So, although the 2012 season has already technically begun, we’re won’t see a lot of the new team roping teams until the next few weeks in Odessa and Denver.

The major shakeup came when Jade Corkill first announced he would head for the 2012 season, then later decided he would not rope at all. Since that’s where the dominoes began to fall, let’s start with his former partner, Chad Masters.

Chad will team up with Jake Long for 2012. I see that as a really solid partnership. Chad has some great rodeo horses, is always searching and developing new ones, and Jake’s Mikey is as a good as they come on the heel end.

They’re both thoughtful, level-headed and well-intentioned guys. I see it as a good match both in and out of the arena.

Jake’s 2011 partner, Brady Tryan, is paired with Allen Bach for Odessa, but Matt Zancanella for Denver and the foreseeable future. Brady’s big brother Travis roped with Zanc and they made the NFR in 2002 and 2003. There’s some familiarity there, however, Zanc didn’t rodeo much for a couple of years, but in 2010 finished 21st.

Speaking of Travis, he entered Odessa heading for Joel Bach (yes, Joel did head last year). But entered Denver with Brad Culpepper. He and Brad will rope at Denver, San Antonio and Houston. Again, that’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense on paper. Both guys are veterans and know what it takes to win. However, Travis and Joel will rope again after that. I haven’t heard who Brad who will rope with after that.

Joel Bach, on the other hand, entered Denver heeling for Quincy Kueckelhan. That could be a very rapid combo. Both guys are young gunners. Again, Joel and Travis plan to reunite after the winter run. Allen Bach did not enter Denver.

Perhaps the new team that I am most curious about is Charly Crawford and Clay O’Brien Cooper. Two veterans who will work hard with proven track records is always of interest.

Colby Lovell and took Crawford’s old partner, Russell Cardoza and again, that partnership looks good on paper. I think both Crawford and Cardoza were disappointed in 2011 after such a great 2010 NFR, so they probably needed a fresh start.

The other notable new team is Jake Barnes picking up Paul Eaves. Eaves has spent a lot of time with the Bachs over the years and this just might be his breakout season—especially considering how well Jake roped in 2011.

A few others round out the list: Kaleb Driggers/Caleb Twisselman and Ty Blasingame/York Gill are the most notable. I expect big things from Blaster and Gill, by the way.

Regardless, this list will once again be revised after the winter run and they’ll be a handful of new teams for Reno. Until then, best of luck to this group!

What new team do you think will make the biggest splash in 2012?

So it’s hard to draw many conclusions from the first round, so let’s just go with a few first impressions:
Team Roping:
Matt Sherwood owns the Thomas and Mack. He’s been here twice and won the world twice. In his third trip he and Cory Petska win round one. If Nick keeps working good, I think they’ll be a huge threat.

If Clay and Travis rope 9 more like the one they just did, they’ll win it.

I’m still not sure how Cesar slipped that leg.

Tie-Down:
Jag (the buckskin horse) held up for Tuf, but Cody Ohl seems like he smells blood in the water with Tuf’s top mount, the roan mare, out with injury. That guy has now won 44 rounds at the NFR. Amazing. It’s very possible he could win the world again.

Steer Wrestling:
Clear as mud. Although my pick, Jason Miller did win the round.

Barrel Racing:
How appropriate is it that Lindsay and Brittany tied? It’s going to be a battle between them and Sherry Cervi all week.

In April, we sent out an extensive survey to our readers. (Thanks to those of you who responded). The result? Well, you’ll have to get a copy of the magazine to see it, but suffice it to say that Spin To Win Rodeo is rearranged, redesigned and hopefully reenergized.

We basically had one goal in mind: make our magazine something that everyone who picks up a rope has to have. We looked at trends in the magazine business at large and massaged those concepts into something applicable to the rodeo world.

That meant tweaking our design, making the elements flow better and increasing the readability. It also meant tweaking the content. There were some long-standing articles we cut, we kept most, but we also added more…quite a bit more.

Let me get specific, explains some moves we made and give you a tease of what you’ll see in your mailbox in the coming weeks.

First, we organized the magazine into more defined sections.

The first is High Call—which highlights rodeo photography. We gave it a right-hand read section opener and we hope to tell stories in that space with images.

The second, At The Barrier, is designed to get you started into the magazine. This is where we made the most changes. We basically double the space dedicated to this section and again, gave it a section opener. There are five new pieces in that section: Buckle Up, where we tell the story of why a certain cowboy wears a certain buckle; Past, Present, Future, in which we look at interesting themes in rodeo from days of yore, current events and future phenoms; What’s Your Number? (click for a sneak peak) is an interview with an amateur roper; in Face-Up we allow FaceBook fans to ask their favorite pros questions, then we print the answers and finally, we’ve added a veterinarian piece in this section to keep you up-to-date on trends and treatments for your horse.

The third section is Stop the Clock. This is the roping instructional section, which is the meat of our magazine and our calling card for the past 15 years. We’ve added two new pieces to this section: a how to dedicated to horsemanship called Rodeo Horsepower and a gear section which shows you what the top pros use and why. Of course, Jake, Clay, Vet’s Office and Freeze Frame are still in this section.

Then come our features. The first is dedicated to issues in the world of amateur team roping, the others will include personality features, trends in rodeo and major event recap stories.

The most noticeable subtraction from the magazine is the monthly barrel racing piece. Our survey showed that was the least favorite article among our readers and you don’t have to tell us twice!

Despite the changes, here’s what we still are: the best source for roping tips and news from the professional to the weekend roper. Here’s what we’re adding: more focus on the amateur roper in many ways. Specifically, you’ll find more social media interaction worked in, better horse care content and two extra instructional articles.

I see a very comfortable mix between news, roping improvement and features. These pages provide the information you need to stay informed on the sport you love, get better at the sport you love and understand the policies, people and events that shape the sport you love.

If you’re not a subscriber, grab one on the newsstand or order start your subscription today at www.spintowinrodeo.com and let us know what you think.

The easiest and most immediate way is via Facebook. Our interactions there are growing by the minute, and the discussions are exciting. We’d love to hear our readers air out their thoughts on this redesign in that social media setting. Of course, feel free to email, write or call in with any comments, as well.

So thank you for your support of this magazine, this sport and this way of life.

Regards,

Bob Welch
Deputy Editor, Spin To Win Rodeo
bwe...@aimmedia.com

Ok, so I thought I would revisit my May 4 world champion predictions and make some revisions. Although, as you’ll see, much of the standings have held steady. Of course, a big fall run with several high-paying rodeos (Ellensburg, Puyallup, Pendleton and Omaha) remains.

All-Around
Who I picked: Trevor Brazile had a $50,000 lead when I picked him on May 4.
Who I think now: He’s now got a $110,000 lead. Think I’m staying put.

Bareback Riding
Who I picked: Will Lowe was in third place, and trailed the lead by $10,000.
Who I think now: Will Lowe is in first place by $5,000. Two for two!

Steer Wrestling
Who I picked: Luke Branquinho led Billy Bugenig by $5,000 when I picked him.
Who I think now: Luke Branquinho leads Billy Bugenig by $10,000. Gotta stay there.

Team Roping
Who I picked: Clay Tryan and Travis Graves. Tryan led Chad Masters by under $1,000. Travis Graves trailed Jade Corkill by around $2,000.
Who I think now: Clay Tryan trails Chad Masters by $7,000. Jade leads Travis by $10,000. It pains me not to pick Chad and Jade, but I think Clay is going to will his team to a world championship after the disappointing 2010.

Saddle Bronc riding
Who I picked: I went out on a limb and picked Jesse Wright. His 2010 NFR just wowed me. He was 12th in the world at the time.
Who I think now: Jesse Wright is seventh in the world and trails his big brother Cody by almost $60,000. I might have picked the wrong brother, here. I guess I’ll change my pick to Cody, however, Taos Muncy is still within striking distance.

Tie-Down Roping
Who I picked: Tuf Cooper was second in the world to his big brother Clint on May 4.
Who I think now: Now Tuf has overtaken Clint and leads by $13,000. Five for six ain’t too bad.

Steer Roping:
Who I picked: Trevor Brazile led by $16,000 when I made this prediction.
Who I think now: Trevor still leads. Now it’s by $13,000. I’m sticking with him.

Barrel Racing
Who I picked: Brittany Pozzi led Jody Sheffield by $16,000. That was an easy pick.
Who I think now: We just got word today that she was in some sort of horse accident. Preliminary reports sound positive—she might have even been released from the hospital, but it’s unclear how much it will affect her riding. Lindsay Sears has pulled within $23,000 (Sheffield has dropped to almost $50,000 behind). Pending more information on Brittany’s accident, I’m sticking with her, but if a door opens, expect Lindsay to run through it.

Bull Riding
Who I picked: J.W. Harris trailed Shane Proctor by $20,000 last year. I worried that Proctor might get worn out trying to work two associations, so I picked J.W.
Who I think now: Proctor has extended his lead to $34,000. It’s between those two men, but Proctor doesn’t seem to be wearing down. Still, I’m going to stick with J.W.….for now.

There’s a lot of rodeo left and anything can happen. But, surprisingly, many of the leaders in May are still hanging in there in August. And one of my dark horse picks worked out and one didn’t. Of course, it almost doesn’t matter until December.

I stumbled across this write-up on the Calgary Stampede. I take what this writer sees for granted, and get wrapped up in who won and how. He explores the why (which I still haven’t figured out entirely) and it’s obviously well-written. What’s refreshing to see is he treats rodeo cowboys as the professional athletes they are. Anyway, thanks to Sam Eifling for shedding a little national spotlight on this sport we love. Also, good work Kelly Timberman and Shane Hanchey for representing your sport so well.

Click here to check it out.