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JACK BUSCHBOM |
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| Jack Buschbom, born Oct. 6, 1927, in State Center, Iowa, survived two serious accidents with horses before he ever started in ProRodeo. The son of a stock contractor and former rodeo contestant, Buschbom began competing at age 17 as a bull rider. Three years later, he concentrated on learning to ride broncs bareback, and in just two years, he was a world champion for the first time. He also won the world crown in 1959-60. Buschbom was the first home-grown Midwesterner to make it big in professional rodeo, and he was among his event’s leaders throughout his career. His lay-back, wild-spurring style was eventually copied by most contestants. In 1960, Buschbom served as president of the RCA, the forerunner of the PRCA. World championships: 3 (1949, 1959-60)
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JAMES BYNUM |
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One of only three men to have won four or more steer wrestling world titles, James Bynum of Waxahachie, Texas, pursued world titles if the weather wasn’t just right. “Big Jim,” like his father before him, farmed cotton south of Dallas. When it was hot and dry, that usually meant a poor crop, so he would load up his horse and hit the road. The good years he spent close to home, taking care of the cotton. His claim is born out by the gaps between his titles: 1954, 1958, 1961 and 1963. Born in Danville, Ala., in 1924, Bynum was a pencil-thin 130 pounds until his late teens and first tried his hand at tie-down roping. An older friend suggested he try steer wrestling, and he placed on the first steer he ever jumped at. After a two-year Army stint (1945-47), Bynum spent another two years apprenticed to the late Todd Whatley, the 1947 world steer wrestling champion. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, Bynum always was careful when picking his steer wrestling mount. The best he ever owned was a gray Quarter Horse registered as Star Web that Bynum called Ol’ Blue. Blue retired to the Bynum farm to spend out his last days. Bynum died of cancer on May 28, 1999. |
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