The cheering and the shouting dies,
The cowboys and the fans depart,Still stands a few who can't be beat,
They've been the leaders from the start.
LAS VEGAS - After 10 grueling, high speed days of high pressure competition against the best of the best in the world of professional rodeo, two of rodeo's superstars - Charmayne Rodman from Galt, Calif., world champion barrel racer, and Ty Murray from Stephenville, Texas, world champion all around cowboy - demonstrated their talent once again.
Murray, competing in the PRCA's year-end Super bowl in Las Vegas, was crowned world champion for the fifth consecutive time against a field of over 8,500 competitors world wide. Murray won an unprecedented $297,890 for his year-end riding efforts, beating his own high water mark of $258,750, set in 1991.
And this youthful pro, barely 24 and looking more like 18, did it the hardest possible way ever, competing in all three of rodeo's rough stock events, bare back riding, saddle bronc riding and Brahma bull riding. Murray dominated the bull riding competition, being crowned individual champion in that even, netting him almost half of his overall winnings, $124,654.
For its numbers and hazards involved, rodeo has few equals, but surprisingly has only had 20 fatalities in the past 20 years with most of these coming in bull riding. In fact, in the world series of rodeo, held in Las Vegas this past week, three of it's top bull riders were carried off the field on a stretcher. They were Charlie Sampson, Ted Nuce and Tuff Hedeman, and all of them were wearing past championship buckles.