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Voice of the rodeo

From bronc riding and bullfighting to rodeo announcing, Ted Dwyer shares his cowboy roots.

Carmen George

(Updated: Thursday, April 28, 2011, 2:42 PM)

Above the sound of bucking bulls and flying riders is the voice of Ted Dwyer, a familiar cowboy for Coarsegold Rodeo enthusiasts. He's the announcer, the guy who holds the show together, the man with the microphone above Bohna Arena over the past 10 years of rodeo ruckus.

He started announcing rodeos in '88 -- an ex-bullfighter at the time, five years past a run-in with a bull named Zorro in '83 that shattered his pelvis, dislocated his hip, and broke his jaw in an arena in Kansas. While working an advertising promotion job for rodeo committees out of Colorado through the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association following the accident, the announcer for a rodeo in Vail, Colo., came down with laryngitis. The rodeo committee there begged Dwyer to take his spot in the announcer's booth. He accepted.

"I was scared to death but everyone knew me and they always said, 'God only gave me one gift, and it was the gift of gab,'" Dwyer said.

Since '88, Dwyer has announced for about 35 rodeos a year -- his weekends "off work" with the Mariposa road department filled instead with summer road trips to rodeos across the the country with his 13-year-old traveling partner son.

"It's nerve wracking and it makes me feel taller because I'm only 5-feet 5-inches," joked Dwyer about how it feels to be in the announcer's booth. "A couple rodeos ago they brought me a milk crate to stand on."

Despite announcing wracking some of his nerves, Dwyer has gathered a lot of recognition from the cowboy world for his work, winning the International Pro Rodeo Association'' Western Region Announcer of the Year award, covering 12 states and two provinces of Canada, seven years in a row, and announcing for the California Cowboy Pro Rodeo Association's State Finals in Redding three times.

Beyond the awards, some of his greatest compliments are being invited back to many rodeos year after year, like his 10-year history with the Coarsegold Rodeo. For Dwyer, the greatest attribute of the Coarsegold Rodeo is its history -- the Bohna family's dedication to keeping their rodeo in the family and afloat for more than half a century. Another highlight is its capacity to connect the community, says Dwyer -- the Coarsegold Rodeo is a gathering place for friends and neighbors that might not see each other for years beyond rodeo weekend.

"It's a reunion for everyone, and that's what a rodeo is about," Dwyer said. "It's a place where people come to congregate."

Dwyer hopes his work as a rodeo announcer helps give rodeo-goers a feeling for the way the Wild West was, while also blending in an understanding of the difficulties of the modern day cowboy. Dwyer wants people to leave the stands seeing the cowboy for what he is -- the hero of the rodeo.

"If I can turn a rodeo spectator into a rodeo fan, that tickles me plum to death," Dwyer said.

Rodeo announcing seems like a healthy and natural progression for the 55-year-old Dwyer, a man that's been deeply rooted in rodeo since the age of 15 when he started riding bareback and saddle bronc. That evolved into rodeo bull riding, a change he didn't tell his parents about at first, but they suspected after finding more prize money than usual stuffed into his Wrangler pockets at night. After spontaneously jumping the shoots in '74 to free a fellow cowboy stuck in a rope after being flung from a bull, Dwyer found his niche -- bull fighting -- what he continued until he was badly injured by Zorro the bull. He became a rodeo announcer soon after in 1988, work he's flourished in and continues to enjoy to this day.

Rodeo is also rooted deep in his 13-year-old son Michael's blood, having traveled with his father to rodeos since he was a baby. Dwyer recalls memories of some of their first rodeos together -- Michael snug in a baby backpack on his side while announcing. Michael started riding steers in junior rodeos last year.

"If all he gets out of it is the time we spent together -- that's the most important thing," Dwyer said. "He's the best traveling partner I ever had. Actually, he's my hero."

Dwyer said he's happy to see a lot of young rodeo talent, and as an announcer, he's had the pleasure of announcing guys he used to ride with and now, many of their children.

"Rodeo is a big, huge family," said Dwyer, adding that even competing riders often help one another. "The camaraderie in the sport is extraordinary."

Dwyer's favorite part of rodeo announcing is its opening ceremony, where he gets to explain the sport's history and watch the people in the stands rise up to pay tribute to the American flag.

"It's an American sport," Dwyer said. "It's family entertainment and it's one of the few sports now that you can afford to take the whole family to. Rodeo has changed a lot over the years but it has maintained its roots."