Editor’s note: Brett Hoffman, a 20-year rodeo reporter, will write a syndicated column each Friday for the Athens Review.

The column will focus on national and regional news, mainly from the larger circuits such as the Professional Bull Riders and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. It also will include news from junior and collegiate rodeo circuits and horse show coverage. More information about Hoffman can be found at the bottom of this column.

Country music singer George Strait is no stranger to the media spotlight, but one May afternoon he wasn’t really in the mood. His mind was on competing in the Windy Ryon Memorial Roping in Fort Worth, and the thought of having his focus interrupted by an interview did not appear to sit well with him.

But when the legendary performer learned that I was there to talk team roping and not lyrics, Strait talked about living near a major Texas city that’s the home of a high-profile annual stock show rodeo and expressed his frustrations on that newspaper’s lack of coverage, a far cry from Fort Worth, where rodeo has carved out a regular spot in the paper.

With an abundance of world-class competitors in the Lone Star State, it just makes good horse sense for other Texas newspapers to cover the rodeo on both the local and national level year-round. One of the best ways is to publish a weekly rodeo column.

Twenty years ago, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram roped me into writing a weekly column for its sports section. One reason that the newspaper has continually run the column is because many world-class competitors live in the area.

In 2006, four of the nine Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world titles were won by cowboys from the Fort Worth area. They included Trevor Brazile of Decatur (all-around and steer roping), Cody Ohl of Hico (tie-down roping) and Allen Bach of Weatherford (team roping heeling).

But it also makes good horse sense for a paper such as the Athens Review to offer a rodeo column to its readers. Athens hosts an annual rodeo that traditionally draws competitors who have competed in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. This year, the 22nd Annual Elder Dodge Henderson County PRCA Stampede is scheduled April 27-28 at the Henderson County Fairpark Complex.

There are numerous top competitors who call East Texas home. Eleven-time world barrel racing champion Charmayne James lives in Athens. She recently made headlines when she cloned her prize-winning horse, Scamper.

The famous Myers family also resides in the area. Father-and-son, Butch and Rope Myers, have won world steer wrestling titles in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Butch lives in Athens and Rope resides in Van. Another son, Cash Myers of Athens, has multiple National Finals appearances.

If that’s not enough, Professional Bull Riders defending world champion Adriano Moraes lives near Tyler.

It’s a grand time to cover the beat because rodeo, bull riding and horse show circuits have experienced burgeoning growth over the past two decades.

Some of the better story lines:

• The emergence of the Professional Bull Riders: Now the world’s premier circuit for bull riding, the PBR raised the awareness of the importance of marketing and greatly rewarding name cowboys. The PBR’s success in the 1990s prompted other organizations, such as the PRCA, to create more lucrative shows for its stars. Today, the PBR world champion receives a $1 million bonus. The organization also is successful at drawing larger crowds at its tour stops in major cities — from Atlanta to Anaheim. On Feb. 18, an up-and-comer named Clayton Williams of Carthage earned $215,000 after winning the PBR’s U.S. Smokeless Challenger Tour Championship in Oklahoma City.

• The rise of Ty Murray: The Stephenville cowboy snared a record seventh PRCA world all-around title in 1998, and he transcended his sport by dominating the dangerous bucking stock riding events, becoming very media savvy and emerging as a highly intelligent administrator. He presides over the PBR.

• The improvement of regular-season rodeos: The National Finals has been a cash cow since it moved to Las Vegas in 1985. But the PRCA’s challenge has been improving its regular-season events. That began in the late 1990s when the PRCA created the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and organized lucrative finales such as the Texas Stampede, the Dallas rodeo that began in 2001. In 2007, the purses at both the San Antonio and Houston rodeos were in the neighborhood of $1 million. RodeoHouston concluded March 18 at Reliant Stadium and the purse was $1.275 million, a record payoff for a regular-season PRCA show.

When it comes down to it, there’s no place like Texas, there’s no sport like rodeo.

Hoffman began writing a rodeo column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1987. Earlier this year, he was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards as a rodeo and horse show journalist. Over the past two decades, he has written his column from the four countries that feature organized professional rodeo circuits: the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil. In 2001, his column writing career was featured on CBS’ 48 Hours when he followed bareback rider Chris Harris throughout the 2000 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. His regular rodeo coverage for the Fort Worth newspaper appears in the sports section (under columnists) at www.star-telegram.com, and his weekly column appears in the Tuesday sports section. Hoffman lives in Anderson County with his wife, Christi, an associate minister at the First Methodist Church Palestine. They have two sons, Christopher and Tyler.