November 2007

November 20, 2007

Well Dallas ended in disappointment for my traveling partner Billy (Bugenig). If you recall in my last blog I told you that he had torn his pectoral muscle the day before heading to Dallas. He hung tough and played through the pain, but came up empty handed at the pay window. Matt Reeves won the first round and passed Billy in the world standings knocking him to 16th in the world. All Billy needed was a fourth place check and he would qualify for his first Wrangler NFR. However, it wasn’t meant to be and as they say things happen for a reason. Billy had surgery the Thursday following Dallas (Nov. 15) and he is anxious to return to the arena. Here’s hoping that Billy will be back in 2008 better than ever and will make it to the big show in Las Vegas.

This past weekend (Nov. 16-18) we had our Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo. Normally, our circuit finals aren’t until January but with the PRCA ending the season earlier, everything got moved up. I didn’t have a very good circuit finals. I broke the barrier in the first round to place but came back to win the second round. Unfortunately, I broke the barrier in the third round, so I am hoping I got all the bad stuff out of the way before the NFR. With the circuit finals behind me, my focus turns to the Wrangler NFR. The rodeo doesn’t get started until Thursday, Dec. 6, but we have meetings and check-in events starting on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Some of you have asked what horse I plan on using at the Finals. Well, you guessed it I will be using Jesse Peterson’s horse, Gunner, at the Finals. When I was hunting up in Dillon (Mont.) back in October, I got a call from Jesse wondering if I wanted to come run some on him. I told Jesse that I haven’t ran one practice steer on Gunner and have won over $150,000, so I don’t think I will start practicing on him now. I don’t plan on taking Skids to Vegas because fortunately, we only live 6 hours away, so we can get him to Vegas pretty easily if we need to.

In thinking back to when I won the world in 2004, it was a race between me and Jason Lahr. Teddy Johnson got close, but the big hype was me and Jason, me and Jason. In my opinion, it is me and the rest of the guys, the Top 15. I don’t think you could lock down two people in a race this year, especially with the rounds paying like they do and the type of steers we run out there. There are so many things that could go wrong, hopefully nothing goes wrong for anyone, but that is just the way rodeo is. I hope I can do what I did last year at the Finals but hopefully, this time come out on top. I wish everyone the best of luck.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Remember to catch all the Wrangler NFR action on ESPN2 or log onto www.prorodeoradio.net and listen to it live in the comfort of your home. For a complete TV schedule visit www.prorodeo.com. Anyone interested in having a 2007 Wrangler NFR Fantasy Team be sure to pick your team before Dec. 6 at www.profantasyrodeo.com.

I plan to update you as often as I can from the Wrangler NFR to give you a little insider’s look at what we do during rodeo’s biggest event.

Talk to you from Las Vegas,

Luke

November 9, 2007

Since Omaha I have been doing a lot of hunting. I went to Tehachapi, Calif., for about a week and a half, went home and practiced a little bit and relaxed for about a week and then went to Montana for a week. Got home and started getting ready for Dallas.

My dad, John, and I got a couple bull elk and mule deer in Montana and a couple black tail in Tehachapi. We have had a ball. We make elk burgers and in fact, a lot of the family likes elk, so that is sometimes their Christmas presents. It makes it pretty nice.

It has been really nice having this time off. You know the last couple years, even when the season didn’t end in September, we would still take hunting trips in between the rodeos. This year it was nice not worrying about missing a rodeo. This year, I wasn’t too concerned about getting geared up for the ‘08 season in October, so it worked out well. We went up and stayed with Brad Gleason’s parents, Ruby and Larry, for a couple days and we just had a ball. Then we went to a good friend of my dad’s, Ray Marxer, who works there in Dillon. Visiting people that I didn’t know well but my dad grew up with was special for me and it was fun listening to the old stories. I have been into hunting my whole life and remember going with my dad as a kid. He taught me everything I know.

A few people have asked me about the fires in San Diego. Luckily, we don’t live close so the only thing we saw of it was the smoke in the area. However, we were close to the big fires that started in July and kept burning until August. That one burned almost to our fence line.

We flew to Dallas on Thursday. Dallas is an important rodeo for several reasons but one is that we will be running similar steers in Dallas as Las Vegas and the start is pretty much the same. My main concern in Dallas though is that Billy (Bugenig) makes it into the NFR. He is 15th coming into Dallas and there is one guy, Matt Reeves, who can pass him. A day before coming to Dallas, Billy tore his pectoral muscle in the practice pen. We spent the first two days in Dallas seeing Dr. Tandy Freeman and getting an MRI done. It is hurt, but Billy is going to compete and I am just trying to keep a positive atmosphere around him to get him through it all.

There are a couple guys behind me that could pass me here in Dallas, but if Billy gets to the NFR I am not concerned if I enter the NFR in third or fifth. I just want him to get there this year. Hopefully, he will be able to draw the right steer and get a good start to give him a chance. That is the thing with a torn pectoral muscle, if you get a little bit of a wide start it is tough to recover. He just needs one fourth place check and he will be alright.

As long as I have been competing I had never heard of a pectoral muscle being torn from the bone. I had heard of some tearing it a little but then in 2005, I tore mine off the bone. Since then the others that have done it include Casey McMillen, Dean Gorsuch (earlier this year), Rhett Kennedy (California circuit guy), I heard that Dane Hanna tore his and now Billy. It was something you never heard about but now it seems like it is happening to everyone. I don’t want to hear about it with me and I don’t want to hear it about anyone else because I know what they are going to have to go through to get back. Mine feels great and Tandy told me that mine is probably stronger now than it was before the injury in terms of the attachment.

So we will see what happens in Dallas. Check back next week to see how it went for Billy and I.

Luke