Paul Ramirez: Welcome to another Western Ag Life Voices Podcast, where we celebrate the people that make up the rich fabric of the Western lifestyle. Please do us a favor and thank the sponsors, because without them, we couldn't bring you these free podcasts. Well, hello ladies and gentlemen, Western Ag Life appreciators. This is Paul Ramerist and I got a great guest on with me this morning, Mr. Michael Imbrogno from out there in California. those of you that remember back in the early part of the year, Michael and I, we had kind of a little bet deal that we bet, we were betting on these, on the league of their own ⁓ auctioneer championship that just kind of finished up with their battles, individual battles. And now they're going in over to their, to the, ⁓ finals and they're bringing 10 auctioneers come back the next week actually starts a week from today. That'd 10th and 11th in Chacoa, Oklahoma. And so, I got a, had this morning I had, ⁓ Sam Stomper and, ⁓ Brian Marlin on and also have a, well, podcast outlay of that pair coming up soon too. So Michael, there we are, man. They battled it out. Man. man. Was it fun? There's a lot of fun how new concept Yeah, yeah, yeah, great concept. Nothing. You know, it's nothing like this has ever been done before. And it's turned a lot of heads and and had a lot of positive reviews so far. Well, you know, like I talked both with Brian and Sam, you know, I mean, when you do something like this, that's really so far out of, know, the norm. You know, you start stretching things out and of course, you know, there's going to be pluses and minuses. And certainly one thing that, you know, I appreciate about both Sam and Brian is they've been malleable and they understand when they're needed to be some changes and so forth. And I think they're going to make those changes. You know, so, you know, but Ken, you know, it's one of those things when you step out and do something for the first time, you know, you're, you're going to, you're going to have pluses and minuses. so. I think they've had that, but I certainly think the biggest pluses will be long-term will be for auctioneers. ⁓ you know, this, ⁓ going forward, especially into next year, ⁓ they didn't tell me everything that's going to happen next year, but you know, it looks like they're going in about 33 barns next year with about 66 auctioneers. And so, ⁓ that definitely in and of itself is, not normal for our industry as a whole or for the contest. Right. Yeah, no, I mean, it's. It's a phenomenal deal and look forward to seeing what they're going to unveil here for the future. Yeah. So we'll know next week sometime. I think Brian will lay out the land for what's going to happen. You know, the next year coming up and so, yeah, that's going to be in 33 barn 66 guys. And then they'll have a, looks like they're going to have a finals take place probably in Las Vegas, Nevada. And so I don't, I don't know all the details, so I'm not going to make any more rumors, but. I'm Brian and Sam will lay some stuff out here soon, shortly that will tell everybody what's going to happen and how they go. I think the head to heads are going to continue. But I think maybe the scoring system and that's going to change a little bit. yeah, that being said, well, hey, let's get right to it. You know, ⁓ I've told people and everybody knows that there's not many more. There's not many people that I know that know more about auctioneering and auctioneering contest as far as that goes, especially from the historical side of the new Michael. And so. appreciate, you know, you and I battled and we had our bets and so, I'll let you, I'll let you say your one. Well, you know, ⁓ I had, I had some picks and I, you know, I had some success. didn't and some, didn't, but you know what? It was, ⁓ it was a great deal all the way around and, and look forward to seeing what this top 10 can, can do here in Dakota here on the 11th. ⁓ it's going to be going to be a great deal. man. Yeah. They got 10 guys. Absolutely. Fantastic auctioneers coming back in. ⁓ I'm going to be there myself in person. So I'm literally looking forward to that. Matter of fact, be a week from today. I'll be over there. So yeah, looking forward to it. Well, let's go ahead and get to, ⁓ let's go ahead and get to the winners. Who's going to be there. And we'll talk a little bit about them and then we'll move on through them. There's your first battle winner right there. The one and only, one and only Andrew Sylvester, the Kansas flash. I think you won this one, right? Yep. Yeah, I had my old buddy J-Roll mine, but that's all right. J-Roll will be back. He's a contender. Yep. So there's your week one winner. And let's go ahead and go to week two, week two. Joe Don. Joe Don Pogue from the great state of Texas. Yep. Joe's going to be probably one of the more seasoned inductioneers that's going to be in this top 10 coming back for the finals. And that day he, you know, I, I I didn't get to listen to all of the contest, but I did get to listen to a lot of this contest and boy he was just he was stellar that day. yeah, absolutely. I mean he'll bring he'll bring the fire and and you better just plan on keep it up. I think in my podcast that I have with Brian and and Sam, I think Sam said that you know of all the guys that came outside of their elements to come into that barn. Joe don't sit down there and in a few minutes, it just was like he had been selling their, ⁓ you know, his, his whole auction career. So he settled in and did a good job. Of course we wouldn't expect anything less. Here we go. This is what it's all about. League of their own. Yeah. Justin Dodson Johnson. Yep. John ⁓ Justin is, you know, he's ⁓ always in the top 10, always in the finals and, You know, I'm sure that he's, ⁓ be, he's certainly in my pick. He's a front contender for this contest to win this thing. Yeah, absolutely. You know, he's, he's, ⁓ always, always professional, always got a smile on his face, always happy to be there. And he's always in control when he's behind the mic. So he will do a phenomenal job and look forward to seeing what, ⁓ what just can justin can do in this contest and and hope that he comes out on top. And we missed one there. ⁓ The third week, I guess that was ⁓ Jared Miller and Charlie Cummings and Jared won that battle. Unfortunately, though, Jared ⁓ has a conflicting sale that lands up on the same date that this finals is going to be. So he had to step aside and that gave them another ⁓ Spot for in the People's Choice Award to come in and we'll talk about that here in a little bit So now we're go the next week winner there Blaine law Young gun and blame this kind of you know as far as style Rhythm rhythm and his voice ⁓ quality is kind of almost in league of his own there, huh? Yeah, yeah, I mean he's he's always been always had a great great voice and a great presence behind the mic and and He will do a great job there in, Dakota and, it won't take him long to get everything figured out and get to Roland. Yeah. He'll settle in really nicely. And he had certainly another guy that will be right there, you know, it's going to be probably right there in the top three. Dakota Davis. Yeah, Dakota. He's he he came out the winter there with Lynn Langenvart and did a great job behind the mic and seasoned auctioneer sell barn owner and he's definitely one that knows what time it is and knows how to get from point A to point B and he'll do a nice professional job and he could be be a contender to for the top three spot. ⁓ yeah, for sure. For sure. Speaking of young guns, we're gonna go back to another one. Maybe the youngest contestant here in this top ten, right? Yeah. Yeah, Jase Thompson ⁓ again another phenomenal auctioneer behind the mic and Don't let his age fool you I mean he he knows what time it is and he can he'll get from point a to point B and and do a nice professional job and be clear and be smooth and and be pleasant to listen to. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, he's and you know, he's young, but you know, he acts like a seasoned professional. But more importantly, you know, he's he he I'm not going to be surprised if he's right there in the front door to one of these three. Well, can tell you, I can tell you the the knowledge that he has for his for his age is tremendous. You know, I mean, he's very knowledgeable about his product and and just like his father. That is something that will bring him to the top. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. As dad, Ty Thompson, world champion auctioneer in his own right. And certainly Jace will follow soon. Very soon. ⁓ we're going to go to the next one and the next battle there. ⁓ that would have been, I guess week eight and that would have been Russell sleep. Yep. Yep. And certainly world champion auctioneer and a Russell's just tremendous auctioneer handles himself really well. And, know, and like you said, Michael, ⁓ He knows what time it is for sure. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, uh, I was, I was a little surprised that, uh, you know, he, he's, knows what time it is and he knows, knows how to handle them buyers that, that, know, he, he, he knows when to, when to get tough and when, when to just let it roll and, and, uh, uh, he'll be, he'll be a contender for that top three spot as well. Totally agree. ⁓ you know, like I said, I didn't get to listen to all of these contests, unfortunately, but I did this particular battle too. I did get to listen to a lot of it and I was really impressed how Russell got those cattle. He just, you know, set him down there and then he just rolled up into him. I mean, he lit a fire on them. That was that market was really good that day too, you know, but more importantly, I think it was really good there because Russell, you know, knows how to, he knows how to conduct business. For sure. And then the last battle was won by the world champion auctioneer too. Yep. Jacob Massey from the South, from the South, from the great state of Tennessee. He's another one that, ⁓ does a very nice job behind the mind. The mic is easy to listen to, ⁓ handles himself very well. And, ⁓ you know, he's No doubt about it when he's behind the mic, he's in his element and, uh, you know, he will do, do a bang up job. And one thing too, Jacob, you know, I did get to listen to his battle too, man. He really was getting after it now. He, he can light a fire there and get going, puts them buyers right up there on the front of their seat. So I'm excited to see him in the finals and that's going to be, that's going to be great. All right. So we're going to go to our people's choice award. High point winner in the People's Choice Award ⁓ was Andrew Andy Boehmmeister. Yeah. Yep. Who did who did Andy battle? He battled ⁓ Russell. Russell him him him and Russell ⁓ went toe to toe. ⁓ And he had a chance to come back in the People's Choice. But there again, another great auctioneer. handles himself extremely well. And knows, knows the value very well. And for someone that's from Texas, you wouldn't necessarily attribute his chant to to to a Texas chant, I guess. Yeah, Texas style. I mean, he he has the ability to kind of go anywhere. In the country and get along very well. You know, he's one of those guys that I think that can go anywhere and sit down and conduct business and get along very well. And then, know, ⁓ well, I'm going to talk about the matrix here when we finish up. then of course season veteran and the people's choice came in there with no surprise for sure. And won't be any surprise if, ⁓ next week if he's in the top three too, right? ⁓ yeah. Yeah. World champion. in world champion Kenny Walcox. I this, mean, he I've been following Kenny since I was, you know, four years old. And I mean, had the opportunity in 1990 to actually watch him win the contest there and in in person in Cottonwood, California has always been a favorite of many of us in the business and handles itself extremely well. You couldn't ask for a better gentleman as a person and you couldn't ask for a better marketeer as an auctioneer. I mean, he takes pride in takes a great pride in what he does behind the mic for his consignors and the people that he works for. And he's just a gem of a guy to be around. And for sure Kenny's no surprise that he would be the people's choice award. I mean, who doesn't like Kenny Wilcox? And I'm sure next week there, he'll have plenty of fans in the seats. you say? ⁓ absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Friends and family and he'll have, yeah. And he'll have great support, but more importantly, deservingly. you know, just a great, great guy. And certainly one of the icons in our industry that, you know, like you said, even from a little kid and even me. You know, when I got in the industry, he's one of those guys you just always want to listen to and you always sounds good and smooth and yeah, I'm a big fan and they have a people's choice. ⁓ I don't, I didn't ask them. I don't know if they're having a people's choice award, ⁓ in the finals, but if they do, ⁓ I would go ahead and bet on this guy for sure. yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good deal. Well, Hey, listen. ⁓ so, ⁓ I talked with, ⁓ both Brian and Sam this morning and, I'll have a podcast out on them. And so One thing that is going to change here a little bit, Michael, in the finals is that they're going to use, they're going to have a judging score sheet and there's going to be a matrix that they're going to use to compile the points. And so that's going to be a little bit different. Yeah. That's six judges. think the clerk is still going to have a scorecard also, and then they're going to tabulate those scores, ⁓ from the top 10 and then they're going to roll in three back for the finals. And I guess in the finals, they're going to sell a combination of live cattle, probably, you know, some take home back cattle and some feeder cattle. And then they're also going to sell some cattle on the internet. So that'll be a different component a little bit, but so yeah, so this is going to be a judge score and man, uh, just, so I don't want to mess it up, but they've got a lot of money gathered up a lot of money gathered up. So I think this thing is somewhere, please don't hold me right to the, to my feet to the fire, but somewhere this thing is going to pay around 60,000 total. I'm to pay $25,000 to the winner. And I guess, um, or livestock contest, or maybe any auction contest in the United States. This may be the single largest one day payout for any contest. And one thing that they brought up that we're talking about them is all of these contestants that already competed through these ⁓ battle rounds were all paid also. So they've already, I think they've already spent close to $14,000 on paying auctioneers that came and sold in those contests and those battles. hats off to them. I mean, they've definitely made a financial commitment themselves, but they're also being really diligent and proactive about gathering up money to support these guys. And I can only imagine what will happen the next time, you know, the league of their own for the next session. So we'll be wrapping this one up next week. And so you're going to be able to watch it. Facebook, they're going to have Facebook live. And so you'll be able to watch it. And I believe it'll probably be broadcast also on TV auction. But for sure you'll lay they're going to have a Facebook live presence. So those of you that listening, you'll be able to find that at League of their own. have a good Facebook page and they do a really nice job. so I'm certainly a suction junkies. Some of us will be watching and I'll be there live. I'm sure you'll be watching right, Mike. ⁓ I'm going to, I'm going to do my best to be tuning in. ⁓ I've got a baby on the evening. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ but, ⁓ I'll be tuning in for sure. And, and, ⁓ look forward to seeing how it shakes out. Amen. Well, I know you're plenty busy. I'm gonna let you get off to what you're going to do today, but, ⁓ is there any parting ways you want to, anything you want to say? Well, I just, just wish everybody that's in the finals, the best of luck. ⁓ just sit in there, have fun, sell them high sweep the room and just. Enjoy the day. Amen. Amen. Well, listen, I'm let you go and we'll wrap this up. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, we've been talking this morning went over the auctioneers that are back in the finals, the top 10 for a league of their own auctioneer contest been going over several months now. So they're battle tested. And these are the winners and they're off to battle next week. Right there in Chacoa, Oklahoma. Somebody is coming away at least $25,000 richer. Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely. Who would have thought that in our industry that would happen someday. Anyways, we should all be proud of that. Hats off to the good people there at Chacota Livestock. Brian Marlin and Sam Stamper are doing a great, great job. you know, we, we're excited about it. Absolutely. Well, I'm a great deal. Yes. I'm let you go, Michael. So we'll part ways. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if it's Western. Remember, it's probably Western Ag Life.