SPORTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
1B
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Staff photo E.J. Harris
Rodeo announcer Randy Corley watches Brady Nicholes of Hoysville, Utah, ride Duck Butter in saddle bronc riding on Wednesday in the new Farm-City Pro
Rodeo Arena in Hermiston.
New digs, same thrills
Cowboys,
rodeo board
happy with
new arena
Bucking events
excite, ropers
struggle to open
Farm-City
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Wearing a
black longsleeve shirt, time-worn
jeans and bright, colorful chaps,
Texas bareback rider Luke Creasy
hunkered down on his horse to get
ready to ride.
He was lined up to be just the
third cowboy to break in the new
Farm-City Pro Rodeo arena at the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Events
Center and wanted to give the
interested crowd a good show.
But he was also determined to
get a high score to help assure
him some money, as the Garland,
Texas native sat No. 27 in the
world and standings and in need of
some money as the rodeo seasons
turns toward the stretch run.
And Creasy checked off both of
his objectives in exciting fashion,
riding Calgary Stampede’s Soap
Bubbles for an 85.5 point ride to
win the fi rst performance in bare-
back and a $100 dash-for-cash
bonus. It was the second time
that Creasy matched up with that
horse, with the fi rst coming nearly
three years ago where he managed
a 79 point ride.
“I busted out of (the chute)
pretty hard, had a fi rm mark out
and just started spurring away,”
Creasy said of his ride. “The horse
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Staff photo E.J. Harris
Ryan Botham of Heppner pulls down a 4.1-second time in steer wrestling on Wednesday at the
Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
“It felt really good.
I’ve been struggling
the last few weeks and
to get an 87 was the
icing on the cake.”
— Toby Collins,
of Stephenville, Texas
Matt Shiozawa leaps from
his horse during tie down
roping on his way to a
11.3-second time in the sec-
ond go if tie down roping on
Wednesday at the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
See RODEO/3B
Staff photo E.J. Harris
HERMISTON — When
Farm-City Pro Rodeo announcer
Randy Corley and his wife
Michelle stopped by Hermiston
in June to check out the new
rodeo grounds, they were both
surprised at what they saw. And
what they didn’t see.
“There was no grass or
anything here June 2, I can tell
you that,” Corley said during
media night festivities on
Tuesday. “There were studs on
the Chute 8 (building), no walls,
we had concrete poured for seats
but no bleachers, no fences were
in.”
However as Corley and his
wife departed the rodeo grounds
more than two months ago, he
had no doubt that the Farm-City
board would be able to work its
magic and churn out the state-
of-the-art facility they set out to
build. When he rolled back into
Hermiston this week, he was not
disappointed.
“I’m not just sitting here brag-
ging on this committee because
I’m here,” he said. “I bragged
when I drove out of here when
most people would have thought
See ARENA/3B
Sports shorts
Falcons sign RB Freeman to fi ve-
year, $41.25 million extension
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons
have agreed to terms on a fi ve-year contract
extension with running back Devonta
Freeman, addressing one of the biggest issues
for the defending NFC champions.
The two sides agreed to terms
Wednesday on a fi ve-year, $41.25
million extension with Freeman,
making him the highest-paid
running back in the league in terms
of the overall package. It includes a
$15 million signing bonus and $22
Freeman
million in guaranteed money.
During his three seasons with the
Falcons, the Miami native has racked up 2,383
rushing yards, including back-to-back 1,000-yard
rushing seasons in 2015 and 2016. His 3,175 total
yards over the past two seasons ranks second in
the NFL, behind teammate Julio Jones.
“He’s boring. You’ve
gotta do better than
that. If you’re going to
play that good then you
gotta do something.“
— Kyle Seager
Seattle Mariners third baseman
joking about his younger brother
and Los Angeles Dodgers short-
stop Corey not choosing to wear
a nickname or a creative name
on the back of his jersey as a
part of MLB’s ‘Players Weekend’
on Aug. 25-27. Kyle is wearing
‘Corey’s Brother’ on his jersey.
NFL to hire full-time offi cials
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL will hire up
to 24 full-time game offi cials.
The league will begin hiring between 21 and
24 full-time offi cials from among
the current roster of 124 offi cials
for this season.
Full-time offi cials will
be hired at each of the seven
offi ciating positions and may
serve on each of the 17 offi ciating
crews. They will work collabo-
ratively with their assigned crews, the league
offi ciating staff and the NFL’s football-related
committees during the offseason.
“NFL offi cials are always looking to
improve, and we believe that additional time,
particularly in the offseason, will be positive,”
said NFL Referees Association executive
director Scott Green. “We’re looking forward to
working together with the league on this effort.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2008 — In Beijing,
Michael Phelps begins his
long march toward eight
gold medals by winning the
400-meter individual medley
in 4:03.84 smashing his
own world record. The U.S.
women’s 400-meter freestyle
relay team, anchored by
41-year-old Dara Torres,
takes the silver behind the
Netherlands’ Olympic record
effort. It’s the 10th medal of
Torres’ career.
1980 — Jack Nicklaus
wins his fi fth PGA Champi-
onship with a record score
of 274, seven strokes ahead
of Andy Bean.