Three of those family bonds stand out.

In team roping, 24-time qualifier Mike Beers of Powell Butte, Ore., pairs with his son, rookie Brandon Beers, and rookies Jake and Jimmie Cooper are the NFR's first twins -- identical at that.

Calf roper Mike Johnson is in his 22nd Finals -- the first with his wife, barrel racer Sherrylynn Johnson, although they made it to the NFR in 2000, shortly after they began dating.

Every NFR athlete hankers for a championship gold buckle. Mike Beers, 48, won his in 1984, when Brandon was 2 and already practicing roping everything in sight.

The Beerses didn't claim a paycheck Tuesday night, but they have placed in two of the six rounds to earn $12,075 each.

Brandon Beers, 21, has been frustrated after some missed opportunities, but Mike hasn't stopped smiling after receiving his ultimate prize on opening night.

It topped what happened 23 years ago, when he was able to wear the gold buckle.

"To be able to say I roped with my son at the Finals has made it a successful life for me," he said. "You always fantasize about it, but you never believe it will happen. That's pretty cool."

It almost didn't happen.

Mike Beers was the top-ranked heeler four months ago when he was bucked off his roping horse during a rodeo. He split his pelvis, broke a shoulder blade and injured his neck. Doctors said he couldn't ride for six months, but after eight weeks in a wheelchair and some physical therapy, he got back on his horse two weeks ago.

"I'd have given up" if not for the chance to rope with Brandon at the NFR, Mike Beers said.

Two years before Mike Beers won his championship, Mike Johnson picked a pretty little blonde to be his partner in ribbon-roping at a junior rodeo in their home state of Oklahoma. In the event, the man ropes a calf and then his fleet-footed partner sprints to grab a ribbon attached to its tail before racing to the finish line.

That was 1984 -- it wasn't until 15 years later, when Sherrylynn returned to barrel racing, that Johnson worked up the courage to talk to her. They began dating in 2000 and married the following year.

They're traveling partners and call their fully furnished travel-trailer home (They've spent only about 40 days at their home without wheels in Henryetta, Okla.).

Neither has won a paycheck in the 49th NFR, but having each other certainly softens the disappointment.

"Most of the time we get into the truck with one of us or both of us losing," said Mike Johnson, 43, still seeking his first world title. "It's hard to keep each other up. We try to be each other's coach and manager. That benefits us both."

Sherrylynn Johnson added: "We're not having a great Finals. When that roller coaster goes down, you need someone to vent to. When you love someone, you can be truthful about what the other can do to improve."

Feedback also is important to brothers Cody DeMoss and Heith DeMoss, a Finals rookie, but it seems needling might be more common.

"He's more helpful than he is a pain in the butt," said Heith, 22, of Crowville, La.

His 26-year-old brother countered about his traveling partner: "I get to pick at somebody all the time. We couldn't stand each other growing up. Now we're as close as any brothers could be."

As their friendship has grown, so has their success: Big brother won the opening go-round, and Heith followed with his first Finals victory three nights later.

The closeness of the DeMoss boys can only be topped by the team-roping Cooper twins, whose father Jimmie Cooper is a member of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

"We don't have telepathy or anything, but we can read our body language and we've shared the same experiences," 23-year-old header Jake Cooper said.

The twins have been roping together for 11 years, professionally the past three.

"When you grow up with someone every day, he becomes your best friend," Jimmie Cooper said. "You become best friends but still have to try being an individual."

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.