“Amazing Racer” Jet McCoy, live Western music, rodeo demos mark National Day of American Cowboy at National Cowboy Museum
Jim Garling will be among the performers at today's National Day of the American Cowboy celebration at the National Cowboy Museum. (Photo by David McDaniel, the Oklahoman Archives)
Meet “Amazing Race” contender Jet McCoy, hear live music by Gary S. Pratt and Picket Wire, Jim Garling and A Bar Bunkhouse Band and see the John Wayne film “The Cowboys” at the National Day of the American Cowboy celebration from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. today at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63.
The museum joins venues across the nation today in hosting a special event to honor the iconic American Cowboy.
Jet McCoy
“The cowboy is our nation’s greatest ambassador throughout the world, representing the most admired virtues of the American people,” said Don Reeves, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture, on the popularity of the cowboy, in a news release.
Museum visitors can expect extra entertainment in addition to the cowboy culture and art routinely served up in the museum’s galleries and gardens.
Visiting the museum to sign autographs will be Oklahoma’s own cowboy and “Amazing Race” contestant Jet McCoy.
Music entertainers will be cowboy singer/songwriter and past Western Heritage Award winner for Outstanding New Artist Gary S. Pratt and Picket Wire of Davis, along with Western music artists Jim Garling from Guthrie and the A Bar Bunkhouse Band from northeastern Oklahoma.
Additionally, three screenings of John Wayne’s feature film “The Cowboys” will be shown at 10 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Starting at 10 a.m. is the introduction of the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Scholarship Pageant contestants, followed at 1:30 p.m. by the announcement of the newly crowned royalty. Seventeen young ladies are vying for titles in four age divisions ranging from age 4-24. The 2010 and 2011 pageant titleholders will sign autographs from 2 to 3 p.m.
New this year, with each museum admission receipt, guests can enter The Cowboy’s A-Blazin’ Race and receive a “Passport to the West” for a chance to win prizes. The passport will guide participants through the museum with activities and educational questions.
On the plaza, the Oklahoma State University Rodeo Team will be on hand to demonstrate roping and Master Bladesmith Brion Tomberlin, will demonstrate knife making. Brand-themed temporary tattoos will be available all day in the Children’s Cowboy Corral along with children’s storytelling at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Oklahoma County Mounted Sheriff’s Patrol will be a part of the activities again this year to greet guests as they enter the gates of the Museum.
American Cowboy magazine launched the campaign for this national day of recognition in 2004.
Several permanent galleries at the Museum focus on cowboys including, the American Cowboy Gallery, the Western Performers Gallery and the American Rodeo Gallery.
For more information, call 478-2250 or go to www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.
See the full schedule of activities after the break.
Best Bets for July 22-24, 2011: See Ragtime, hear the Old 97′s, catch Country Joe McDonald
The Old 97's
Here are my picks for the top 5 Best Bets happening this weekend around Oklahoma, as listed in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. For more event options, go to www.wimgo.com:
1. Meet “Amazing Race” contender Jet McCoy, hear live music by Gary S. Pratt and Picket Wire, Jim Garling and A Bar Bunkhouse Band and see the John Wayne film “The Cowboys” at the National Day of the American Cowboy celebration from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63. Information: 478-2250 or www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.
2. NORMAN — Listen to the Old 97’s, Robert Ellis and Workweek at 7 p.m. Friday at the outside stage at The Opolis, 113 N Crawford. Information: www.starlightmints.com/opolis.html.
3. See Lyric Theatre’s staging of the Tony-winning musical “Ragtime” at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker. Information: 524-9312 or www.lyrictheatreokc.com.
4. NORMAN — Watch Mark Ballas, Chelsie Hightower, Damian Whitewood and Peta Murgatroyd from the hit reality TV show “Dancing with the Stars” perform as “America’s Favorite Dancers” at 8 p.m. Friday at Riverwind Casino, 1544 W State Highway 9. Information: 322-6464 or www.riverwind.com.
5. TULSA — Hear Country Joe McDonald, Jefferson Starship and Big Brother and the Holding Co. perform as “The Heroes of Woodstock” at 7 p.m. Friday at River Spirit Event Center, 1616 E 81 St. Information: (918) 995-8191 or www.creeknationcasino.com.
-BAM
“Amazing Race” contender Jet McCoy to appear Saturday at National Cowboy Museum’s National Day of the American Cowboy celebration
Jet McCoy
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum will join venues across the nation in hosting special activities Saturday to mark the National Day of the American Cowboy
The museum, 1700 NE 63, will honor the iconic American Cowboy from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Saturday.
“The cowboy is our nation’s greatest ambassador throughout the world, representing the most admired virtues of the American people,” said Don Reeves, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture, on the popularity of the cowboy, in a news release.
Visiting the museum to sign autographs will be Oklahoma’s own cowboy and “Amazing Race” contestant Jet McCoy. Jet McCoy and his brother Cord McCoy, who hail from Tupelo, have twice competed on the Emmy-winning reality TV show, first on Season 16 and then on the all-star Season 18 and have become fan favorites for their courtly cowboy ways.
Music entertainers will include cowboy singer-songwriter and past Western Heritage Award winner for Outstanding New Artist Gary S. Pratt and Picket Wire of Davis, along with Western music artists Jim Garling from Guthrie and the A Bar Bunkhouse Band from northeastern Oklahoma.
Additionally, three screenings of John Wayne’s feature film “The Cowboys” will be aired at 10 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Starting at 10 a.m. is the introduction of the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Scholarship Pageant contestants, followed at 1:30 p.m. by the announcement of the newly crowned royalty. Seventeen young ladies are vying for titles in four age divisions ranging from age 4-24. The 2010 and 2011 pageant titleholders will sign autographs from 2 to 3 p.m.
New this year, with each museum admission receipt, guests can enter The Cowboy’s A-Blazin’ Race and receive a “Passport to the West” for a chance to win prizes. The passport will guide participants through the Museum with activities and educational questions.
On the plaza, the Oklahoma State University Rodeo Team will be on hand to demonstrate roping and Master Bladesmith Brion Tomberlin, will demonstrate knife making. Brand-themed temporary tattoos will be available all day in the Children’s Cowboy Corral along with children’s storytelling at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Oklahoma County Mounted Sheriff’s Patrol will be a part of the activities again this year to greet guests as they enter the gates of the Museum.
American Cowboy magazine launched the campaign for this national day of recognition in 2004.
Several permanent galleries at the museum focus on cowboys including, the American Cowboy Gallery, the Western Performers Gallery and the American Rodeo Gallery.
For more information, call 478-2250 or go to www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.
Check out the schedule for the museum’s National Day of the American Cowboy celebration after the break.
Oklahoma celebrities tweet through the tornadoes
Greyson Chance (Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman Archives)
Celebrities with Oklahoma ties used Twitter to voice their concerns, reassure fans they were safe and request prayers for the state as a deadly tornado outbreak swept through Tuesday. At least five were killed, dozens were injured and many homes and businesses were destroyed as multiple twisters tore through Oklahoma.
Like many affected by the storms, Okie celebrities used social media to communicate during the outbreak.
Here’s what some of the high-profile Oklahomans posted on Twitter Tuesday night as the storms rolled through:
I am safe! Thanks all for the tweets. Please pray for Oklahoma.
- Edmond teen music star Greyson Chance (@greysonchance)
Now I’m in Oklahoma bracing for bad weather. Everybody stay safe.
- Owasso country star Trisha Yearwood, who had spent the day at St. Mary’s School in Cortland, N.Y., promoting music education. (@TYcom)
I hope everyone in Oklahoma is staying safe!! We’re thinking about you all!
- Oklahoma City-based rockers Hinder, who will play the Memorial Day weekend Rocklahoma festival in Pryor. (@hindermusic)
doing good, been lookin off the front porch tryin to see one
- Rodeo champ, “The Amazing Race” contestant and Ada resident Cord McCoy, tweeting to a follower who inquired about his family’s safety (@CordMcCoy)
I’m praying for all the people and animals in MO today and for the rest of the victims of these natural disasters.
- Country music star and Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert, extending her prayers to the victims of Joplin, Mo.’s devastating tornado earlier this week. (@Miranda_Lambert)
The Oklahoma City Thunder were in Dallas, where they’re playing Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals series with the Mavericks tonight, but they were still thinking about their fans back
James Harden (Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman Archives)
home:
I’m in Dallas really concerned wit this tornado talk in OKC……
- Eric Maynor (@EMaynor3)
Praying for everyone in OKC!!..hope those tornadoes don’t hit too crazy!!!!
- James Harden (@JHarden13)
Praying for everyone back in Oklahoma, that this storm won’t be to bad.
- Byron Mullens (@byron23james)
Praying everything goes well with everything in Oklahoma with all these tornado warnings in effect right now…….
- Daequan Cook (@DcookIsBack)
Blake Shelton (AP file)
And country music star Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton), who coincidentally will be playing tornado benefit shows with tonight and Thursday in Durant, tweeted last night, “Hang on my Oklahoma and Kansas friends!!!! This is rough!!!!”
Shelton and fellow Oklahoma star Reba McEntire will perform the back-to-back benefits at Choctaw Event Center as part of the relief effort for the tiny Atoka County town of Tushka, which was hit April 14 by a deadly EF3 tornado.
It’s been a tough spring, but these shows should bring hope as well as funds to southeastern Oklahomans.
Shelton, a prolific Twitter user, also tweeted today a warning for those who will be attending tonight’s concert: “To all the people coming to see me and @Reba tonight in Durant, Ok… Although this is a benefit for tornado relief, I may be drinking..”
Look for my review of the show in the wee hours of Thursday here at BAM’s Blog and at NewsOK.
-BAM
Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy eliminated from “Amazing Race: Unfinished Business”
Jet and Cord McCoy
Oklahoma cowboys Jet and Cord McCoy were eliminated from “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” after finishing last in the episode that aired Sunday night.
When the rodeo champion brothers first appeared on the reality TV show last year, they finished runner-up in their bid to win the $1 million prize. This time, they ended their run in sixth place.
At the eighth pit stop of the current all-star installment of the contest, Jet McCoy struggled with the task of measuring the length of the tiny country of Lichtenstein while riding a motorized bicycle, reports my fine colleague Mel Bracht. He blamed his incorrect answer on taking a wrong turn on the course. He guessed 35 kilometers when the correct answer was 22 kilometers. He then had to ride the course again to determine the correct answer, which put the cowboys well behind the other competitors.
As in the past two episodes, Jet and Cord rallied after making a mistake and managed to stay in the race. But their fate was sealed when the Harlem Globetrotters team of “Flight Time and Big Easy” (Herb Long and Nate Lofton) used its U-Turn on them, making them complete another task.
“Totally my fault, really,” said Jet McCoy, 31, a rancher from Tupelo, after being told by host Phil Keoghan that they had been eliminated.
Cord McCoy, 30, a bull rider from Ada, disagreed.
“We’re a team,” he said. “I took off with him and I’ll stick with him to the end.”
It’s not surprising that the Globetrotters used their U-Turn on the cowboys, who believed they had become a target of the other teams. “I don’t know if we’re an outcast, but there hasn’t been anybody trying to buddy up with us,” Jet said early in the episode.
The McCoy brothers again find their fervent fan base crying foul on their behalf. Some of the other teams shared the correct answer on the Lichtenstein challenge, but no one gave the answer with the Oklahoma competitors. Many cowboys fans have taken to Internet message boards to protest that the McCoy brothers were the victims of cheating by the other competitors. Since “The Amazing Race” has billed itself as different from other reality shows where alliance building, backstabbing and underhanded tactics are a major part of the game play, it will be interesting to see if the producers look at rule changes after this season ends.
It seems clear that the other teams regarded the cowboys as formidable opponents and targeted them for elimination.
“I don’t think anyone feels comfy and relaxed that we’re safe from them,” Vyxsin Fiala, of the Goth team said of the cowboys early in the episode.
During their first appearance on the show during Season 16, Cord and Jet McCoy finished second to brothers Dan and Jordan Pious after the Pious brothers cut in line during the season finale at the Shanghai airport for the flight back to San Francisco.
Once again, the McCoys did the state proud, maintaining an unfailingly positive attitude, even in defeat. Both cowboys said they enjoyed their second outing on the reality race.
“I know they hit the nail on the head when they called this race amazing,” Cord said. “I got to get with my brother — my best friend. It’s more memories I’ll never forget.”
“We went to some new places this time and I got to see it with my brother,” Jet said. “Nobody I would rather to be traveling the country with, maybe my wife.”
To which Cord replied, “I don’t blame you.”
You gotta love those cowboys. It’s sad to see them come up short, but again, they have proven great ambassadors for our fair state. Best of luck to them in all they do.
-BAM
Reminder: Follow the BAM’s Blog ACM Awards live blog tonight!
Miranda Lambert
The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. Sunday, on the CBS Television Network. Reba McEntire, who hails from Chockie, and Blake Shelton, an Ada native and Tishomingo resident, will co-host the show.
(Fans of Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy should note that “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” will not air tonight because of the ACM Awards. The reality show will return April 10.)
Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert, Shelton’s fiancée, has seven Academy of Country Music Award nominations, the most of any solo artist. She and Norman resident Toby Keith are nominated along with Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban for the top award, the fan-voted entertainer of the year title.
Voting for entertainer of the year continues and closes during third hour of Sunday’s live broadcast. To vote, go to www.voteACM.com.
Along with all five entertainer nominees, former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, Underwood, Reba, Shelton, Alabama, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Martina McBride and Zac Brown Band with James Taylor have been announced as performers for Sunday’s show.
Shelton, Reba and Checotah native Carrie Underwood also will contend for ACM Awards.
Please follow my live blog of the awards show here at BAM’s Blog starting at 7 tonight!
-BAM
“Amazing Race” preview photo: Cord McCoy uses his rodeo skills for yak riding
Yep, that’s Oklahoma cowboy Cord McCoy riding a yak. Yeehaw!
In tonight’s episode of “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business,” the competitors, including Cord and his brother Jet McCoy, travel to China, where the challenges include saddling up a yak and riding it across a river.
It would seem that a rodeo champion like Cord would have an advantage in this particular reality TV challenge. Will the Tupelo cowboys be able to pull from sixth place into the top spot with this rodeo-related feat?
“The Amazing Race” airs at 7 tonight on CBS (KWTV-9). To read up on how the McCoy brothers fared in last week’s episode, click here to visit NewsOK’s Television Blog.
-BAM
Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton to marry May 14
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert is featured on the cover of the April issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine, and in her interview with the publication, the Tishomingo resident and country music star reveals when she and Blake Shelton will tie the knot: May 14.
“He’s somebody I can look up to as a mentor, but he’s also somebody I can vent to, because he’s like my other half,” Lambert told the magazine of her fiance, whom she has been seeing since 2006. The Texas native said she didn’t give much thought to Shelton’s status as a fellow country star when they started dating.
“I really never thought about him being in the business, to be honest. I mean, I fell in love with the person. But then all the other stuff goes down, and they start to talk about you and you’re in the press. I thought, Well, this sucks. Right away, we were in the public eye because we were a couple, and I didn’t like that part of it. But by the time we get married, we’ll have been together six years. And we’ve learned how to deal with it by going through it,” she said.
Lambert also confirmed to the magazine that Shelton, an Ada native who also lives near Tishomingo, asked for her father’s hand in marriage:
“Yes, he actually did. They sat down together and had a conversation. I don’t know how it went, though I presume it went well. But that was really important to me. That goes back to my roots, I guess. I think every man should ask the girl’s dad for her hand,” she told Cowboys & Indians.
The singer-songwriter talked about how their lives down on their neighboring farms keeps them grounded, though she didn’t say if they would be marrying in Oklahoma or Texas.
Lambert owns 700 acres outside Tishomingo, near Shelton’s 1,200-acre spread.
“But his land is strictly hunting land,” she told the magazine with mock seriousness. “I have a real farm with potbellied pigs and chickens and horses and cows. And we get back there every chance we get. After the CMA Awards last November, people asked us, ‘What did you do when you got home?’ And I said, ‘Well, he burned a brush pile, and I made chocolate chip cookies.’ We just went back to our normal lives in rubber boots.”
Published eight times per year, Cowboys & Indians is an international magazine covering the past, present, and future of the American West. The April issue also includes an interview with rodeo champion Cord McCoy, who is competing on the reality TV show “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business.”
- BAM
UPDATED: Can Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy get out of last place on tonight’s “Amazing Race”?
Jet and Cord McCoy on "The Amazing Race"
UPDATED: Jet and Cord McCoy rallied from 11th place into third place on Sunday’s episode of “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business.” In addition, Cord uttered his first “Oh my gravy” of the season; during “Amazing Race Season 16,” the exclamation became a favorite catchphrase of the Oklahoma cowboys’ fans. To read the full account of how the McCoy brothers managed to pull out of last place, click here.
The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will air live at 7:30 tonight on ABC (KOCO-5 in Oklahoma City), with the Oscars red carpet and my live blog of the evening’s festivities starting at 6 p.m.
But don’t forget to set your DVR to record the second episode of the new season of “The Amazing Race” at 7 tonight on CBS (KWTV-9 in OKC). The all-star season “Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” started last week and features 11 popular teams from previous seasons who fell short of first place and the $1 million top prize.
Among the all-star contenders are likable Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy, who finished in second place in last year’s Season 16.
Fortunately, last week’s season opener wasn’t an elimination round. The McCoy brothers, who were so good their first time out, surprisingly finished in last place. As Cord is so fond of saying: Oh my gravy!
Click here to read my fine colleague Mel Bracht’s report on the series of unfortunate events the rodeo champs ran into during the first episode.
Mel also talked to Cord and Jet before “Unfinished Business” starting airing a week ago, and the cowboy siblings chatted about how their first stint on the Emmy-winning reality TV series changed their lives.
Newlywed Cord and his bride Sara, who married in November, honeymooned in Maui on a trip that the brothers had won on “Amazing Race 16.” After winning four legs of the race, they earned three trips and two sailboats and they also got an undisclosed cash prize for finishing second. They since have sold the sailboats, and Jet and his wife have plans to use the trip to Alaska.
“They definitely named it right,” said Cord, 30, of Tupelo. “It is amazing. On ‘Amazing Race 16′ we got to go to places that I had never seen or heard of before. Each country that we went to had something cool to offer.”
“There were always places that you liked better than others,” said Jet, 31, who has a ranch near Ada. “We really liked Argentina just because it was the most like Oklahoma. It was definitely eye opening. It definitely broadened my horizons to be able to see that much country.”
“The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” was taped in November and December, so the McCoy brothers already know the outcome and admitted it’s hard to keep the outcome a secret. And maybe they were giving Mel and the rest of us a hint of reassurance about their dismal start to their “Unfinished Business” because Cord talked about how folks at an Iowa watch party got panicky during Season 16 when they fell into last place. So this isn’t their first time to fall behind, and things worked out pretty well for our cowboys last time out, right?
“There were people standing up and screaming,” Cord said of that frantic Iowa watch party last year. “When they said we were last, there were people crying. You want to tell them that this is a nonelimination race, but you got to let them watch it.”
To read the rest of Mel’s great interview with Cord and Jet McCoy, click here.
-BAM
Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy confirmed for “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business”
It’s official: Oklahoma cowboys Cord and Jet McCoy are returning to “The Amazing Race.”
CBS today officially announced the 11 former teams who fell short of winning the $1 million prize during their first race around the globe who will return for another shot on “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business,” premiering at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Phil Keoghan is the host of the reality TV series.
This season, the Emmy Award-winning series will be broadcast in HD for the first time as the racers travel 40,000 miles through five continents and 23 cities. Teams begin their journey around the globe from the second-windiest place on the planet, and travel to such picturesque locations as Sydney, Australia, where they find themselves swimming with sharks; Liechtenstein, where they must measure the length of the entire country while riding a motorized bicycle; and Tokyo, Japan, where they must endure the freezing waters from Mount Fuji as part of a spiritual ritual.
“The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” features fan favorites from previous seasons, including the former NFL cheerleaders, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Goths. Among the fan faves, few teams are more beloved than rodeo champions Cord and Jet McCoy. The brothers from Tupelo earned many devotees last year when they competed with obvious integrity, good humor and strong character.
Last month, CBS released a sneak peak of the upcoming season of “Amazing Race” during the season 17 finale. The McCoy brothers were prominently featured, so today’s announcement really just makes it official.
Here is the team bio for the Oklahoma cowboys:
Jet McCoy
Age: 31
Hometown: Ada, Okla.
Occupation: Cowboy
Cord McCoy
Age: 30
Hometown: Ada, Okla.
Occupation: Cowboy
Relationship: Brothers
Previous Season/Result: Season 16/2nd Place
See the other team bios from “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” after the break.
