LOCAL BRONC RIDER EMERGES AS `HERO' AT LONGHORN RODEO AFTER LONG WAIT

It took just eight seconds to determine if Jeff Gannon would be a "lying" cowboy or a local hero.

Judging from Gannon's smile, which was nearly as wide as his black cowboy hat, the latter came to pass after an excruciating 48-hour waiting period.

Much to his delight, friends and family could shake hands with a local hero on the final day of competition in the seventh annual Longhorn World Championship Rodeo. The three-day event took place at the Show Me Center.

After emerging from Friday night's competition in saddle bronc riding as the early leader, Gannon had to watch his rivals the next two days before learning where he would ultimately place among the top six in the final standings.

"There's a little bit of pressure when you're competing in a rodeo with all of your friends in the audience," said Gannon, who managed to take home a split of fourth, fifth and sixth place.

Gannon's share of the entire $3,200 saddle bronc riding purse was around $200. "I ended up getting $100 more than I spent to enter the event, a small bonus for being the leader for a day, plus I was only four points away from Dan Dailey, who is a nine-time world champion in the event. So I guess it was a good rodeo for me," said Gannon, whose sister Cindy is the volleyball coach at Southeast Missouri State.

"You tell everybody all year how you're going to try for first place when the rodeo comes to town," said Gannon, who has competed on the professional rodeo circuit for just over a year. Three years before that he competed in intercollegiate rodeos while working on a degree in recreation at Southeast Missouri State. He will graduate this August.

"If you come close to what you say, you're a hero. But if you don't place you're left feeling like a liar," he quipped. "They say you can't really believe anything from a cowboy until you've seen him ride."

Gannon rode the horse John Brown well on Friday night, amassing a total of 70 points. "I knew I was into a pretty good ride," said Gannon. "When the timing is just right, you're not even aware of the seconds ticking off. Then something will go wrong and a second will seem like a year. You start to listen for that horn when things turn against you."

A horn is sounded to let the rider know he has met the eight-second requirement necessary to amass points. Saddle bronc riding is a single handhold event. The cowboy hangs onto a bucking rein, which is generally a soft braided rope about one and one-half inches thick. It is fastened to the horse's halter and much of the success of the ride depends on how long a rein the rider takes.

Two judges, each armed with a possible 50-point score, assess the bucking horse's ability to fight and the rider's ability to stay in the saddle. The judges score from 1-25 for both the rider and horse.

"Considering the fact that I went into the last day splitting second, I knew I would be in the money," said Gannon, the base of the thumb he wrapped around the saddle horn still showing the effects of a superficial wound.

"The beauty of this sport is that on any given day I could go into the competition with the chance to beat a Dan Dailey, or some world champion," said Gannon.

Gannon doesn't know exactly when he became hooked on rodeos and saddle bronc riding. "I grew up in DeSoto working with horses," said the 24-year-old rodeo enthusiast. "I remember always hanging around the bronc riding chutes when we went to the rodeos. I guess that's when it got into my blood. Ever since then I've known I would want to be a part of the rodeo in some capacity," he said.

Gannon has certainly paid his dues. "Every weekend for a year, I would drive to Jacksonville, Ill., to the Lazy Rodeo Ranch to ride five or six horses a day," said Gannon.

"I remember being up there on Christmas eve a few years ago. It was about 30 below outside and still felt like it was freezing when we were riding indoors. We made this huge stove as hot as we could get it just to stay warm enough to ride. One guy would make sure the rider didn't get hurt, the other would take care of the flank strap and the third guy would ride. We would rotate like this until we were exhausted. You know you love the sport when you put up with something like that."

Gannon is able to afford travel costs and entry fees for his favorite sport by working part-time for Randol Farms Development Corporation. "I've spent four hours with a jackhammer, then three hours driving to a rodeo and then didn't even stay on a horse for the entire eight seconds," said Gannon, somewhat amused by the irony.

"What's so much fun about this is you never really know what's going to happen on any given day. Some times you feel like you're really having a good ride and then all of a sudden you're standing there scratching your head wondering what went wrong," said Gannon, his tight grin wreathed in a neatly trimmed beard.

Bronc riding isn't the only thing Gannon likes about the rodeo. "Watch this disappearing act by one of the clowns," said Gannon. "I thought I had it figured out. I think it has something to do with how he moves the lid of the box before he switches places with the other clown. But I'm still not sure how he does it. And he won't tell anybody in the rodeo what his secret is."

When he said this, Gannon's smile became expansive again. A few more days like this one and he wouldn't have to worry about disappearing from the pro circuit.

"When you get to feel like a hero in a rodeo, it lasts for a year...until the next one comes to town," said Gannon, who knew he had stretched eight seconds as far as he could.

"All you want is to get the best ride your ability will allow," he explained. "If you place, that's great. If not, you can still live with it."