GUY CLIFTON - RODEO

The Reno Rodeo has corralled one of the sport’s legends to help kick off the rodeo’s 85th year this June.

ProRodeo Hall of Famer Jim Shoulders will act as grand marshal of the annual Reno Rodeo parade, which will be held in downtown Reno on June 19.

“We’ve been after him for about two years,” said Tom Cates, 2004 President of the Reno Rodeo Association. “It finally worked out this year that he could make it.”

The theme of this year’s Reno Rodeo is “85 Years and Still a Nevada Tradition” and Cates said securing one of the sport’s greatest champions fits in perfectly with the theme.

Shoulders of Henryetta, Okla., won 16 world championships in his Hall of Fame career — a mark that stood for 44 years before steer roping legend Guy Allen won his 17th in 2003.

Shoulders captured all-around world championships in 1949, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959; bareback world titles in 1950, 1956, 1957 and 1958; and bull riding world titles in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959. He was also a reserve world champion (meaning he finished second) 10 times in his long career.

Shoulders competed in rodeo for 21 years, starting his career in 1949 and ending it in 1970. He was in the inaugural class of inductees when the ProRodeo Hall of Fame was created in 1979. He was also a popular figure in the old Miller Lite commercials that ran on television in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

He remains one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors, attending about 20 rodeos each year with his wife Sharron.

Shoulders’ appearance at the Reno Rodeo will mark a pair of anniversaries.

It will be the 50th anniversary of his only bull riding title in Reno (he won the bareback title in 1950). It will also mark 20 years since he last served as the grand marshal of the Reno Rodeo parade.

This year’s Reno Rodeo runs June 18-26. The championship go-round will be telecast on the Outdoor Life Network.

BFI PART OF TEAM ROPING SERIES: The Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic, which runs during the Reno Rodeo every year, is already considered one of the most prestigious team roping events in the country.

Now, thanks to the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., it’s part of a series that will bring it even more attention.

The BFI, as it is commonly known, will be the third stop of the USSTC Majors Challenge, a four-event series that features a $20,000 as the top prize.

The Majors Challenge involves four team-roping competitions — the George Strait Team Roping Classic, the Windy Ryon Memorial Team Roping, the Bob Feist Invitational and the U.S. Team Roping Championship (USTRC) Open Finals. At the conclusion of the USTRC Open Finals, the header and heeler with the fastest total time on 19 head will win $10,000 each.

Contestants will rope three head at the George Strait Team Roping Classic in San Antonio in March. The Windy Ryon is held in Fort Worth in May and will involve four runs. They will then travel to Reno in June to rope six steers at the Bob Feist Invitational Roping. The USTRC finals will be in Oklahoma City in October, where six runs will count towards the Majors Challenge.

“We wanted to bring something new to the table in team roping,” said Darrell Barron, western marketing promotions manager for U.S. Smokeless Tobacco. “These are some of the best events team roping has to offer. We’re very excited about this concept.”

It’s something the ropers are excited about as well.

“This is very cool,” said Rich Skelton, seven-time defending world champion heeler from Llano, Texas, who ropes with header Speed Williams of Amarillo, Texas. “This is a great concept and, I promise, we’re going to be running at that bonus.”

PBR UPDATE: Australian-turned-Texan (and former Reno Rodeo champion) Greg Potter captured the Professional Bull Riders’ Anaheim Open over the weekend at the Arrowhead Pond. Potter took home $29,245 for the victory.

He rode Salt River Rodeo Company’s Black Hawk for 88.5 points in the first round, then held on aboard Don Kish’s bull Shyster in the championship round for 88.5 points to win the title.

Potter edged Redmond, Ore., cowboy Ross Coleman and Haskell, Okla., rider Mike Collins by five points for the title.

Former Reno resident Tony Mendes did not compete because of a hamstring injury.

AROUND THE ARENA: The Western Nevada Community College rodeo team’s annual fund-raising dinner/dance/auction was a financial success, raising $24,955 in support of the program. … Two bulls familiar to Reno Rodeo fans received honors at the PBR’s Anaheim Open over the weekend. Reindeer Dippin, owned by Cotton Rosser’s Flying U Rodeo Company, was named the outstanding bull of the competition, while Werewolf, owned by Flying U livestock foreman Julio Moreno and his wife Cindy, finished second. … The application deadline for the Miss Rodeo Nevada Pageant is March 15. Contestants must be between 19 and 24 years of age, a resident of Nevada and must have never been married. The pageant will be April 7-9 in Logandale. For details, call (702) 220-5167. … The Reno Rodeo is accepting applications for Flag Team members for the 2004 Rodeo. The team is being increased to 75 members this year. The horsewomen perform nightly during the Reno Rodeo and at special events throughout the year. The deadline for applications is Feb. 27. For details, call 329-3877.

Guy Clifton covers rodeo for the Reno Gazette-Journal. He can be reached at (775)788-6337 or gclifton@rgj.com