A rodeo legacy
Just two years ago, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted former Dallas Morning News sports editor Dave Smith.
Smith was recognized for helping put rodeo on the sports pages of The Morning News, and he rightly deserves his name among the greats in ProRodeo.
His is the first media plaque registered in the hall in Colorado Springs. It shouldn't be the last. Come next year, I'd like to see Smith's colleague, and former reporter, standing alongside rodeo's best athletes while being inducted into the hall of fame.
Ed Knocke has done more than any other reporter to keep rodeo in front of readers of The Morning News. He has covered hundreds of rounds of the National Finals Rodeo, has been to Cheyenne, Wyo., for Frontier Days, has seen great cowboys break records, has seen historic cowboys die.
I met Knocke in 2001, my first trip to the NFR in Las Vegas. He was and is an old newspaperman — don't call him a journalist, though his skills fit the bill. He is a genuine, caring, talented man who helped put rodeo on The Morning News' front sports page. His main job, since rodeo isn't the Dallas Cowboys and isn't a full-time gig, was as a "slot" editor on The Morning News' sports desk, but he enjoyed covering rodeo.
Last week when I read Knocke's weekly rodeo column online, I noticed a different tagline at the end. Instead of, "You can reach Ed Knocke at ..." it said, "Ed Knocke is a freelance writer ..."
Confirmation came days later when Knocke revealed to me in an e-mail that after 39 years at The Morning News, he had retired. His full-time job now is taking care of Ed Knocke, but his passion shines through as he still writes about rodeo weekly in the pages of The Morning News. He will still attend the biggest rodeos in the country, including the NFR. He will still be a solid rock in my world as a rodeo writer.
Ed Knocke has done things I can only dream about, and he has lived his life as a stand-up newspaperman, wonderfully telling other people's stories. He has given much to the wonderful sport of rodeo, as much as the Clem McSpaddens, Jim Shoulderses, Donnie Gays, Hadley Barretts, Ty Murrays.
He deserves to have his name alongside each of them in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Smith was recognized for helping put rodeo on the sports pages of The Morning News, and he rightly deserves his name among the greats in ProRodeo.
His is the first media plaque registered in the hall in Colorado Springs. It shouldn't be the last. Come next year, I'd like to see Smith's colleague, and former reporter, standing alongside rodeo's best athletes while being inducted into the hall of fame.
Ed Knocke has done more than any other reporter to keep rodeo in front of readers of The Morning News. He has covered hundreds of rounds of the National Finals Rodeo, has been to Cheyenne, Wyo., for Frontier Days, has seen great cowboys break records, has seen historic cowboys die.
I met Knocke in 2001, my first trip to the NFR in Las Vegas. He was and is an old newspaperman — don't call him a journalist, though his skills fit the bill. He is a genuine, caring, talented man who helped put rodeo on The Morning News' front sports page. His main job, since rodeo isn't the Dallas Cowboys and isn't a full-time gig, was as a "slot" editor on The Morning News' sports desk, but he enjoyed covering rodeo.
Last week when I read Knocke's weekly rodeo column online, I noticed a different tagline at the end. Instead of, "You can reach Ed Knocke at ..." it said, "Ed Knocke is a freelance writer ..."
Confirmation came days later when Knocke revealed to me in an e-mail that after 39 years at The Morning News, he had retired. His full-time job now is taking care of Ed Knocke, but his passion shines through as he still writes about rodeo weekly in the pages of The Morning News. He will still attend the biggest rodeos in the country, including the NFR. He will still be a solid rock in my world as a rodeo writer.
Ed Knocke has done things I can only dream about, and he has lived his life as a stand-up newspaperman, wonderfully telling other people's stories. He has given much to the wonderful sport of rodeo, as much as the Clem McSpaddens, Jim Shoulderses, Donnie Gays, Hadley Barretts, Ty Murrays.
He deserves to have his name alongside each of them in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
posted by Teditor at 8:27 AM
1 Comments:
Cool. I don't known any former or present rodeo writers except yours truly, my truly, BP's truly and an old fart in Texas.
Post a Comment
<< Home