Thursday, September 29, 2011

News & Notes From The Rodeo Trail - September 29, 2011

Courtesy PRCA Media


Former PRCA bull rider Glen “Pee Wee” Mercer died Sept. 22, 17 years after a bull riding accident left him a quadriplegic and more than a decade after some doctors expected his life to end. A memorial service has been planned for next month. Mercer, 41, was a two-time Florida high school bull riding champion while attending Williston High in the mid-1980s. He was working on becoming a full-time bull rider and was a member of the PRCA when he suffered his catastrophic injury in 1995. Because his paralysis was so profound, Mercer was never able to chew or swallow again, but he could speak and quickly learned to use voice recognition software on a computer. Mercer’s parents, Howard and the late Helen Mercer, arranged for him to return to their Williston home after the accident, even though it meant their retirement years would be devoted to his care. With help from their other son, Dennis, and his wife, Sheila, Pee Wee Mercer was able to remain in a renovated room ...


Joe Soukop, a Great Lakes Circuit contestant and former assistant rodeo coach at Missouri Valley College, died Sept. 17 in a rollover accident on Highway 18 near Dickens, Iowa. Soukop’s 3-year-old daughter, Jolie, who was with him in the semi-truck he was driving, was treated for minor injuries at Spencer Hospital and was released. Soukop, 34, of Allerton, Iowa, joined the PRCA in 2004 and competed in steer wrestling and tie-down roping ...


Four-time Wrangler NFR bull rider Kanin Asay and his wife, Sydney, welcomed their first child into the world on Sept. 23, a son, Kasen Shane, 5.5 pounds, 18 inches ...


QUOTE OF THE WEEK


“My dad’s a stock contractor, and we’ve been in Vegas for the Benny Binion stock sale and to see the (Wrangler) National Finals Rodeo every year since I was 6 years old. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I’m not going to be watching from the stands this year.” 


– Bareback rider Brian Bain, 29, on qualifying for his first Wrangler NFR.

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