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Whitfield and the rest of the 2002 world champions of ProRodeo gathered for the annual presentation of the world champion buckles to the newly crowned world champions at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame on Jan. 14. The presentation was held in conjunction with the debut of the world champions exhibit at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, and a reception followed with more than 500 in attendance. Trevor Brazile, 2002 world all-around champion, was clearly enjoying his time with the fans who jammed the Hall of Fame for the occasion. The calf roper/team roper/steer roper clinched his world title at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. "This has been a dream come true," said Brazile, of Anson, Texas. "Now I'm at a level where everybody's going to be trying to knock you off the top of the mountain. I remember how hard I worked at it to get somebody off that mountain, so I've been on both ends of it now." Bobby Mote clinched his bareback riding world championship with an 88-point ride on Kesler's Alley Ways Dip in Round 10 of the 2002 Wrangler NFR. "This is neat," Mote said only minutes before the presentation of the world champions' buckles, "and it'll be even neater when I get that buckle." Flamboyant steer wrestler Sid Steiner was in town as well and mingled with the crowd in the aftermath of his first title. "To be in a class with all of these great cowboys has been great," Steiner said. "We're all good buddies, and we cut up all day at the meetings. I haven't lost my class clown qualities, so I was pretty happy about that." Whitfield, the calf roper who has seven gold buckles to his credit, was given a healthy ovation, as were team roping legends Speed Williams and Rich Skelton. Williams and Skelton were soaking up the deserved glory that comes with six consecutive world championships. Perhaps the most appreciative champion of all was steer roper Buster Record, who won his first world title at the tender age of 46. He ended an 11-year run for steer roping legend Guy Allen, who owns 16 gold buckles, tied with Jim Shoulders for the most of all time. Another first-time champion was Glen O'Neill, the Australian saddle bronc rider who spurred Stace Smith's Wasp Dip for 87 points and the win in Round 10 of the Wrangler NFR. Barrel racer Charmayne James was once again a crowd favorite in Colorado Springs after winning her 11th world title. "It's exciting anytime they've got you here to honor you as a world champion," James said. "It's been great." Bull rider Blue Stone, like Williams and Skelton, arrived for the event as a successful defending world titlist. "Another good day," said Stone with a smile,"Hopefully I'll come back again next year."
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