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George's Hunting Adventure

The 2015 Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Pro Classic

The Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping certainly has a venerable tradition, but by no means is it bereft of innovation. To keep up with both the popularity of the event, and the needs of ropers, producer George Aros announced two exciting new additions for 2015: #15 incentive money, and you can now enter 3 times. The Cervi Pro Classic, held February 25th at the Casa Grande Rodeo Grounds in Arizona, will have a $2,500 per man incentive for the #15 or lower team with the fastest time on four. “We have always had a lot of teams who want to rope in the Cervi, but given the world class competition, they are a little hesitant to enter,” said Aros. Now with the incentive, those teams have the opportunity to cash in on a nice payday even if they get edged out of the money in the short go. “This is a real shot for those up-and-comer teams to be able to rope along side the best of the best,’ added Aros. The format will be a 5 steer average, with money paid on the short go and the final. The entry fees for the Cervi Pro Classic will remain at $300 per roper, enter 3 times. Fees can be paid by check through January 31, 2015. After that date, it is cash or credit card only.

The Cervi has been known for its huge payouts, and with over $40,000 added again this year from generous sponsors, there will certainly be some big rewards for the pros. “Mel Potter does a fantastic job each year lining up our sponsors,” said Aros. Besides copious amounts of cash, there will be a nice prize line as well, including the coveted Cervi buckle from Gist, and custom Running P Saddles to the winners. The prize line also includes boots, breast collars, bits, feed, supplements and much more. All competitors are treated to food and drinks in the VIP tent throughout the day. As always, The Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund will come out a big winner, as the roping raises funds for the charity. To date, The roping has donated over $170,000 to the fund.

The Cervi has grown over the years to be more than just one event. For 2015, Wednesday morning will start off with the crowd-pleasing 4th Annual Cervi Pro-Am Benefit Roping at 9:00AM. This event affords a fantastic opportunity for any #4 or under roper to partner with one of the best in the world over 3 full rounds of competition. Due to the immense popularity of the Pro-Am, the 10 amateur slots for both headers and heelers fill quickly. Entries will be taken on line at arosroping.com starting January 1, and will be $500 this year. All teams will receive an embroidered jacket, caps, team photo and all day entry pass for the Cervi VIP tent. The average winners will receive the same buckle as the Cervi Pro Classic winners, and go-round winners will receive buckles as well. Proceeds from the Pro-Am will go to the Justin Crisis Fund.

The Tuesday pre-ropings are back by popular demand with the same format as last year. The first roping will be a #13 starting at noon, followed by a #15. The Open runs after the #15, allowing pros who competed in the Tucson Rodeo earlier in the day plenty of time to haul up and settle in. All the Tuesday ropings feature the same format of a 4 steer average, pick two partners for $150 a man, with an 80% payback. Historically, the pre-ropings have seen payouts that rival many headline events. The real advantage for the pros is that they have a chance to try out the same fresh steers and the score line as will be used in the Cervi the next day. Reed Flake is on board to supply good quality, fresh steers, and will be up in the booth keeping the action going from the announcer’s chair.

Burrel Teague Memorial

This year's Burrel Teague Memorial Ropingagain was held In San Carlos at Apache Gold Casino. The festival and roping in memory of a native miner, rancher and competitive roper brought out all his good friends neighbors, along with generations of family, to enjoy a roping competition with great memorabilia for the winners! Bruce and Linda Teague were again sponsers of the Running P prize line that included memorial knives, breast collars and a saddle. The girls up stairs ( which included Burrel's granddaughters) as well as the chute crew did their usual prompt job getting the roping underway and and rolling.

The day began with a #13 80%er. This roping attracted 37 teams and when it ended it found Dallas Chavez and Pony Hernandez narrowly edging out Joel McDaniel and roping producer George Aros for the win. They had a 31.03 on 4 for $850 each.

Next came the #9 roping. Bill Enders and Alvin Nosie were the winners here and were proud recipients of the memorial knives. They bested a field of 78 teams.

The last roping of the night was the #11 with #9 incentive. 139 teams entered this one. Robert Clark Sr, roping with Bobby Florez, took the win and the breast collars. Kyon Hendricks and John Gaona won the incentive breast collars. When all the points were added up John Gaona would be this years saddle winner!

Bruce and Linda Teague and George Aros and crew would like to thank the ropers who attended this year and invite them back next year to celebrate the memory of a fine member of the roping community!

The night's big winner, John Gaona

4th Annual Bigbee Memorial Roping

Ropers, friends and family converged on Stuart Bigbee’s ranch in Tuscumbia, Alabama for the 4th Annual Perry Bigbee Memorial Roping May 23-25. I arrived at Stuart’s spread outside Muscle Shoals on Thursday, before the festivities were to get underway. The locals called the weather hot, but this desert native, who had just left the thermometer edging the 110 mark, thought it was just fine. The Bigbee family and their crew had already been hard at work getting everything ready. The arena was prepped, banners were hung, tents were up, concessions were in place, and even t-shirts were available to commemorate the event. Two hundred head of really fine looking steers were roped and sorted throughout the day. It was shaping up to be a perfect celebration in memory of a man who gave so much to the sport of team roping.

The late Perry Bigbee founded Running P Saddlery, which has been making trophy saddles for close to 30 years. They have been my number one choice for awards at the roping I produce. This year, Perry’s son Stuart started his own venture making custom saddles. Over the years, I had gotten to know and admire Perry Bigbee, Stuart and the rest of the family. I’ve watched Perry’s grandson Cole come up through the ranks to become a roping champ in his own right. It’s been a great honor for me to be invited to this incredible gathering every year.

The Bigbee Memorial has steadily grown year after year, with a reputation for being a fun, family friendly event. As folks from all over the southeast arrived, kiddie pools sprouted like mushrooms throughout the camping area. Folks settled in and re-connected like it was an enormous family reunion. The littlest cowboys and girls raced around on 2-wheeled steeds, roped herds of dummie steers and camped under the stars. A band of pee-wee rustlers even managed to steal some chickens, but were apprehended by Stuart, and the critters were set free.

The action kicked off Friday evening with a $1,000 added Open roping. Twenty six teams ran for the money. After 4 rounds, Kelsey Parchman and Lane Mitchell had a 32.88 to narrowly edge out Quinton Parchman and Cole Bigbee’s second place time of 32.94.  After the roping, the fun got off to an official start as well with a party. There was plenty of food and drinks, and even some “shine” floating around. When the Karaoke came out, we all got to see the crazier side of ropers. James Zent was the life of the party with his antics, Clint Bigbee sang, and even this old country boy belted out a tune or two.

Friday’s partying didn’t slow anyone down come Saturday. In addition to cash, wining teams were vying for buckles, and the high point champ of each roping would be rewarded with a custom Stuart Bigbee trophy saddle. Over two hundred teams were entered in the #15, showcasing some great young talent. It was close right down to the end. Kelsey Parchman showed he could do as well on the back end as he did the nigh before on the front. With header John Alley the pair turned in the best time on 4 with a 26.54. Next up was a #12 with 460 teams entered. John Alley was on fire Saturday coming back after his #15 win, this time heeling with Zach Paris on the front. The two got their four in 28.61 to take the win.

#15 Champs John Alley & Kelsey Parchman

#12 Champs Zach Paris & John Alley

Sunday started with a #12 Century and 120 teams. You’d be wrong to think age slows down these boys in the south. It was a pretty good battle, but one that I’m happy to report saw header Buddy Adams and myself win. And as high point champ in the Century, I took home another Bigbee Memorial  saddle to add to my collection—too bad it didn’t fit in the over-head compartment.

Over 400 teams ran in the #10. Jack Barnett and Marty McElyea won convincingly with a 31.8. In the #10 with #8 Incentive, Eric Langston and Jonathan Varner took top honors with 24.56 on 3 head.

#10 Champs Jack Barnett & Marty McElyea

#10 with #8 incentive Champs Eric Langston & Jonathan Varner

Handling the huge numbers of ropers that come to the Memorial can be a challenge to any crew, but the team at Bigbee Arena ran things very well, and the whole weekend went as smooth as can be. The girls in the office were a Class A team. Chip did a fantastic job keeping the steers sorted out all day long. He never took his eyes off them so that everyone got a good and fair chance. Another way they kept it fair and smooth was that each roping ran in 50 team rotations, and they worked the arenas every 2 rotations.

As trailers loaded and pulled away, everyone was already blocking out that weekend in May on next year’s calendar. The Bigbee Memorial Roping is just too fun to miss.

See Full Results from the Bigbee Memorial

#10 with #8 Incentive

#12 Century

#12 Results
#15 Results

Open Results