August 11, 2011
Lane Santos-Karney BLOG
Well friends, as I sit down to write this blog, I’m just figuring out what it feels like to be 19. I turned 19 on August 10th. This summer I have been so extremely fortunate to go places, see old friends, make new ones, and have had some great opportunities arise for me. In my young life I have observed that you should make every attempt to do what you love, and surround yourself with people who make you better at what you love. I have had the opportunity to rodeo and announce some this summer, and be around positive people. And I still have about another month and a half before school starts at Cal Poly! I am very excited about life, and living it.
Being home for the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles was a great time! I was really lucky that my uncle Blaine roped with me in the open match team roping, where we won second! It’s exciting to win, especially roping with someone I’ve looked up to forever. By winning second in the match, we got a rodeo run at the fair rodeo that night. T.J. Collet and Clayton Grant won the rodeo finals. T.J. has been in the top twenty in the world heading standings, and Clayton has heeled at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It was a thrill to rope against guys like that. Congratulations to T.J. and his wife Sara for the birth of a boy named Parker on July 28th.
An awesome opportunity was presented to me when Jake Twisselman called me to announce the Country Rodeo Finals at the Mid-State Fair for Cotton Rosser and the Flying U Rodeo Company. It was so much fun to call the action to 8,000 people in the stands that night! I really appreciate Jake thinking of me for the job, and Cotton and Reno Rosser giving me that chance. Reno called the action with me, and we had a lot of fun. Cotton, at the age of 83 is such a class act. In the pre-production meeting I was just in awe at how sharp he was, and was taking notes! He is a true showman.
The week after Mid-State, my mom, Taylor, and I went down to the Santa Barbara Rodeo and Fiesta. It was, like always, so much fun! The weather is perfect down in Santa Barbara, and a relief from the inland heat. Taylor did really well, and won the Jr. All-Around down there. It was strange not being able to enter the Jr. stuff this year. After the ProRodeo performance one night, Jake Twisselman and John Growney got me to go up and announce the slack after. I was really a lot of fun! I’d like to thank Jake for his support in my young announcing career. John Growney is one of the coolest guys I have ever been around. I really enjoyed hanging out with him in Santa Barbara. That guy is a legend. Also Clint “Wolfy” Selvester was the clown and barrelman down there, and I always enjoy him. He is genuinely funny and witty.
Like I talked about Jake Barnes and Walt Woodard’s winning streak in my last blog, they followed up with a big bang in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to win the Daddy of ‘Em All! That pumped me up for those guys to jump into the top ten in the world standings. I root for Jake Barnes as much as anybody else. He is a focused warrior, yet such a great person every time I see him. Jake and Walt are on a mission.
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo heading qualifier Turtle Powell and his WNFR barrel racing wife Molly welcomed a little boy named Layne to this world on August 9th. Congratulations to them.
As I said before, I am so excited about roping, rodeo, and life in general. I was talking to somebody I really respect and care about today about life, and they told me they were on cloud 9. That’s how it should be. I love the opportunity to live this life. I hope this blog finds all of you having a great summer, and enjoying what you’re doing. I get to rope everyday, and talk to friends that mean a lot to me everyday. I am blessed. Thank you for taking the time to follow my comings and goings.