Rodeo champion still smiling at 70

Shawn Davis was 16 years old and needed a special permit to compete in a rodeo in Butte, Mont. He drew the legendary saddle bronc Trail's End.

Before his ride, Davis overheard a lady from a rodeo royalty family make a prediction as she was scanning her program. "I heard her say, 'Whoever that kid is, his trail's going to end.' "

Trail's End won round one, but it was hardly the end of the trail for Davis, rodeo's three-time saddle bronc champion between 1965 and 1968. Only Casey Tibbs won four in a row in saddle bronc competition.

Davis won half of his six battles on the Hall of Fame sorrel, "a real athlete who never had a set (bucking) pattern," he said.

Davis, the National Finals Rodeo's general manager since it moved here in 1986, was one of my rodeo heroes during the early years of my sportswriting career in Montana.

On the eve of his 70th birthday, we spent some time reminiscing in his office at the Thomas & Mack Center. Davis recalled one of his most memorable birthdays, his first NFR, at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1963. The highlight of the whiskey-fueled night featured Davis' birthday cake being dumped on steer wrestler Walt Linderman's head, compliments of Benny Reynolds, a fellow Montana champion.

"My birthday always fell during the NFR," and the cake antics became a tradition, Davis said. "Paid a lot for hotel room damages over the years."

His 70th birthday included a surprise as well before Tuesday's session: A Marilyn Monroe impersonator sang "Happy Birthday," reminiscent of Monroe's breathy tribute to President John F. Kennedy.

Davis hasn't reached the end of his trail, but he can see it from here. Grandkids and a stable of thoroughbred racehorses are beckoning.

"There are some things I'd like to do before I can't do 'em anymore," he said.

His NFR contract expires in four years, the same year the NFR's deal with Las Vegas runs out. There's plenty of talk that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is poised to swoop in and move the NFR into his new 100,000-seat indoor stadium.

Twenty five years ago, Davis, then president of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, got death threats for casting the deciding vote that moved the NFR from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas. He hasn't changed his mind about the advantages Las Vegas has to offer, from proximity to hotels to the world-class entertainment.

"The (Dallas) seating is much too great for the event," Davis said. The 17,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center is so intimate, "here you get dirt kicked halfway up the stands."

SIGHTINGS

Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, seated with Davis during Monday's NFR session. Day, who rode in a record 21 Kentucky Derbys, operates Davis' thoroughbred operation. ... Lee Ann Womack, with friends in The Mansion (MGM Grand). ... Toby Keith, at Cabo Mexican Lounge at Red Rock Resort .

THE PUNCH LINE

"Willie Nelson was arrested for possession of marijuana. Nothing yet on bin Laden, but we got Willie Nelson." -- David Letterman

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.