The first of December marks that first performance of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo held in Vegas.
Canadians will be there, and and at home following the finals but this year things will be different. It is the first year (in ages) that there has been only one Canadian competitor. Rest assured all the Canadian flags in the Thomas and Mack will be raised when Nanton, Alberta cowgirl Lindsay Sears rolls down the ally of the Thomas and Mack.
Current WPRA Standings going into 2011 NFR
Martha, while running for a world title last year injured herself in the 9th round. Taking the bulk of the season off, she came back stronger than ever at Reno to take over for Sears’ backup horse Moe. With the help of Martha, Sears earned another $60,000 to bring her season winnings to just $10,000 within Brittany Pozzi. The top three are all tight and we can expect the high money earner to flip flop back and forth all 10 days. Its no doubt that the average will be important. There is more than enough room for a spoiler to move in with only 3 round wins between the first and 15 place person (Tammy Fischer).
The field of barrel racers is stacked with past world champions and potent rookies! If Canadians are looking for a second barrel racer to root for you might consider those closest to the 49th parallel. Two rookies from the North will be there on their black mounts. First time qualifier and first North Dakotan to qualify is the barrel racing is Britany Fleck and her mare Rootie. Another first timer and first for her state is Jane Melby of Minnesota and her mare Beauty. You can bet there will be Canadian’s cheering for Jane as she has a special Canadian connection. Her mare is sired by Ninety Nine Goldmine owned by 1Y Quarter Horses (The Beirbach’s) from Maple Creek, SK.
We will have to stay tuned to see if we have any other Canadian connections down there at the NFR. I haven’t heard if any steer wrestling horses will be mounted or if any Canadians will be hazing so we’ll have to wait and see. If you notice any other Canadian Connections, drop a comment or email me and we can follow them too.
I will be reporting each day about NFR and posting any tidbits and videos I find. I am excited to say I will be covering some of the finals LIVE from VEGAS too.
Again this year PRO RODEO LIVE will be broadcasting the finals over the radio and internet so you can listen live there.
Figure out which channel its on for your provider.
The finals will be streamed in the US to the Great American Country channel and in Canada through SportsOne network.
Now – here’s the deal…… I can’t find the NFR listed on all these channels it is supposed to be on and its not listed on the schedule every day. I can find it Friday at 1 am for Mountain time people through Sportsnet West. For myself (on Bell in MB) I can’t find it on Sportsnet TV Guide at all. I’m not the greatest at the TV thing…..but just warning you in advance….I can’t promise we are all going to be able to see it! If you have any advice please comment. In our forum, a member had this to say: “sportsnet will air it at midnight and then it will be on the following day at 1pm, this is on sportnet west and on sportnet one it will not air at midnight but rerun the NFR at 12 noon look like each day. and it is aired on most providers”
Enjoy the NFR! It will be a great 10 days of rodeo action. We have a lead on getting some of the barrel racing on Youtube as well, so I’ll be sure to post those videos. They’ve been a hit in the past!
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Here is some video footage of the top 15 to get you barrel racers primed up for the finals.
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