Rodeo Hall inducts Gaughan

Las Vegas gaming pioneer Michael Gaughan routinely receives offers to be honored. But he usually shuns the spotlight.

He had no such thought when told he would be one of eight individuals inducted this year into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Gaughan, 64, will be enshrined in the notables category Saturday night at the Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"I was surprised and honored," he said Wednesday. "I thought I might get in when I was 80. There are a lot of great people in there."

Gaughan is being recognized primarily for his contributions to making the annual National Finals Rodeo successful. He was one of the first Las Vegas members of the National Finals Rodeo Committee, which works with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to coordinate the annual 10-day, December event.

In the Hall, Gaughan's likeness will join that of the late Benny Binion, a good friend and the man Gaughan said is most responsible for getting the PRCA to move the NFR from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas in 1985. Binion, who died in 1989, was inducted into the Hall nine years later.

Gaughan understated his impact in luring the world's richest rodeo to Las Vegas. He said his biggest contribution was allowing Binion and others involved in negotiations to use his personal airplane for trips to Oklahoma City.

Gaughan, owner of South Point, is more comfortable in jeans and boots than a designer suit. He prefers attending a rodeo or NASCAR race to running a board meeting.

The Nebraska native, who moved to Las Vegas in 1952, had a brief foray as a team roper in his early 20s.

"I caught my thumb in the rope and promised God that if he let me keep my thumb I'd never throw another rope," Gaughan said. "I still have my thumb and haven't roped since."

Gaughan also has been a key supporter of the UNLV rodeo team for several years.

Other members of the 2007 Hall class: Bud Munroe, saddle bronc; Lecile Harris, specialty act; Joe Glenn, team roping; Ronnie Rossen, bull riding; Jim Davis, steer roping; Dr. Doug Corey, notables; Dorothy Apodaca, contract personnel; and Skoal's Pacific Bell, stock (bull).

• BULL RIDING -- McBride has won seven PBR titles this year and is first in the series standings. He sustained a concussion two weeks ago while competing in Glendale, Ariz., but is expected to return for the next event, July 20 through 22 in Tulsa, Okla.

• PRO RODEO -- Matt Shiozawa won the calf roping title in Greeley, Colo., during the Greeley Independence Day Stampede, which ended on July 4. The victory moved the part-time Las Vegas resident from 12th to sixth in PRCA standings.

• INJURIES -- Reigning world champion steer wrestler Dean Gorsuch is scheduled for surgery this week to repair torn pectoral and biceps muscles, injuries he sustained during competition in the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede two weeks ago. He is out for the remainder of the season. ...

Two-time NFR bareback rider William Pittman II was severely injured in the Greeley Stampede and has undergone spinal surgery. He faces at least six months of rehabilitation.