was at the Gold Coast (Hotel and Casino) because the South Point wasn’t even built yet,” Graves recalled. “Those days were pretty cool. A lot of the guys now don’t go to the Gold Coast. They don’t know where it is. Back when I first made it, the Gold Coast was the place you wanted to be. “That’s my first big memory, getting

QUOTABLE “To go back and feel that positive, electrifying energy in the Thomas & Mack and have those people right on top of you, it’s going to be damn fun riding some bucking horses. I don’t think I’ve been so excited for the NFR since my first trip (in 2008), to have as much motivation as I do right now.”

my round buckle at the Gold Coast. Now, it’s a different town, but there’s nothing like it.” There’s also nothing like the payoff the Wrangler NFR provides, as compared to regular-season rodeos. In 2021, the NFR will payout $10.25 million upon its return to Las Vegas. Just getting a chance to compete for a shot at that record purse can quickly change the course of one’s season, regardless of winning a world title. “It’s about maybe getting out of the hole,” said veteran saddle bronc rider Cody DeMoss of Heflin, La., who’s making his 13thWrangler NFR appearance and first since 2017. “The past few seasons, I haven’t won quite enough, and it’s frustrating at the end. A lot of people don’t realize, you see all the money that we can win. “But you don’t make any money when

– Kaycee Feild

you finish 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th and so on. Those guys have to go home and sell a lot of stuff or get a job to make ends meet sometimes. “I’m just glad to be part of it this year, and I remember a lot of energy in that little building.” Since qualifying last in 2017, DeMoss, 40, finished 23rd in both 2018 and 2019 and 16th in 2020. He’s also finished runner-up four times during his illustrious career that dates to 1999. So now that they’re coming back, where have they been waiting to go, besides theThomas &Mack Center? “We’d go to places we liked, but for my birthday, which always is during the NFR, we’d make it a point to go toThe Cheesecake Factory and get a Snickers cheesecake,” Graves said. “It’s not a superstition, just one of those deals you do every time you’re there.” Added Feild: “My wife and I love to go to Michael’s at the South Point or The Chandler (Steakhouse) at the MGM. We’re just looking forward to having a big Vegas dinner and having a few date nights there for the first time in a while. And I’m really excited for the guys who are making it for the first time or made it for the first time last year in Dallas. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say about their first time in Vegas.”

The Wrangler NFR has recorded more than 330 consecutive sold-out performances at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Greg Westfall

WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO Back Mack to the (Thomas) and

BY KEVIN CARMODY, Special to ProRodeo Sports News T he boys are back in town. One year after coronavirus restrictions moved the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge from its longtime home at theThomas &Mack Center in Las Vegas to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the wildly popular event is making its much- anticipated return to Las Vegas. This time around, Dec. 2-11, Vegas will once again become the epicenter of all things rodeo, and many veteran cowboys are a bit nostalgic about a return to normalcy. “To go back and feel that positive, electrifying energy in the Thomas & Mack and have those people right on top of you, it’s going to be damn fun riding some bucking Cowboys reminisce on return to Vegas

horses,” said Kaycee Feild, the reigning and five-time world champion bareback rider. “I don’t think I’ve been so excited for the NFR since my first trip (in 2008), to have as much motivation as I do right now.” Feild, of Genola, Utah, has a special place in his heart for Las Vegas; his late father, Lewis, won the first three world all-around championships after the NFR moved fromOklahoma City to Las Vegas in 1985. He also claimed bareback riding world titles in 1985-86 and was enshrined into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1992. “I’m very excited for this,” said Feild, 34, who enters his 12thWrangler NFR ranked fourth in the PRCA|RAMWorld Standings. “I remember dad talking about it with his friends, how awesome it was going fromOklahoma City to Las Vegas. I have a lot of emotions toward this year.”

ProRodeo Sports News 11/19/2021

DEC. 2-11, 2021

ProRodeo Sports News 11/19/2021

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