Stetson Vest, a 23-year-old cowboy from Childress, Texas, is having success in pro rodeo due to his family connections in the sport. He receives coaching from his uncle, 2008 world champion tie-down roper Stran Smith, and has learned from his grandfather who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in the 1960s. Vest is also a cousin to other successful rodeo athletes like Tuf Cooper and Shada Brazile. He says having these family members as role models has been fortunate for him. Vest is putting the coaching and experience of his rodeo relatives to good use, finishing well during the Fort Worth Stock Show rodeo.

1. Stetson Vest is taking full
advantage of being a member of
one of pro rodeo’s royal families.
When the 23-year-old cowboy
backs into the box, he thrives on
the coaching of his uncle Stran
Smith, the 2008 world champion
tie-down roper. He’s also learned
from his grandfather, Clifton
Smith, who qualified for the
National Finals Rodeo in the
early 1960s.
He’s also a cousin to Tuf
Cooper, who last year finished
second in the Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association tie-down
roping world title race. His
father, Vance, is a prize-winning
steer roper. If that’s not enough,
he’s a cousin of Shada Brazile,
wife of seven-time world all-
around champion Trevor Brazile.
“When there’s problems, I can
talk to any of them any time of
the day,” Vest said. “I’m fortunate
because a lot of kids dream of
having role models like that.”
Vest, a former Texas Tech com-
petitor who lives in Childress, is
learning well. During the Fort
NBA
Stern suspends
Arenas, Crittenton
NEW YORK (AP) — NBA
commissioner David Stern
has suspended Washing-
ton Wizards guards Gilbert
Arenas and
Javaris Crit-
tenton for
the remain-
der of the
season for
having guns
in the locker
room.
Saying
possession of guns in the
workplace “will not be tol-
erated,” Stern delivered the
punishment Wednesday
after meeting with Arenas
earlier in the day, turning his
indefinite suspension into a
suspension without pay.
Crittenton met with Stern
on Tuesday and also was
suspended without pay.
Arenas pleaded guilty Jan.
15 to a felony gun charge af-
ter an alleged confrontation
with Crittenton in the Wiz-
ards’ locker room at Verizon
Center in Washington.
Arenas is scheduled to be
sentenced March 26. He’s in
the second season of a six-
year, $111 million contract.
TexasTech
Tennisheadedto
ITAindoortourney
The 40th-ranked Texas
Tech men’s tennis team,with
two match victories in its
pocket,will
compete
this week-
end in the
ITA National
Team Indoor
Champion-
ships in
Austin.
Tech will
face No.30 California at 1
p.m.on Saturday,with No.
8 Texas taking on No.56
Middle Tennessee State.
The winners of those two
matches will clash at 2 p.m.
with the winner advancing
to the round of 16,which is
scheduled for Feb.12-15 in
Charlottesville,Va.
For Tech,No.1 player
Raony Carvalho,No.2
Gonzalo Escobar and No.5
Vitor Manzini enter the tour-
nament with 2-0 records.
Tech’s two doubles teams of
Carvalho and Rafael Garcia
and Escobar and Andre Sta-
bile are also undefeated.
Rockies, Street
reach new deal
DENVER (AP) — Closer
Huston Street and the
Colorado Rockies have
finalized a $22.5 million,
three-year contract, a deal
that could be worth $31
million over four season.
Street gets $7.2 million this
year, $7.3 million in 2011 and
$7.5 million 2012. The agree-
ment,which avoided arbitra-
tion, includes a a $9 million
mutual option for 2013 with
a $500,000 buyout if the
club declines to exercise.
MLB
Carvalho
SPORTS
lubbockonline.comLUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
JANUARY 28, 2010
THURSDAY
C
InSportsFriday: See who made the A-J’s All-South
Plains six-man football team. OntheWeb: All your high school sports
news at lonestarvarsity.com. InsideSports: Get a rundown on the night in Big 12
Conference basketball. Page C4
1AAll-SouthPlainsdeepintalent
Unprecedented would be a good way
to describe the top honorees on the Class
1A All-South Plains football team, both in
what they accomplished personally and
as a team.
Three 1A team — Olton, New Deal and
Springlake-Earth — played at least three
rounds deep in the postseason in 2009,
with the Lions going one round further.
To do so, each team had to have its share
of top talent, and the best of the best from
those teams highlight this year’s postsea-
son honors.
Gunslinging quarterback Bobby Wayne
Workman earns the nod as the 1A Offen-
sive Player of the year after finishing in
the top three in the state in Class 1A in
passing yards (2, 120), touchdown passes
(21) and total offense (2,699).
New Deal safety Stephen Bryant, a TCU
commitment, is the Defensive Player of
the Year after leading the Lions to the
Division I regional final. Playing much of
the year with an injured shoulder, Bryant
still recorded 78 tackles, six intercep-
tions, four pass deflections, three caused
fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
In terms of surprise, however, no team
went further than the Springlake-Earth
Wolverines, who, while expected to fight
for a playoff spot, zoomed past the compe-
tition to dominated District 5-1A and earn
the league crown. That earns head coach
Stan Caffey this year’s honor as 1A Coach
of the Year.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
HIGH SCHOOLS/Mustangs,
Lions, Wolverines honored
Broadcast Schedule ....................C2
College Basketball................... C3-4
High School Basketball..............C2
High School Football...................C3
Scorecard.........................................C6
FindItInside
LubbockChristian
Frenship’s Mahan
to sign with LCU
Frenship golfer Josh
Mahan is expected to sign
a letter of intent today
to compete next season
for Lubbock Christian
University.
Mahan is expected to sign
his letter at 3 p.m. in the
hospitality room of the Rip
Griffin Center.
Sports Editor
Courtney Linehan............766-8735
Tech men’s basketball
Assistant Sports Editor
George Watson................766-2166
Tech baseball,
High school football
David Just.......................... 766-8736
Tech women’s basketball
Don Williams ................... 766-8734
Tech football
Adam Zuvanich ...............766-8733
Tech football, High school sports
E-mail:
sports@lubbockonline.com
Fax:
(806) 766-2180
Contacts
Caffey
Bryant
Workman
SEE WHO else made the 2009 Class 1A
All-South Plains football team. Page C3
WantMore?
BRETT
HOFFMAN
RODEO
Local roper learns well
from his rodeo relatives
SEE RODEO, PAGE C2
Nebraska showed why it’s the
team to beat in the
Big 12 Conference on
Wednesday night.
The sixth-ranked
Cornhuskers kept the
fans at United Spirit
Arena quiet for most of
an 89-47 victory against
the Lady Raiders, hand-
ing Tech its third-con-
secutive loss.
The 42-point margin
was Tech’s biggest loss
since a 91-53 defeat
against Tennessee on Nov. 17. It
was also the biggest loss in coach
Kristy Curry’s four-year tenure at
Tech, as well as the largest margin
of victory by any team in Big 12
play this season.
The victory was Nebraska’s first
ever on the road against Tech. The
Huskers were previously 0-7 in
Lubbock.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen a basket-
ball team that’s that good in my
four years in the league,” Curry
said. “A night like tonight you have
Aww,Shucks
BY DAVID JUST
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
LADY RAIDERS/Ranked
Cornhuskers plow through
Tech women, end in rout
SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE C2
GEOFFREY MCALLISTER  AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Nebraska’s Catheryn Redmon, right, blocks a shot by Texas Tech’s Kierra Mallard during the second half of their
game Wednesday night at United Spirit Arena. Nebraska won 89-47.
First appeared on redraiders.com:
10:36 p.m. Wednesday.
GEOFFREY MCALLISTER  AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Nebraska’s
KelseyGriffin
andDominique
Kelleycelebrate
infrontofTexas
Tech’sJordan
Murphreeafter
Griffinwas
fouledwhile
scoringduring
theirgame
Wednesday
nightatUnited
SpiritArena.
SEE HOW other Big 12 women’s games
turned out Wednesday. Page C4
WantMore?
AUSTIN — Was Texas Tech one player
short of a win Wednesday night?
Maybe, said coach Pat Knight, after
the team lost its hold on an eight-point
first-half lead it built without the ben-
efit of leading rebounder D’walyn Rob-
erts, losing 95-83 at Texas.
“He blocks shots, he gets rebounds
other guys can’t get,” Knight said. “He’s
the one guy who could have helped us
tonight.”
When that will happen is still to
be determined. Roberts averaged 8.6
points and 7.4 rebounds
per game before the start
of Big 12 play. That’s when
he began feeling pain in
his right foot, which was
ultimately diagnosed as a
bone bruise. Roberts tried
to play through it, watch-
ing his averages drop to
7.3 points and 6.4 boards
before Knight pulled him
from the lineup.
Now, the coach doesn’t
know when Roberts will return.
“That’s why I took a chance having
him sit this game,” Knight said, “so
maybe we’ll have him the next game.”
Without Roberts or fellow starting for-
ward Darko Cohadarevic, who served a
one-game suspension after acting up in
practice Monday, Tech looked to sopho-
more Robert Lewandowski to hold down
the post. Lewandowksi held 6-foot-10,
Sixth-ranked
Longhorns
outlast Tech
BY COURTNEY LINEHAN
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
TEXAS TECH/Red Raiders
go up-tempo with players
missing but can’t sustain
pace against Texas
 ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Tech forward Mike Singletary, right,
shootsinfrontTexasforwardGaryJohnson
duringtheirgameWednesdayinAustin.
First appeared on redraiders.com:
10:34 p.m. Wednesday.
SEE RAIDERS, PAGE C2
Texas
TexasTech
95
83
SEE HOW other Big 12 men’s games
turned out Wednesday. Page C4
WantMore?
Nebraska
TexasTech
89
47
Arenas
WantMore? SeeaslideshowfromtheLadyRaiders’gameagainstNebraskaonWednesdayeveningatredraiders.com.
