Celebrate the Cowboy Lifestyle

Rodeo enthusiasts whose appetite for all things equine hasn't yet been sated by the National Finals Rodeo have another option this weekend: The World Series of Team Roping -- along with several other cowboy-oriented events -- at the South Point Equestrian and Events Center.

This is the third year the team roping event has come to the South Point, said Denny Gentry, the Texas roping guru who in 2006 was asked by the South Point to create a world-class team roping event during NFR week in Las Vegas.

This year, a mere 30 months or so after its creation, the World Series of Team Roping will offer participants -- who will compete in divisions ranging from novice to top professional -- a share of a total purse of about $3 million.

World Series of Team Roping daily qualifying rounds began Wednesday and continue through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with money rounds each day at 5 p.m. Both are open free to the public.

Then, at 1 p.m. Saturday, the World Series of Team Roping's grand finale rounds will take place as part of the newly inaugurated Thunder EquiGames, billed as an eight-day-long "celebration of the cowboy lifestyle."

In addition to the World Series of Team Roping, events falling under the new Thunder EquiGames banner include the World Series of Mounted Shooting, World Series Free-Style Bullfight, the Charmayne James Invitational Barrel Race and Sunday's Speed Williams Invitational Match Roping.

Gentry describes Thunder EquiGames as "the hat-and-boot version of the X Games," and fans probably will be familiar with many of its participants, including six-time World All-Around Rodeo Champion Larry Mahan; three-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association champion bull rider Tuff Hedeman; and G.R. Carter, the American Quarter Horse Association's all-time money-earning jockey.

The South Point is the perfect venue for the events, largely because owner Michael Gaughan "kind of caters his game to the cowboys," Gentry said, no small thing in a town that, at times, seems to have an uneasy relationship with its cowboy past.

Best of all for fans: It's affordable for the family. Tickets -- for $15 -- are required only for Saturday afternoon's Thunder EquiGames Grand Finale, which will include finals in team roping, freestyle bull fighting and barrel racing.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.