Inside The Team Roping Journal September 2024 Issue

Dear Roper

Summer Is Almost Over but Team Roping Is Heating Up: An Inside Look at the September 2024 Issue

Inside this issue: the Riata revolution, honoring the legacy of Kolt Perkins, the fight for the Finals and more.

Dear Roper,

*On the cover: Kaleb Driggers setting the arena record at the Greeley (Colorado) Stampede with a 3.6-second run; photo by Jake Hodnett.*

You’re getting this issue as ProRodeo’s fourth quarter kicks off in the Northwest, as your kids go back to school and as you all enter up to get those last-minute Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale qualifications in.

But as we’re writing this, we’re in the middle of the summer run, hiding from the Texas heat in our offices or zipping back and forth across the country with our new teammate, Amy Wilson, hosting sideline shows from events like The Patriot and The Daddy in Cheyenne.

This is my semi-regular reminder of just how much our crew is producing for you to enjoy. If you’re a visual person, we’ve got ropings—everything from old-school Mo’Betta calf roping matches to the BFI and the Cinch Timed Event Championship—streaming 24/7 over on Roping.com. In the last few months, I’ve filmed instructional content with Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper, Tate Kirchenschlager, Dakota Kirchenschlager, Brock Hanson and Ryan Motes. Meanwhile, we’ve all been shooting nonstop for TikTok and Reels, giving you a visual smorgasbord of videos to binge a few seconds at a time on your favorite apps.

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You’ll find our excerpt from “The Score” podcast over on page 112, but the wealth of information that’s stored in the hundreds of episodes of that show on your favorite podcast streaming platform is really worth a visit. It’s an audio record of all that’s happened in our sport and, since 2018, it’s had well over 3 million downloads. That’s 3 million times people have listened to real-life stories of what was going on in Aaron Tsinigine’s mind as he won his world title, to Patrick Smith describing a dire plane ride to Pendleton, to every futurity champ from the last few years talking about their great horses. It’s a record we’re proud to provide to the sport.

Meanwhile, teamropingjournal.com is the largest collection of team roping content anywhere, with stories going back to the earliest days of Spin To Win. We’re working all the time at improving your experience over there, and it’s updated daily.

Anyway, before we head into the very end of the rodeo season and the finals of the futurity season when our team really hits it hard, I figured I’d drop this reminder.

We’ll see you at the Riata!