Blame it on Mexico if you need a reason would be a great reason why I am two weeks late on writing this month’s article. I would love to tell you all about Del Rio but you will have to wait until my June article since I have so much to catch you up on that has happened in April. Since today is actually Mother’s Day I would like to wish all the mother’s out there a wonderful day and especially to my mother a special “Thank You” for all you do for me.

I really don’t even know where to begin so I guess I will start with the injury update. We started out the month of April in Lubbock, Texas. The first injury at Lubbock was in the long round when Jarrod Craig of Hillsboro, Texas shoulder came out which will require him to have surgery and be out of competition for 4 to 6 months. Next, Clayton Williams got hung up in the long round and injured his hand and realized two weeks ago he has been riding with a broken bone in his hand which has left him at home the past few weeks trying to let the bone fuse back together. In the short round competition Steve Woolsey was knocked unconscious and was transported to the hospital where he underwent several test and a few sutures and was released later on that evening. Cody Hancock was knocked unconscious and air lifted from Laughlin to Las Vegas after an 89 point ride and a not so pretty dismount that left him severely bleeding in the arena for about 20 minutes. Cody received a concussion, slight memory loss, broken jaw and a large laceration in his lower chin area. Cody spent 4 nights in a Las Vegas hospital before traveling back to Taylor, Arizona to recover from his accident. Cody was scheduled to compete in Del Rio but after receiving a phone call from Cody he thought it would be in his best interest if he took several more weeks off to re-group. B.J. Schumacher has been staying close to home nursing a chronic elbow injury that is going to require surgery at some point in time in the near future. B.J. told me over the phone his elbow will swell up and then he will lay off and let the swelling go down before he gets on again. Luke Kelley of Livingston, Alabama received a fractured arm after getting thrown from a horse he was breaking. Luke doctor released out of Lubbock but was back in fine form for the CBR event in Del Rio. Kolt Miller underwent surgery the week after the CBR event in Lubbock. Kolt seems to be doing well and plans to return back to CBR competition in Huron, South Dakota in August. Chad German of Groesbeck, Texas broke his ankle at the PRCA rodeo in Athens, Texas. He will be out for 3-5 weeks. There are a few more injuries to report which incurred at or after Del Rio which I will include in next months article. Everyone at the CBR wishes each one of these contestants a speedy recovery.

There is a first time for everything and that’s just what it was for Wayland, Iowa’s Jay~Byrd Morrow in Lubbock. Jay took home the $10,000 and the Hy O Silver Champion Buckle after covering two bulls at the ABC Rodeo Lubbock CBR event. Jay also was chosen as the April Crown Royal King of the Month. Jay was so excited and stated “Since last year I made several CBR short rounds and never could cover two bulls and Tuff has been giving me heck about it all year long”. “I just wanted to go out there and show him that I could be at the top so he would stop picking on me”. For those of you who know Jay~Byrd know he such a great good hearted person and we could not be more proud of him that he was our Lubbock Champion!

I am back tracking on this article because I have been gone almost the whole month of April. Friday Wright flew out to Lubbock with me to do some autograph sessions prior to the event. He and I got to the Dallas airport to find that all of the flights had been delayed due to bad weather. Low and behold we looked up and Howdy Cloud and Chad German’s flight had also been delayed going to Lubbock prior to ours. After being delayed four times we finally made it to Lubbock (we seriously thought about jumping in a vehicle and driving). We had several promotional events in conjunction with the CBR event. I would like to thank Laddan Ledbetter, Friday Wright, Hugo Pedrero, Gerardo Venegas and Franscio Morales for coming in early to sign autographs. After the event Terry Williams, Rusty Creech, Friday Wright and I hurried to the airport to guess what wait once again, after our flight was delayed to Dallas. We finally made it back to Dallas and then drove and got home around 3 am. Then I turned around Thursday and caught a flight out of Houston to Las Vegas for the Laughlin Xtreme Bulls event. Again for the third time in one week my flight was delayed for two hours. I think I finally got to Vegas at like 2am (4am~Texas time) and went to the South Point Hotel & Casino and crashed. I did get up and treat myself to an awesome spa treatment at the South Point Spa and then had lunch with Bill & Zandy Carnes. I then drove to Laughlin where I got prepared for the event and went out to dinner with the Xtreme Bulls crew. It was like 99 degrees in Laughlin and yes I looked like a lobster by the end of the day. Western Underground~Chris Ledoux’s band was at the event and gave a group of us tickets to attend their concert that night. Our crew walked over to the Riverside Casino to catch the show and a little dancing before we ended our night. Wesley Silcox won the event with a 92 point ride on Malibu which he won the San Antiono Xtreme event on with a 94 point score.

A few little notes before I sign off. I will have a full update on the CBR event from Del Rio in a few weeks. Everyone at the CBR would like the wish Corey Montana Davis & his wife congrats on their marriage. Corey got hitched the weekend prior to Del Rio and extended their honeymoon in Del Rio winning a nice little check as a wedding gift. Danell Tipton became a new daddy on May 2nd but I have yet to get the final details on the birth of his new baby. Robey & Amber Condra welcomed a new baby girl into this world in April so we would like to wish them the best of luck also.

If any of you plan on being in Nashville, Tennessee for Country Music Fan Fair drop by our CBR/RFD booth and say hello. We will have CBR Bull Riders on hand to sign autographs and get acquainted with our CBR Fans! We will be in Nashville June 4th-8th so come join the fun! I hope each of you have a great rest of the month as the summer nears and school get out! Take Care & God Bless

Cicily