Team-Roping Headliner Suffers Fruitless Evening

Team roping may be like riding a bicycle, in theory. In reality, though, sometimes you crash.

That happened to Mike Beers Saturday night before 7,477 fans attending the Wrangler Prorodeo Classic at the Arena, but he wasn’t around long enough to feel bad about it.

The Powell Butte, Ore., cowboy, one of the best ropers in the country, came up empty after partner Mike Fuller of Clarkston got a quick head catch on their steer.

Beers, after a disappointing 18.7-second run in calf roping, headed for his motel and a quick night’s sleep before a 7 a.m. flight to Denver. He and Fuller, who won the Columbia River Circuit Finals in Yakima two weeks ago, are in the finals this afternoon in the lucrative National Western Rodeo. Ironically, they aren’t roping together in Denver.

“This time of year, it’s kind of different,” Beers explained. “For myself, I rope with a kid from Texas and it’s hard for him to get here. Mike ropes with a kid from Arizona and it’s hard for him to get here, too.”

Last fall, Fuller and Beers renewed an old relationship and won in three of the four rodeos they entered.

“It’s kind of unique,” Beers said. “Mike and I began roping together 20, 25 years ago, in peewee rodeos through college. This year is the first year we’ve been back together in, shoot, 15 years.”

The adjustment isn’t hard when you’ve been as successful as Beers, who has been to the National Finals Rodeo 13 times and won the 1984 world title with Dee Pickett.

“When you get guys the caliber we’re working with, the top 20 headers in the world are all pretty much the same,” he said. “It’s the same with the heelers.”

The first rodeo Beers entered with his primary partner, Kevin Stewart of Glen Rose, Texas, he won third-place money. They are second into the finals in Denver today.

Beers’ miss was wasn’t typical of the second performance of the Spokane rodeo, which concludes with a 2:30 p.m. show today.

Two new leaders emerged, including bull rider Rob Sweeney of Deer Park, who sent the crowd into a frenzy with an 85 on Dog Face. Sweeney won this rodeo two years ago with an 82.

Calf-roper Jeff Coelho of Long Creek, Ore., moved into the calfroping lead with a 9.3-second run, matching the winning time at the inaugural Prorodeo Classic in 1993.

Bareback, saddle bronc, team roping and calf roping will pay the top four, while steer wrestling and bull riding will pay six because those events have more entries.

All of the top six in steer wrestling competed in slack, the session after Friday night’s performance to accommodate the overflow entries.

Jeff Green of Pendleton, Ore., took the lead with a 4-second run, just ahead of Rod Lyman of Lolo, Mont., at 4.2.

Beers had to use borrowed horses Saturday night because his best mounts are in Denver. That was no problem for a cowboy of his stature because in those situations, a quarter of what he earns - if he had placed - goes to the owner of the horse.

The horses stay in Denver, waiting for Beers to return to competition, but he flies home tonight because he has some roping schools to attend to, including one in Brazil.

Though the 20 schools he does are fun - the Brazil trip put together by his sponsor, Classic Ropes, includes four days of vacation - rodeo is still his priority.

“I try to go enough to make the Finals, 65 to 70,” said Beers, 37. “This is the youngest partner I’ve had in a long time. I’m looking forward to this year. The kid (28) ropes great.”

, DataTimes