Georgia cowboy matches world calf-roping record

Everybody was shaking Ryan Jarrett’s hand and giving him high fives when he won the $100,000 bonus in the calf roping at the Calgary Stampede last year. Everybody, that is, but his travelling partner Clint Robinson. He gave Jarrett hell. Robinson insisted Jarrett should buy the calf and take her home — like a trophy. “A great calf? Heck, me and my dad pre-condition a lot of cattle so it was just another calf to me,” he said. “I ain’t never looked at a calf as being special.” Jarrett might have to now. The Georgia cowboy, who makes his home in Oklahoma, tied the world record Saturday with a time of 6.3 seconds. He swung his rope only twice before catching the red calf, which fellow Oklahoman Mike Johnson was 7.5 seconds on in Friday’s opening round. Jarrett, the 2005 world all-around champion, also won the first round with a time of 6.6 seconds, a tick off the arena record. “I might slip out there and buy this calf,” Jarrett chuckled. “Maybe she is special.” It wouldn’t be the first time a cowboy has purchased a farm animal after setting a record. Texas calf roper Ricky Canton established the world record at Strathmore in 2005. He did it during the slack with about 30 spectators in the stands and 40 or so ropers down around the chutes, compared with the 13,000 who watched Jarrett...more

Arena records, sure. But these "World Records" in the timed events are questionable.