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January 2024
Howdy y'all!
How about the NFR 2023? Amazing roping, great prize money, young and ambitious ropers. My takeaways from the roping are this: Calves held up pretty well all week. I'd like to have seen a little more uniform set of cattle, but it is not easy considering the cattle are put together weeks ahead then have to be in Las Vegas usually a couple weeks before it starts. Some calves really do well and others don't gain and have as good as health so it's not easy to say the least. Most horses worked well, and there's a lot of pressure on them in this yellow arena. If there's a hole in one it'll show. The competition was really tough, many nights round were exceptional. I sympathize for the ropers who had a bad week because to qualify they had to have a good year. Things can change and horses sometimes are what we hoped for in the practice leading up to. All in all, though it takes a lot of things to go the right way to win and win consistently against this very good crew of ropers. I'll be competing in San Antonio and Houston this winter. Excited and ready to go! April 2021 Well it would appear the 'Rona' is fading and rodeos are returning to the pre Rona schedule. Rodeos are opening up after a year off. Some had to take two years off, like Houston and Austin. The rodeo industry has been shaken to the core though. RFDTV's take over of the broadcasting changes everything, and I don't think in a good way. Here's the story, and well see if rodeo ever catches up. It's 2021, more rodeos are on TV than ever before. I don't know if RFDTV is subsidizing the committees, but they should be. Which is great, IF the money makes it all the way to the contestant. Which it almost always never does. I do fully understand that the committee has to make money because they have a lot of production costs and overhead. They are the reason the rodeo is taking place, the real story of 2020 proved no committee, no rodeo. But add TV to the deal, why am I not seeing any appearance fees for the contestants, especially at the big rodeos? And this exposes the real reason rodeo will never grow. The cowboys have zero leverage, and never will. As a group we never get to negotiate or even have a say in the conditions or the pay amount. Cowboys have guaranteed expenses, zero guaranteed income. Always been that way, always will be because the people with the reins of the operation have structured the operations that way, and as a group, contestants haven't proved to make a union, even after several failed attempts. I'm not saying that rodeo won't grow, in fact rodeo will grow, more rodeos will be on tv, what I'm saying is that cowboys' pay won't grow, for the simple fact that we compete against each other in and out of the arena. There's a whole membership that will travel, and work for free. Its been proven for 100 years. I will continue to rodeo on a restricted travel basis, but the reason I do, and the reason we all do is because we all love to compete, and I love to compete. So plan on seeing me some this year! MS January 21, 2016 A new year is always a great time to set new goals, new projects, and new resolve. Short term goals, intermediate, and long term goals are all important to the directing I am heading. I have set goals for rodeo and what I set out to accomplish at it. New goals for living life and making time for family. We aim to enjoy what is nearby in Idaho. Idaho offers many great outdoor beauties that a person needs to get out and explore. I have picked up skiing after a 13 year break, and snowmobiling. I hope this new year is great for everyone! Thanks, Matt December 21, 2015 Happy Holidays! NFR 2015 was a blast. I had so much fun and I felt like I performed well. Like all roping's and rodeos, there are things that could have went different, but all in all I am happy with my performance and look to continue to improve. I'm overall happy with the performance of my horses. The Thomas and Mack arena is a tough place for horses to perform every night. With 2016 right around the corner I am happy to be part of the ERA. It will provide new and exciting opportunities to the rodeo industry, 4.6 million more opportunities into the industry. I appreciate all the positive input from the friends and fans during the NFR. Thank you. Happy Holiday to everyone and Merry Christmas. Matt November 24, 2014 The NFR is right around the corner! Its been a good November. The Canadian Finals Rodeo was November 5-9 in Edmonton AB CN. It went well. I was the leader coming in, started off in round one with a go round win. Stayed in the AVG on the second, third and fourth calves. Won round 5, and second in round 6. Placed second in the AVG. It was enough to be the 2014 Canadian Champ. With the NFR right around the corner, its time to settle in my old stomping grounds in Southern Nevada to get a few last practices in. The weather is good, horses are sound. Its going to be fun! Matt August 20, 2014 It's amazing how fast summer flies by. It seems like just yesterday I was starting my summer run at Reno, NV. I can honestly say this has been the best summer I have ever had. We had another little girl on May 6th so having three has really changed things up. This year the first thing people ask me is what is different this year from last year. I think I can honestly say my horse power is much better. I am still riding Chuck and Gray Pony but they have both stepped up their game. I feel they are the perfect combination of what I need in different circumstances. I was invited to Calgary again which is always more like a family vacation and ended up 2nd up there. I have also been rodeoing up in Canada again this year and I am currently sitting 1st in the standings up there. I love that rodeo association. Good calves and great committees. Last night I had the opportunity to rope in my first Champions Challenge and it went great! I ended up splitting first with Tuf Cooper. I really enjoy roping in these type of setups. Looking ahead to the rest of the year I will be competing mostly up in the Northwest. In October I will head down to Texas for some ropings. Then in November I will head up to Edmonton Alberta for the Canadian Finals and then right back to preparing for the NFR. I am really looking forward to this fall. It seems like the weather is great and there are a lot of fun things going on. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or are interested in a roping school. I would like to do a school some time this fall so look forward to some dates. I am a little bit better about updating my Facebook and Twitter page. Thanks for stopping by my website! Matt May 1, 2014 I haven't been updating my website as often as I should, and I apologize for it. We started a facebook page, and it gets results and easy to use. We got home from the winter rodeos in early March. Since then I have been around the house working on projects and roping. I hurt my back working out, and was out for a few weeks. I'm healed up now and back at em. The cali run started with Logandale and Oakdale. No luck at either. At Red Bluff missed my first one of a 4 header, not good. Finished off my 2 1/2 week stay in California with a 3 place win in Clovis. Back home now for a few weeks. I need to enjoy the time off and the weekend schedule because it wont be long until mid June and it full speed again. Thanks for visiting and I'll try to update this website more. Lots of my runs and comments will be on facebook too. Matt January 24,2014 Well the year is off and running. I went to Denver and set an arena record on my second calf, 7.0. Still all the winter rodeos left to go to. Winter rodeoing is great if you can get on a roll, go rounds and averages pay big. Its crucial to get some money won cause its hard to win as much at the spring rodeos. It won't be until Reno and the fourth of July rodeos that you can win big checks for rounds and averages. Matt January 16, 2014 The new year is almost underway. I have entered Denver Colorado and will compete there on the 19, then off to Texas where there will be lots of events. A qualifier on the 21st for the American Rodeo, 22nd is slack at Fort Worth, 28th is a horse show in Forth Worth. Many more rodeos and ropings to come as I am entering for San Antonio now. Houston starts in March, plus there's still San Angelo, Tucson, Jackson, Rapid city, and several ropings still to enter. I would like to thank Project Filter and Trails West for helping out this year again. My two best sponsors are both from Idaho, supporting me to be my best. See ya down the road! Matt December 23, 2013 Congratulations to the 2013 world champions. It was motivating to watch this years finals on TV. Good performances and good competition. I was able to go to Vegas and sign autographs for Trails West and Cinch. I also competed in the World Series of Team Roping. I didn't have any luck but that event is set to grow and grow. 2014 is right around the corner and I'm ready. Matt September 16, 2013 its been a good summer. I have been pushing to make the finals, and haven't been getting the breaks. At times roping better than I ever had and winning at rodeos I've never won before. I still had a good year, I won OKC which doesn't count toward standings, did well at Houston and Calgary, and several other rodeos and ropings. But no NFR for me in 2013. Meanwhile I have lots of projects going, and a family to chase around so I'll be busy doing that. There are still a few left to wrap up the year. Circuit finals in Heber City UT the end of October, and a few others. We will post videos soon, there are some good ones. Thanks, Matt August 19, 2013 The month of August is a little bit tricky. It is definitely more busy then the month of July by far. There are literally only a handful of days that I don't make a run for pretty good money. It's the dog days of rodeo if you will. Last week was pretty busy and I was able to take my family with me. Monday night started with Caldwell, ID slack. I ran both my calves that night. I was 9.6 on my first one and 8.1 on my second one however the judge said he got up at 5.3 seconds which I believed was a questionable call and it cost me making it back to the short go. We then went to Canby, OR and our set wasn't that great. Moses Lake, Washington the next morning and Gooding and Burley Idaho that night. My wife and I then made the trip up to Billings, MT and left the girls with my mother in law. I ended up placing 4th at Billings and split 6th and 7th at Gooding. Sunday we were back at Gooding for the 2nd Annual Caring Cowboys Calf Roping. I made the short go and missed my last calf to probably win 3rd or 4th. But it was for a good cause and we raised a lot of money for the Idaho Beef Council. This week is a killer, Kennewick, Washington, Tremonton, UT, San Juan Capistrano, California and Pueblo, Colorado. This is a huge week and can make a ton of difference in the season. I would love to hear from you drop me a note on the contact page and if you aren't following me already on Twitter please do so! ~Matt August 4, 2013 Since Calgary I competed in many close to the area rodeos. Nampa, SLC, Ogden, Spanish Fork, Salinas and Cheyenne. I roped well this week. I won Salt Lake City. I broke out twice at Spanish Fork but recorded good times, calves just didn't leave the chute sharp. I was 7.2 and 6.6, plus 10 each time. I roped as good as I have all year at Nampa, scored and roped sharp and had both calves down to place in rounds. Both calves kicked. I will say what no one else will, I think Cheyenne is a dumb rodeo. Fresh calves that have never been touched, full, with a jerk down rule. So we get fined trying to give ourselves a chance to win. The set I was in was especially bad calves, and we had good ropers. Not one guy in my set had a chance to win or place. The set after me, they won 50 percent of the round money and at least 25 percent of the short round came out of that set. The next week I went to Preston, Helena and Joseph Oregon. Placed at Preston and Helena. Then went to Great Falls, Idaho Falls and Heber City ut. I placed at Heber City. Coming up is many more busy weeks, 4-5 rodeos a week. August is historically good to me, I like the weather and the rodeos. I'll be busy. We'll post videos soon. Matt July 16, 2013 The Calgary Stampede went pretty well. I placed in the first and second round. I won enough on those two to advance to the finals on Sunday. The semi finals was very fast. First guy out was 6.7, third guy was 7.0. I was fifth roper, and started a good run, didn't quite get the really fast start I wanted, so I had to hustle on the ground, and I miss strung my calf. I was upset about it, but we still won some money and well get down the road. All in all the Calgary Stampede is a template what I feel most pro-ropers want. We like the opportunity to compete in good conditions with good money available. The travel is minimized. Matt July 5, 2013 I have been doing this long enough that I know which rodeos make a difference in my life and Calgary is one of those rodeos. I loaded up my girls and we headed north. Today I ran my first one, 7.2. won second. I rode Chuck. The video will be available when I get back to good Wi-Fi or home. Mean while, I am going to be chilling in Calgary, hopefully tying them fast, and enjoying the few days of summer where I am in one place for a few days. Matt July 3, 2013 Cowboy Christmas is here. The thing people don't know about Cowboy Christmas is that its a logistical nightmare. In theory when planning your fourth of July run its easy, but when your truck gets "death wobbles", a problem with the front end, slack orders change, traveling partners have problems, then your plans go from easy and fun to turning out rodeos that set off a chain reaction. But its still all good. I am running home for one day to get ready for a big one, Calgary, and take the girls fishing. The rest of July, August, and September are just as busy as the fourth, without all the hype. June 22, 2013 I still got it! I team roped in Pleasant Grove Utah Thursday night and Friday night. I filled in for a header that broke his thumb, my heeler was Matt Kasnar, and we won the first round with a time of 5.5 and will place in the average 3rd or so. Not bad for not team roping a steer all year. Videos will be loaded. Lots of rodeos coming up. Check back for video updates. Thanks June 18, 2013 Summer time is almost here. Which means travel and rodeos. The last couple of weekends I went to rodeos in Sisters Oregon, Livermore Ca, Delta Utah and Cedar City Utah. I won Delta and places at Livermore. Most importantly though is my preparation for Reno and beyond, which is a three month road trip. I've been drawing up good and my schedule is coming together. My horses are sharp, and we're ready. This week is Pleasant Grove Utah then next week is Reno. May 28, 2013 The best thing about roping is that you're never too old to learn. There's knowledge and exerience that only competing can teach. Many of these lessons are humbling. For example, I broke a barrier yesterday at Eagle Mountain Utah to win first, 7.3. I felt like I scored how I wanted, but a slow calf and a fast horse can be a bad combination. Coming up for me is a trip back east. Ft Smith Arkansas Friday, then I am going on to Joplin Missouri to the Best of the Best Calf Roping. $50,000 added and the top 25 calf ropers in the world. Its going to be a doosey. The cream always rises to the top Matt May 10, 2013 Two weeks off since my last rodeo. Home includes family time, practice, projects, and private lessons. Last week I went to western Idaho to rope with two young men over there. Good strong kids with good work ethics. We practiced all day. Other than that, I run a few everyday, work out some, and spend some time with the family. Matt April 25, 2013 "West Coast Rodeos" After only a couple days at home in Idaho I headed west for the Cali run. I unfortunately missed the books on Red Bluff (amature mistake) but it happens to everyone once in a while. My schedule was a trip to Oakdale to run two. My first one I got flagged out for a jerk down, it was a questionable call in my opinion and I was 12 on my second one. Then I headed to good ol' Clark County for the Logandale rodeo. I graduated high school from Moapa Valley High so it kind of always feels like I am coming home. I roped well but drew poorly. The calves are always fresh at Logandale so the draw plays a huge part. I then headed back to Lakeside, CA. I won the first round placed third in the second round and won the average. The weather sure is beautiful out here this time of year. I am now at Clovis, CA which will be my last stop before I head home for a couple of weeks. I had a runner yesterday in the first round and was 10.8. My second one is today and then there are two progressive rounds and a short round so the plan is to be here until Sunday. Matt April 6, 2013 OKC! At the Ram Finals (RNCFR) I pulled off a big win to defend my title. Ram finals is a tournament format rodeo. 24 entries, 2 from each 12 circuits. First round I was 8.9 won third. Second round I was 8.8 and split first and second in the round and won the two head average. In the semi's I roped last and tied one in 8.5, second. Final round, four guys, I roped third, ran a hard running little calf a long ways and was 9.0. Scott Kormos was last to rope, and he had a calf that he already tied in round one in 8.4. So I thought it was over and I was going to win second, but the calf strained with Scott and took him to 9.1. A little luck never hurt. March 28, 2013 Sorry for the delay in the updates. Winter rodeos are officially over. My last two competitions were Houston and Austin Texas. At Austin I didn't score well on my first calf and broke out. My second calf kicked bad. At Houston I did well in my Super Series, I qualified to the Semi's, and won the semi final. In the finals I ran a calf that I roped in the Super Series and it ran hard. I missed the start, and had to hurry through the flanking and tying and made a mistake on the tie. I am now preparing for the DNCFR, the "circuit finals" in OKC. I have been enjoying south Texas, good weather, roping lots, and good friends. The horses are working good. I'll be back in Idaho soon, but not for long. Matt February 25, 2013 Since last update, I flew to Rapid City SD, I placed there on a calf that kicked. At San Antonio I placed on my first calf, and no luck after that, so I did not advance to the semi's there. At San Angelo I was 11.7 on my first one, 7.7 on second, it split 4,5,6, 8.2 on my third one, made short go in the 10 position, started a good run, but I didnt handle my string well and was longer, 10.1. Placed in short go but no average. At Tucson AZ I mounted out. I rode Rhen Richard's black horse. He's good, and the score there is long and the arena is huge. I was 12.5 on my first one, 9.8 on my second but was flagged out because the horse dragged the calf some as I was remounting. Questionable call. Up next is Houston TX. It is not a PRCA rodeo, so any points won there won't count. It also is a tournament style format with semi's, wildcard and finals. Austin TX is also right here soon, plus Justin Maass' roping which is invitational, top 40 calf ropers in the world. Probably one of the best ropings you can watch. Other than roping and practicing, I get in 9 holes of golf here and there. Enjoying Texas weather. January 29, 2013We're off to a good start. I won fouth at Denver. I made two good runs on tough calves and a good run in the finals that placed 3/4 split. Its so important to get off to a good start. Ft Worth rodeo is also going on. I scored bad and missed my first one, but on my second one I was 7.9. Currently its winning the round with lots of ropers to go, hopefully it will hold up to win or place. Runs will be posted from Denver and Ft Worth. Next is a horse show in Ft Worth, Rapid City SD, then we move into San Antonio, Tucson, San Angelo, Houston, Austin...Matt December 15, 2012Final night of the NFR is always the best. Its the end to a long week with lots of autograph signings and 9 late nights. But its also the night when championships are earned. I wasn't in the world championship picture like I was the year before, but there was just as much on the line. On my final run I was 7.6. Overall I placed 5 out of 10 rounds and tenth for the year. Thanks for following me through this. Some runs will be posted for your viewing. Thanks! Matt Round number 9 was the fastest round of the whole NFR. There was two 6.9 and three 7.2. I didnt get the start I needed to be that fast and had a slow handling calf. I ended up 9 something. December 14, 2012Round number 8 started well with a good draw. Then when I was warming up my horse my dad called and informed me that Mitt Romney was present and he was sitting in the first row right where I ride out after my run. The good draw turned into a good run and I thought it would be the only chance I may get to shake Mitt's hand, so on my way out I rode my horse Hippie over and told him thank you and shook his hand. A double win in my book. 2 more to go with lots of chances still on the table. Matt December 12, 2012Well were half way now and I have placed in one round and I won round 5. Last night in round 6 I broke the barrier and was 7.3. Too bad too cause it would have won third in the round. My go round 5 run will be on videos soon so you can check it out. 4 more rounds to go with lots of chances still win. Thanks for following and supporting my roping. MattDecember 8, 2012Round 2 was something that I will laugh about and move on. Cause thats all I can do. My calf was a bad draw and it showed. I am roping good though and my horse is working good. Tonights pen of calves is the little pen and there should be lots of chances. Matt December 7, 2012One down 9 to go! It's always nice to get the first one out of the way. Last night everything felt so good. I felt like I started a great run. That calf kind of flailed while I was flanking him and I missed his front leg. My horse Hippie felt good and he worked well. This was the bigger set of calves so we will rope them four times. We breakaway and tie the calves the first three days in the morning so that is where I am right now. I will be signing autographs today for Cinch at the Convention Center at 1pm. Come say hi!My wife will be posting all my runs under video. Check them out! Matt December 5, 2012It's here!!! My family and I have been in Vegas for the past 10 days enjoying beautiful weather for practice and preparing for the culmination of a great year! We brought Hippie and Chuck to ride. I will be starting off on Hippie with Chuck as my back up. We broke in the calves Monday night and they are healthy and strong. We will rope the big set first. Because I am coming in 11th I will rope 5th tomorrow night and on Saturday I will actually be the first roper out. Throughout the 10 days I will be at my various sponsors signing autographs. We will be posting my runs every night under videos so be sure to check them out. Let's keep the positive vibes rollin'!! It's going to be a great roping to watch this year! Stay tunedMattSeptember 16, 2012We did it!At Puyallup Washington at the playoff rodeo, I was able to have a breakthrough performance that should allow me to qualify for my 6th NFR. It was exactly what my season was needing. I placed at a few other rodeos and I am roping good. Check out my runs. They're loaded under the link video. MattAugust 20, 2012Driving driving driving is all we seem to do these days. The dog days of summer have arrived. Last Monday was Caldwell Idaho slack. It is one of the few rodeos that still has a big slack. My calf stuck a leg and I was 9.4 which wasn't even close to placing. This was probably the fastest rounds at Caldwell I have ever seen. The next night I ran my second one and he also stuck a leg and I was 10. Then we hit Burley and Gooding Idaho I ended up 3rd at Gooding. Canby Oregon was next on the list and I placed in the first round. Moses Lake Washington was in there somewhere and I placed there as well. Not a great week but we are still bopping along! We went to a roping last nighAugust 12, 2012Greetings. I'm back home for a day so I can sit down with the windows laptop and update my website. I am currently unable to do it from and ipad or iphone, so I am behind. This summer has been a test like most summers are. Roping is such a disipline with lots of variables. It takes lots of focus and some things have to go your way. I just flew back in from Sikeston Missouri, I placed there low, but before that I was at Hermison Oregon on wednesday, Missoula Montana thursday, Omak Washington, Logan Utah and Coalville Utah Friday, then flew to St Louis Saturday morning. I am still waiting on results from Omak (there's a perf tonight) but I won Logan, won the first round at Omak and was placing third in the avg with tonight to go. Next week is just as busy. Caldwell, Burley, Gooding, Moses Lake, and Canby. On August 5, I matched Tuf Cooper at the Spicer Gripp roping. we had a 8 head match that was awesome. I got beat by one second. the runs will The Official Website of Matt "Shazam" Shiozawa
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