Junior Meek Memorial Bull Bash

The inaugural Junior Meek Memorial Bull Bash, a youth bull riding event in Texas, will be held Memorial Day weekend from May 27-28 to honor the late Meek, a well-known bullfighter.
The event, presented by the Future Pro Bull Riders, will feature a payout of more than $25,000 and will have a guaranteed $5,000 added money. Champions will also receive buckles. The event will be held at the new arena in Granbury, Texas.
Meek was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2000 and passed away on Jan. 3, 2006.

Charlie Keyes

Trick roper Charlie Keyes recently qualified for nomination to the Guinness Book of Records after throwing the world's biggest loop, measuring 107 feet, 2 inches.
Keyes set the record during the Will Rogers Wild West International Expo, April 20-22, at the Claremore Expo Center in Oologah, Okla. Participants competed in trick roping and riding, as well as other specialty acts.
Keyes (Waterford, Wis.) is the third Wild West Arts Club trick roper to qualify for nomination to the book. He swung 120 feet of heavy rope for the trick, which he practices almost daily, along with strength training.

Lady Luck

Doses of good luck are few and far between. But Jason McClain's traveling partner to the Tulsa edition of the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Ride Hard Tour stop must have been Lady Luck.

He rode two bulls for a whopping 189 points and won $17,258 for his second Xtreme Bulls win — he won the 2003 Reno stop.

The luck didn't come in the arena — that was pure bull riding talent from a six-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. The luck came in the only category a bull rider has no control over: the draw.

In the semifinal round McClain drew Culpepper, a bull from Andrews' Rodeo Company. Why's that lucky? He rode that very same bull last July for 89 points and a win in Deadwood, S.D.

McClain rode two bulls for a whopping 189 points and won $17,258."He's just good," McClain said. "He comes out there to the left and feels awesome. He's just up and down and then around to the left. He's the kind of bull that feels good to ride."

The judges thought it looked good and awarded him 85 points. Followed by a pair of 84s from Cory Melton and Sonny Murphy and five 83s, it turned out to be tops in the round.

As the draw was announced for the final round, McClain already he knew he'd be matched up with Cervi & Guidry Rodeo's Hot Damn — a bull he'd ridden twice, once in San Antonio this year and once in Houston in 2005. If that's not lucky, nothing is.