Kings of the Farm

Great - now I have this song stuck in my head. Substitute 'farm' for 'road'. Capice?

If you don't already know, this week is NFR week. National Finals Rodeo. The Big Show. Super Bowl of rodeo.  You get the point. The NFR is shown exclusively on Great American Country (thank God, I was so tired of waiting up till midnight for it to start when ESPN had the rights to it) and on Saturday night, the guest hosts were two boys from the show Farm Kings.

Basically, the show follows a family (The Kings, get it?) as they do their daily farm chores. The Kings own and operate Freedom Farms where they strive to provide Pittsburgh with the freshest produce around. There are TEN KIDS and the mom who do all the work - I haven't seen an episode but I would be willing to bet that Mom is one tough cookie (seriously, ten kids).

I only found out about the series because I upped my DIRECTV subscription for 10 days so I could watch the NFR. After December 15th, it's sayonara GAC and Farm Kings, too. I'll have to DVR a few episodes so I can get the lo-down. For those of you who, like me, are cheap and have the bare bones cable package, here is a clip of Farm Kings you can watch. Maybe it will entice you to upgrade!



Has anyone out there seen a whole episode? What did you think?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. My rodeo man crush, Trevor, is pursuing his 10th all-around title. For more info on his awesomeness, check out previous posts. I'm also a big fan of first time NFR qualifier Jared Keylon. Jared was my boyfriend's roommate when we were at Fort Scott Community College and lived next door. You'll never meet a more hard working, determined bareback rider than Jared. He's making a solid showing at this year's NFR and you can bet he'll be back for more in future years.

Other faves I am loving right now:
Cory Solomon - calf roping
Kelli Tolbert - barrel racing (that horse can eat up a third barrel)
Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith - team roping
Chad Masters and Clay O'Brien Cooper - team roping
Tuf Cooper - calf roping 

He's on fire...

It's no secret that I love Trevor Brazile (Examples 1, 2 and 3) and this week allows me to express my infatuation to the utmost level.  The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is this week (actually the 1st round was last Thursday and the final round is this Saturday) and I've watched every run of every event in every round (except the bullriding - but that's another story).

Trevor went into the NFR on track to win his world record 8th PRCA All-Around title.  In Round 2, Trevor finished second in team roping and sixth in tie-town roping, clinching his 8th All Around title (and passing former record holder Ty Murray). Those placings boosted Trevor's season earnings to $323,527, making it fiscally impossible for him to be caught by the rest of the pack.  To read more about his record breaking night click here.

Trevor's amazingness didn't end in Round 2 though- look at these stats!
   Round 3 -  1st in the team roping - 4.2 seconds
   Round 4 -  6th in the team roping - 4.3 seconds
   Round 5 -  1st in the calf roping - 6.9 seconds AND 3rd in the team roping - 3.8 seconds!

Like I said, he's on fire! Not only is he a world champion roper, he's a class act. When asked how he felt after clinching #8 he said that he was thankful to God for giving him the abilities to accomplish his dreams. He also thanked his family for their support and said it was a big moment for his fans and family.  Ty Murray made this comment, "Trevor Brazile is the Peyton Manning of rodeo," Murray said. "Like Peyton Manning, he's a clean-cut athlete who outworks everybody on top of having great talent. When you work hard like he does, that means you blow everybody out of the water." How can you not love him?!
If you want to get in on the NFR action, Round 6 airs tonight at 9 pm (CST) on ESPN Classic - for those of you who don't have Classic, it replays on ESPN2 at midnight (CST). I hope you'll tune in and cheer for your favorite competitors!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. -- It's been recently brought to my attention that I appear to only like Trevor Brazile and no others.  Not true.  I am also a huge fan of the following NFR competitors:
 -- Will Lowe - bareback rider (he's a KS cowboy)
 -- Kory Koontz - team roper
 -- Billy Etbauer - saddle bronc rider (not entered but is still amazing)
 -- Jeanne Anderson - very good friend of the Buzzard family
 -- Sherri Cervi
 -- all 3 Cooper boys -- Clint, Clif and Tuf

I love Brazile!

No, not the country (although my friend Stacie Wenig has told me of it's beauty).  The Brazile I'm talking about is none other than Trevor Brazile, 7 time PRCA All-Around Champion.

For those of you that don't know, I've rodeoed my entire life.  I went to my first one when I was two weeks old, got my first pony at the age of 2 and have been competing ever since.  I breakaway rope, team rope and occasionally will tie a goat or even run barrels (that's a whole different post though).  This lifetime obsession culminates every year when the NFR comes to Las Vegas for 10 nights full of rodeo action and this year the NFR was a thriller!

The 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) was full of surprises and record breaking performances.  For example, the previous world record for team roping was 3.5 seconds held by several teams - it was broken, not once but twice, in the 9th round.  The record now stands at 3.3 - I want you to think abou that.  That team who roped in 3.3 seconds, Chad Masters and Jade Corkill, nodded for their steer and then caught the head and heels, faced their horses and got their flag dropped under 4 seconds.  Most girls can't catch a calf that fast, let alone both ends. 

<-- He's the man - Trevor Brazile

Another thriller this year was my fave, Trevor Brazile (swoon) winning his 7th All-Around title. He is now tied with Ty Murray (you all know him right?) for most AA titles won.  He now also has 11 world championships, tying him for third place on the career list with Dean Oliver and Charmayne James. Ninety percent (or more) of professional cowboys and cowgirls will never win one gold buckle, and Trevor has won eleven.  Too bad he's married.....

Lastly, Lee Graves squeezed by reigning world champion steer wrestler Luke Branquinho to win the 2009 world title.  This is in large part to Branquinho's controversial run in the 10th round.  Branquinho was give a NT (no time) because he wasn't touching the steer when all four legs were pointing the same direction.  Luke's NT gave Lee the window he needed to make a solid run and win the gold buckle.

I would have loved to be at the NFR like my friend Crystal, unfortunately I'm in grad school and have no money.  But if you want to know more about the excitement that is the NFR, visit Crystal's blog.

If you want to learn more about PRCA rodeo, visit http://www.prorodeo.com/ - start following some of the competitors and maybe someday you'll be as obsessed as I am!

Until next time,
~Buzzard~