ProRodeo Sports News - September 16, 2022

70TH ANNIVERSARY PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS

looked at every single one cover-to-cover. It was kind of funny when I started rodeoing, the first thing I did was get the Sports News and start circling entry dates. It kind of changes over time.” Vin acknowledged when he made the cover of the PSN in 2016, it was quite the thrill. “I got on there one time and that’s a goal I think everybody in the world probably secretly has wanted to be on the cover of the Sports News one time,” Vin said. “I got there one time for winning (the National Circuit Finals Steer Roping) and that was one of the highlights of my career being on the cover of the Sports News . It was really cool.” Sage Kimzey, the reigning PRCAWorld Champion Bull Rider and seven-time champ, has Kimzey

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supposed to read, or you should read. This was something you had to read, or you were going to have to get a job. You were absolutely terrified of missing the books. You have to remember it is not like we were riding in cars that were going but 50 mph. The freeway system wasn’t really up and running and good in the United States. We were going to 150-plus rodeos a year. You could leave a lot of stuff in the hotel room, but it wasn’t going to be the ( ProRodeo Sports News ). It might be your shaving kit, but not the Sports News .” Gay is PRCA’s all-time bull riding world champion with eight titles in 1974-77, 1979-81 and 1984. Fellow ProRodeo Hall of Fame bull rider Tuf Hedeman concurred with Gay. Hedeman won PRCA world crowns in 1986, 1989 and 1991. “Growing up the ( ProRodeo Sports News ) is all we had,” Hedeman said. “You didn’t have all these avenues with non-stop 24/7 news. You knew when the ( ProRodeo Sports News ) was going to come and it was the bible pretty much. We got everything from (the PSN ), 100 percent of our information from it. Not just to see who was winning and what was going on, but you read to see where the rodeos were and when the entries opened and when they closed. It was everything. “You couldn’t do anything online and if you missed the entries by two minutes at the biggest rodeo of the year, then you missed the entries. You had to pay attention to when the entries opened and closed and where you were at. You might be somewhere (in the middle of nowhere) where you might not have phone service. When I was rodeoing, I always did all the entering and travel because I wasn’t going to leave it to chance.” PSN HAS NEVER LOST ITS IMPORTANCE Tuf Cooper, a three-time world champion tie down roper in 2011-12, 2014 and all-around champ in 2017, was well aware of the ProRodeo Sports News as the son of Roy “Super Looper” Cooper. Roy is a ProRodeo Hall of Famer. Roy was the tie-down roping PRCAWorld Champion in 1976, 1980-84, and the steer roping and all-around champion in 1983. “70 years of the ProRodeo Sports News , that’s crazy,” Tuf said. “In my household growing up they would send the Sports News every 30 days and when I was growing up that day that Sports News arrived at the house was the day our summer or next few months got scheduled because all the rodeos were in there. Between my mom and dad, it was a fight to see who could read it first. You were so interested in the stories and what’s going on in the industry and the

been an avid reader of the ProRodeo Sports News since he was a little kid. “The PSN means a lot,” Kimzey said. “It was the magazine I grew up with and saw all my heroes in. All I ever wanted to do growing up was to be a rodeo cowboy and the PSN is the flagship magazine to see everything professional rodeo. When I made my first ( PSN ) Steer Wrestler, made a name for himself in the PSN , especially when he was on the cover as – Sid Rock. Now, Sid is back traveling around the country with his rookie phenom son, bareback rider Rocker, 18. Sid’s father, Bobby Steiner, was the 1973 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion. “To get on the cover

cover it was pretty special. I’m pretty sure it was when I won the San Antonio Xtreme Bulls and the San Antonio rodeo in my rookie year in 2014. It kind of validated my career more than anything. It was a surreal moment being in the same place with all my heroes.” Sid Steiner, the 2002 PRCAWorld Champion

“The Sports News was life, you didn’t go anywhere without it,” Tuf said. “I still don’t go anywhere without one. It is one of the essentials for a rodeo cowboy. When I made my first PSN cover my rookie year at the end of the season when I won Omaha, it was the coolest thing ever.” Veteran steer roper Vin Fisher Jr. shared the same love for the ProRodeo Sports News as Tuf. Vin has qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping 18 times, his father Dan 16 times and younger brother J. Tom nine times. “I tell you what when I was a kid, I checked the mail waiting for the ProRodeo Sports News to come in every day,” Vin said. “There was no internet or no access of who was in the Top 15 or who won the major rodeos or anything. There wasn’t much rodeo on TV like there is now except the (NFR). So, when we got that Sports News we would read that thing,

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“That’s a goal I think everybody in the world probably secretly has wanted to be on the cover of the Sports News one time. I got there one time for winning (the National Circuit Finals Steer Roping in 2016) and that was one the highlights of my career being on the cover of the Sports News. It was really cool.” – VIN FISHER JR., Veteran steer roper Photo courtesy Vin Fisher Jr. Steer roper Vin Fisher Jr., who has qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping 18 times, holds up the ProRodeo Sports News cover he appeared on in 2016.

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of the PSN back in my day, that was the pinnacle,” Sid said. “We didn’t have social media, we didn’t have digital copies, we didn’t have any of that stuff. That was your lone exposure. “Plus, that’s how we entered rodeos. Your entries were in the PSN so if you made the cover, they (other cowboys) had to haul you around for a month and look at you while they were doing their entries. That was kind of a fun thing because if you made the cover the other cowboys had to haul you around with them.” Rocker made the cover of the 2022 September ProRodeo Sports News , and the significance wasn’t lost on Sid. “That was super special for me,” Sid said. “All my rodeo career that was what you wanted was the cover of the PSN, so to open up the mailbox and pull it out and see that picture and the joy in his face as a dad that’s all you want is to see your kids happy.”

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ProRodeo Sports News covered the Association. It is crazy how impactful a magazine with some features and a business journal can be on our industry. “Our artwork at our house was the covers of my dad on the Sports News . When I was a kid, we kept every Sports News . I would go back and read them, and it was so cool to look back. For me to read those stories in there and learn from them. They had a huge impact.” When Tuf hit the road – his rookie year was 2008 – the ProRodeo Sports News was always with him.

I’m talking front cover to back cover every one that we got. The only part we didn’t like was the part right in the middle of the old Sports News , the Business Journal with the long listings and short listings. “My dad would always get the Sports News and the first thing he would do is go through it every single time and circle every rodeo that had steer roping and write down the entry dates. We wanted to look at all the stories and pictures and see who won and he would always go to the Business Journal. As soon as he was done with it, he would let us have it. We

ProRodeo Sports News 9/16/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 9/16/2022

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