ProRodeo Sports News - November 2, 2018

IN HIS OWNWORDS: JEFF ASKEY BULL RIDER EAGER FOR RETURN TO LASVEGAS

Bull rider Jeff Askey, 30, will make his second trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Dec. 6-15, after finishing the 2018 regular season with $107,387, enough to place him sixth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. Askey’s first trip to the NFR came in 2016. But a broken arm and a broken shoulder blade in 2017 limited his time on the rodeo trail and prevented him from qualifying last year. The Pennsylvania native who now lives in Athens, Texas, is ready to get back to the Thomas & Mack Center.

messing with stuff, making it a little better as we go. It’s on 10 acres out in the country. I have leased land on each side of it. I have about 115 acres if you count the leased land. I bought the property in June of last year, about the same week I broke my arm. I painted a room or two, did some projects like that while I was hurt. I felt good late in the fall. I got healed from the shoulder blade, but there was nothing to go to until January. Some people, when they take time off, they like to get on practice bulls, stuff like that. Some people worry about it if they’ve been off a few months. I’ve never been like that. It seems like if I’m off a few months for an injury, I’ll come back and be riding like I was when I got injured. I never worry about it. I just jump back in the mix of things. I feel like if you’re unsure about it, then you’re mentally beating yourself. My first NFR experience was a blast. I didn’t have a very good Finals, but the experience was awesome. I’m looking forward to going back and doing a little better on the competition side and taking in the experience, taking in the sites and experiencing the social side of things. How do I catch the guys ahead of me? That’s simple, stay on. That’s the same mentality. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first day of the season in October or the last day of the season in Round 10, your mission is to always stay on. It doesn’t matter who has what won or who has what lead. At the end of the day, you’re not going to advance in the standings or financially if you don’t stay on your bull. You can’t worry about what the other person is doing or how much they have, because your job is the same every time.

I n Pennsylvania, I grew up around horses and I had a friend whose dad rode bulls. He started riding bulls at junior rodeos, and I hung out with him all the time. He had a junior rodeo at his house, which was about 15 minutes frommy house. I was 13. I went there and entered that junior rodeo and never looked back. I was hooked as soon as I got on. I was like, I’ve got to go buy the stuff. When I got on that first one, I was using borrowed spurs, borrowed everything. I got done that day and I was shopping for rope, chaps and all the stuff. I was hunting it all up and ordering it all. By the next rodeo I was ready to go. I broke my arm the first week of June in 2017. That took me out until mid-August. I rodeoed about a month, then broke my should blade. I missed the height of the summer run and then the little fall run. It’s always frustrating because you want to be out there riding, winning money, making a living. At the same time, I was trying to get some stuff done. I bought my first house, so I had some stuff I could work on and spend time on. My house isn’t the Taj Mahal, but I like it. I’m always tinkering with it,

ProRodeo Sports News 11/2/2018

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