2018 PRCA Media Guide - Announcers

2017 Wrangler NFR Announcers Boyd Polhamus

A 30-year veteran of ProRodeo announcing, Boyd Polhamus returned to Las Vegas in 2017 for his 18th consecutiveWrangler National Finals Rodeo and 22nd overall. Polhamus first reached the pinnacle of his profession in 1991 when, at age 26, he was selected for ProRodeo’s “Super Bowl,” and he has been at the announcer’s booth in the Thomas & Mack Center as announcer or alternate announcer every year since 1990 except 1995. At the NFR, says Polhamus, “There are 17,000 devout rodeo fans there and they’re not all going to like you. But you’re privileged to see indelible, historic moments and be part of them.”

A dedicated fan of the cowboy as both athlete and individual, Polhamus is noted for his depth of research as well as for his willingness to help his rodeos outside the announcer’s stand.“I hope I can make every rodeo I go to a better rodeo, in any way,”he says. “I’ll do anything!” Polhamus was named PRCA Announcer of the Year for the third consecutive time in 2009, and won it again in 2012. He had been nominated for the honor 12 times before he won the first time in 2007, when he called the award “the most meaningful thing that’s happened to me in the 22 years I’ve announced.” Polhamus announces about 200 performances a year at both large and small rodeos, from the Ski Hi Stampede (Monte Vista, Colo.), to the San Angelo (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo and Snake River Stampede (Nampa, Idaho) to the NationalWestern Stock Show& Rodeo in Denver. He began his career by pretending to announce at his college’s practice sessions; his coaches encouraged him to pursue it, and the rest is history. He and his wife, Sandee, live in Brenham, Texas. Randy Corley

Randy Corley was delighted to go to Las Vegas for the 2017 NFR, his 17th time to announce the season’s culminating event in the Thomas & Mack Center. Corley, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017, has been named PRCA Announcer of the Year 12 times – more than anyone else – between 1984 and 2005, then again in 2011 and 2015. He works rodeos from tiny Hill City, Kan., to giant San Antonio; has announced in Caldwell, Idaho, every year since 1982 and at Puyallup and Kitsap County, Wash., since 1983. In 2005, he and Amanda became the first father-daughter tandem to work the NFR – as announcer and timer. Originally a bareback riding and bull riding contestant, Corley startedmaking radio commercials, then went to broadcasting school with the idea of becoming a

rodeo announcer. Long-time PRCA announcer Hadley Barrett heard him in North Platte, Neb., and invited him to apply for his first card with the PRCA, which he did in 1980. Randy and his wife, Michelle – the daughter of his mentor, Barrett, who passed away in 2017 – live in Silverdale, Wash., and enjoy spending time going to and from rodeos they are working and visiting their adult children: Amanda, Kassi, Cole and Brittney. Lately, says Corley, the Bible has become his favorite book to read. “I’ve learned that I can talk to God any time of day, and I don’t even need a microphone.” Wayne Brooks Veteran PRCA announcer Wayne Brooks has worked the NFR seven times in 17 years, but he says it’s a similar experience each time.

“It’s exciting, it’s nerve-wracking, it’s exhausting, it’s everything you expect at an event of that magnitude, with that number of people in the audience, that caliber of contestants, and that much money involved,” Brooks said. “That’s a pretty stout recipe there, whether it’s your first time or your 20th.” And yes, even veteran announcers like Brooks, have to put in some extra preparation for the NFR.

“The three of us start getting on the phone a month ahead of time, swapping livestock and cowboy information,”he recalled.“We talk about where we’re going to go with certainmatch-ups. One of us might talk about howmany gold buckles a certain cowboy has, the next guy might talk about his earnings history, the next might mention that he’s a nice guy with a great family. “That’s one of the mostWestern crowds that we’re in front of, all year,”he noted.“You really work to not be wrong about any information. Shawn Davis is amazing. Having that many years to perfect that event, which they have done in every detail … there’s never any question on how it’s supposed to go. That adds a whole level of pressure to be good, to be smooth, to be correct, to fall in line with the timelines that are in front of you, to say everything correctly. It’s not just a thrill – it’s the crown jewel of our industry.”

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ANNOUNCERS

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