Smith really knows ropes

Victoria Sun

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

He was named one of People magazine's most eligible bachelors in 2000.

He has been featured in television and print advertisements for Wrangler and other sponsors.

But 6-foot-3 calf roper Stran Smith is more than just a pretty face.

First and foremost he's a cowboy -- always has been, always will be.

"My brother ropes," Smith said Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, site of the National Finals Rodeo. "I've got another brother-in-law who ropes. I've got five nephews and they all rope. I was born and raised on a ranch."

Not only that, but his father Clifton was a notable calf roper, and his sister Shari is married to legendary calf roper Roy Cooper, the first cowboy to earn more than $2 million.

Smith failed to place in the seventh go-round at his sixth finals, finishing with a time of 9.7 seconds. He entered the finals ninth in the world standings, but has cashed in only the second and third go-rounds, dropping him to 12th in the NFR average and 11th in the world standings at $82,419.44.

"You come out here with the expectation of winning $70,000 and now there's no way I can win $70,000," Smith said. "But it's behind me now; you just roll with the next round.

"The main thing is when you draw a good one, you've got to use him and you've got to win it. With my draws and with what has happened, I'm really not that disappointed."

Herbert Theriot won his first go-round of the NFR with a time of 7.5 seconds Thursday. Cody Ohl remains first in the NFR average with a total time of 59 seconds on seven head, first in the world standings at $222,026.29 and first in the all-around cowboy standings at $296,419.48.

Three-time all-around cowboy world champion and five-time calf-roping world champion Joe Beaver finished third to earn $8,069.70 to surpass Cooper's record for career earnings. Beaver has $2,060,474 to Cooper's $2,056,548.

In the final round of the Copenhagen Cup Finale in Dallas, Smith and Ohl set the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association record of 6.7 seconds. The cowboys eclipsed the previous record set by Beaver in 1986.

Smith immediately followed Ohl and before the final round, Ohl jokingly told Smith he'd let him win so that he could earn enough money to qualify for the NFR. When Smith saw Ohl's incredible score, all he could do was laugh it off and try his best.

By tying Ohl, Smith won the finale to earn a substantial amount of money to qualify for the NFR and the Olympic Command Performance Rodeo being held Feb. 9-11 at the Davis County Legacy Center in Farmington, Utah, in conjunction with the Winter Olympics.

"It was quite an awesome deal for me," Smith said. "I was 6.7 and it was probably the single most exciting part of my life that I can ever remember. This was a long year and it was hard up and down.

"Completing four goals in one deal in front of 22,000 people, I could not have staged it any better than it was."

Smith has handled being in the spotlight with grace. He said he works hard at balancing his schedule.

When he's not practicing or competing in rodeos, he's fulfilling sponsor obligations and making time for his wife, Jennifer, the 1995 Miss Rodeo America and an ESPN rodeo correspondent.

"It's been wonderful," Smith said of his sponsorship deals. "I get to meet a lot of people.

"I've had tons of exposure in all kinds of different areas and it's taken rodeo to a different level. The exposure that People magazine got for rodeo has been great."

All of the attention Smith has garnered for the sport has propelled him to the role of a rodeo spokesman of sorts. He relishes that position.

"There's a certain amount of pressure when you are that, but it's something that I don't take lightly," Smith said. "I take a lot of pride in people putting confidence in me that I can do the job.

"It's great for me and great for rodeo."