Toughest Cowboy
Toughest Cowboy presented by Jagermeister
News Release
Contact: Ann Bleiker – 719-226-2009 (office)
February 18, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Murphy continues his winning ways in the Twin Cities, remains atop the standings for Jager Ranch
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 2008 World's Toughest Rodeo featuring Toughest Cowboy presented by Jagermeister road into the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul for two tournament stops en route to the championship tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Eight cowboys continue to battle it out in the ironmen of rodeo competition where the cowboys wear jerseys and ride in the three roughstock events in one night in a new match style competition.
Bandy Murphy of Weatherford, Okla., has been the cowboy to beat all year and he continued to show why during the first of two tournament stops in the Twin Cities. Murphy, who won the Toughest Cowboy in 2007, was coming off a big win in Philadelphia and was looking to capture his third tournament title of the 2008 season. The Home Depot cowboy was matched against Jared Green of Socorro, N.M., who is juggling his college classes at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales with the Toughest Cowboy tournaments. Murphy came out firing in the bareback riding scoring 83 points to easily capture the win over Green, who came down well before the eight-second whistle. For Green things didn’t get much better in the saddle bronc riding or bull riding competition, while Murphy continued to roll scoring an event high in the saddle bronc riding with an 82-point ride on Aces Full.
“I drew really well tonight and was given a great opportunity to collect four more wins to add to my overall total and I took advantage of that,” said Murphy of his performance in St. Paul. “Winning three of the six stops so far isn’t bad and this gets me one step closer to my ultimate goal do winning Toughest Cowboy for the second consecutive year.”
Murphy won the overall tournament with four wins and 238 total points. Finishing second to Murphy was Shane Proctor of Powell, Wyo. Proctor, who rides for Red Creek Land, was matched against Trey Broussard of Estherwood, La. Proctor captured the bareback riding win after edging the Dodge cowboy by 24 points. With one win under his belt, Proctor glided through the next two events to sweep the match and pickup 227 total points to finish second to Murphy in the tournament and is currently second in the overall standings for Jager Ranch.
Erik Wolford, who proudly rides for the Wrangler brand was the only other competitor to sweep his match. Wolford, of Clinton, Mich., was matched against Nelson Tsosie of Farmington, N.M. Wolford took the early lead with an event best 88-point ride in the bareback riding to edge the B&W Trailer Hitches cowboy by nine points. It was a tight race in the saddle bronc riding with Wolford getting the win by a mere four points. Wolford completed the sweep in the bull riding after outdistancing Tsosie by 29 points. Wolford finished the tournament with four wins and 204 total points and is currently third in the overall standings.
In the third match-up of the night Jagermeister’s Clovis Crane faced the 2006 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider B.J. Schumacher, who is sponsored by Polaris. Despite winning the match three to one, Schumacher injured his left knee at the conclusion of his bull ride when the bull fell on top of him. The Hillsboro, Wis., cowboy suffered a grade two sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and as a result his quest for Jager Ranch came to a crashing halt.
Toughest Cowboy presented by Jagermeister is revolutionizing the sport by introducing an exciting and innovative format to audiences across the United States. Unlike other rodeos where riders usually compete in just one discipline, Toughest Cowboy is an unprecedented test of endurance as all competitors must ride in three disciplines in one night (Bareback Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding and Bull Riding). The events feature head-to-head matches throughout the season leading to the playoffs and championship…ultimately crowning someone the Toughest Cowboy Champion.
Jagermeister, the country’s best selling shot brand and top selling imported liqueur, is the first presenting sponsor of the Toughest Cowboy rodeo competition and tour in 2008. The Champion at the end of the season will be awarded the deed to the beautiful Jäger Ranch located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
The "Road to Columbus" continues with an additional stop next week at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul and then on to Nashville, Tenn., for the Playoffs. For more information on this one-of-a-kind event visit www.toughestcowboy.com.
Tournament 6 Results
St. Paul, Minn.
Match 1
Jared Green, Socorro, N.M. vs. Bandy Murphy, Weatherford, Okla. – 0 wins to 4 wins; 68 points to 238 points; Green (10), Murphy (20)
Match 2
Nelson Tsosie, Farmington, N.M. vs. Erik Wolford, Clinton, Mich. – 0 wins to 4 wins; 162 points to 204 points; Tsosie (14), Wolford (17)
Match 3
Clovis Crane, Lebanon, Pa. vs. B.J. Schumacher, Hillsboro, Wis. – 1 win to 3 wins; 159 points to 182 points; Crane (9), Schumacher (13)
Match 4
Trey Broussard, Estherwood, La. vs. Shane Proctor, Powell, Wyo. – 0 wins to 4 wins; 145 points to 227 points; Broussard (9), Proctor (18)
St. Paul (tournament 6) winner: Bandy Murphy
Jager Ranch leader: Bandy Murphy
Overall standings from St. Paul (tournament 6):
1. Bandy Murphy, 4 wins, 238 points
2. Shane Proctor, 4 wins, 227 points
3. Erik Wolford, 4 wins, 204 points
4. B.J. Schumacher, 3 wins, 182 points
5. Clovis Crane, 1 wins, 159 points
6. Nelson Tsosie, 0 wins, 162 points
7. Trey Broussard, 0 wins, 145 points
8. Jared Green, 0 wins, 68 points
Overall standings after St. Paul - tournament 6 (standings based on wins and then total points):
1. Bandy Murphy, 20 wins, 1419 total points
2. Shane Proctor, 18 wins, 1328 points
3. Erik Wolford, 17 wins, 1268 total points
4. Nelson Tsosie, 14 wins, 1101 total points
5. B.J. Schumacher, 13 wins, 1143 total points
6. Jared Green, 10 wins, 956 total points
7. Trey Broussard, 9 wins, 1105 total points
8. Clovis Crane, 8 wins, 1135 total points
About Grit Rock Rodeo
Grit Rock Rodeo is one of the largest producers of live and televised rodeo events in the world. Grit Rock Rodeo owns the World’s Toughest Rodeo, a national touring rodeo that consists of World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs and Toughest Cowboy. Toughest Cowboy, a revolution in the sport which featured 8 cowboys riding 3 times in a performance, was carried in 2007 on Fox Sports Net nationally on Sunday nights. Grit Rock Rodeo also owns the license rights to the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour, which is the premier Tour of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The 2007 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and the Ariat Playoffs of the Tour aired nationally on Fox Sports Net and CBS Sports.
www.toughestcowboy.com
www.prorodeotour.com
www.bullsandbroncs.com
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, Toyota Sports Center, Toyota Park, NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie, Hollywood’s El Rey Theatre, Seattle’s WaMu Theatre, Minneapolis’ Target Center and the just opened The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000 seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use; sports franchises throughout the world including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Riptide (MLL) and three MLS franchises in addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA). AEG developed and operates The Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training facility on the Campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, California designated as an “Official U.S. Olympic Training Site” by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, lacrosse, rugby, action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports.
The company's live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the world’s leading concert promotion and touring organizations that has recently promoted national tours on behalf of artists such as Prince, Bon Jovi, Kenney Chesney and Cheetah Girls as well as producing “A New Day…” starring Celine Dion appearing exclusively at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and the international museum tour of King Tut’s artifacts.
AEG is overseeing the development of L.A. LIVE, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art live theatre, a 54-story, 1001-room convention center “headquarters” hotel, Club NOKIA at L.A. LIVE, a 2,200 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, “broadcast” facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant, residential and office space and additional arenas, O2 World, on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin, Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri and in Las Vegas, Nevada.
www.aegworldwide.com
www.toughestcowboy.com
