LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Behind every qualified ride, championship celebration and unforgettable eight seconds, there's an entire team of people making sure the guys on the dirt have everything they need to get there.
They're the men behind the curtain.
The general managers, front office executives and operations staff who juggle travel schedules, navigate league regulations, manage rosters and handle just about everything that comes with running a professional bull riding team.
Their names might not appear on the scoreboard, but their fingerprints are all over it.
And once a year, PBR Teams makes sure one of them gets a little recognition of their own.
Enter the Golden Clipboard.
Established in 2024, the award honors the front office executive or coach who best navigates the league's rules and regulations, meets deadlines, asks the right questions and works alongside the league office to keep everything running smoothly.
It's an honor that comes with a shiny gold clipboard, a healthy appreciation for league-office acronyms and, apparently, white gloves for those trusted to hold it.
The clipboard isn't solid gold. At least not yet.
But the recognition behind it is worth plenty to the people whose work often goes unnoticed by the thousands of fans watching the action unfold.
And for a while, it looked like membership might require a very specific first name.
The tradition began in 2024 with Chris Dashney, then the Oklahoma Wildcatters' Director of Team Operations and now the team's General Manager, whose attention to detail, discipline and dedication to his riders made him the perfect inaugural recipient.
Dashney is the kind of guy who makes sure everything is where it needs to be before anyone else realizes something could go wrong.
From travel logistics to the countless moving pieces that come with keeping a professional bull riding team prepared for competition, his work often happens far from the spotlight.
And that's exactly where he prefers it.
While the riders are the ones facing 1,800-pound bulls inside the arena, Dashney approaches his responsibilities with a similar level of discipline. His job is to eliminate distractions, solve problems and make sure the men wearing Oklahoma's colors can focus on the eight seconds that matter most.
But ask Dashney about his accomplishments, and the conversation quickly turns away from himself.
"Without the guys on the dirt, I have no job," he said after receiving the inaugural honor.
It's a simple sentiment that says just about everything there is to know about him.
Kind, appreciative and quick to recognize the contributions of those around him, Dashney understands that someone has to handle the details so the riders can handle the bulls.
One year later, the award found its way into the hands of another Chris. Chris Pantani.
The New York Mavericks' general manager became the second recipient in 2025, officially raising questions about whether the honor should simply be renamed the Chris Award.
At that point, anyone named Chris working in a PBR Teams front office had to like their odds.
But beyond the coincidence, Pantani shared something far more important with his predecessor: an unwavering commitment to the guys putting their bodies on the line every weekend.
Like Dashney, Pantani knows the job goes far beyond the clipboard, but he's never afraid to roll up his sleeves and do whatever his riders need.
He's often the first person waiting near the out gate after a qualified ride, ready with a handshake, congratulations or an enthusiastic celebration.
He's also the guy fixing broken vest buckles, tackling the less glamorous operational responsibilities and stepping into whatever role his team needs.
Sometimes, that even means stepping into the head coach’s role when an unfortunate bowling accident leaves the captain’s chair vacant.
In a league where the unexpected is practically guaranteed, Pantani has learned to be ready for just about anything.
After three years of helping build the Mavericks, watching his riders develop, step up and find success has become one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
So when Pantani received the Golden Clipboard in 2025, he had a pretty bold declaration.
It was the happiest day of his life.
Well, almost.
The Mavericks' first perfect game and the triumphant return of the coveted belt from the Florida Freedom might still have a slight edge.
But the clipboard was right up there.
It was, as Pantani put it, "great to be recognized."
For a man who spends so much of his time celebrating the accomplishments of others, it was a chance for the spotlight to find him for a change.
Which brings us to 2026.
With two Chrises already in Golden Clipboard history, the league had an opportunity to continue the naming tradition or finally open the competition to the rest of the alphabet.
Fortunately for the Texas Rattlers, the latter prevailed.
And Chad Blankenship had absolutely no idea what was coming.
As PBR Teams gathered in Las Vegas ahead of the 2026 Championship, the Rattlers' President and General Manager wasn't exactly preparing an acceptance speech.
In fact, he wasn't even sitting in his seat.
Blankenship had stepped away to get some water, positioning himself out of the way so he wouldn't distract from the awards presentation.
He figured he'd wait until the audience turned its attention toward the winner before returning.
There was just one problem.
He was the winner.
As Ken Lehner began introducing the third Golden Clipboard recipient, the clues quickly became impossible to ignore.
This year's honoree was the only person to have worked in the PBR Teams league office before becoming a franchise general manager.
And suddenly, the man attempting to stay out of the spotlight found himself standing directly in it.
"I was like, 'Well, that's not for me,'" Blankenship recalled with a laugh.
Before leading the Rattlers, Blankenship helped lay the foundation for PBR Teams itself.
Working alongside PBR Commissioner and CEO Sean Gleason and league leadership, he played an important role in navigating the challenges of the league's inaugural 2022 season.
When Blankenship eventually left his position at the league office, Lehner initially thought PBR was losing a valuable member of its organization.
That disappointment didn't last long.
Blankenship wasn't leaving the sport.
He was heading to Fort Worth to become the general manager of the Texas Rattlers.
And the rest, as they say, is championship history.
Alongside PBR co-founder and Rattlers Head Coach Cody Lambert, Blankenship helped guide Texas to the 2023 PBR Teams Championship after a perfect 4-0 postseason run in Las Vegas.
The championship campaign also earned Blankenship the 2023 PBR Teams Executive of the Year honor, with roster moves including the addition of Trace Redd and a late-season trade for Eli Vastbinder helping propel the Rattlers to their first title.
But when Blankenship talks about his job, the conversation rarely stays on his own accomplishments for long.
"I love it. It feels like a privilege every day to be able to do this job," Blankenship said. "Getting the privilege, first of all, to work in professional sports, but second of all in Western sports with the caliber of men and women who are part not only of the Texas Rattlers but the entire ecosystem. I mean, it's truly special."
At the top of that list is Lambert, a founding father of PBR who has been shaping the sport since long before the Teams league was even an idea.
"He's so passionate," Blankenship said of Lambert. "I share that passion. Our whole team does."
And he isn't just talking about the man calling the shots from behind the chutes.
Blankenship is equally proud of the Rattlers' assistant general manager, and assistant coach, a former Texas rider who helped the franchise win its 2023 championship before transitioning into a coaching role.
From a PBR founding father to a former rider passing his knowledge on to the next generation, Blankenship finds himself surrounded by people who care just as much about building the Rattlers as he does.
For a guy who spent his early career in advertising agencies, at ESPN and working with startups in New York City, it's a pretty remarkable place to end up.
Especially considering that 11 years ago, his current job didn't even exist.
Looking back, Blankenship's path into Western sports might not have been so unlikely after all.
Raised in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, just southeast of Tulsa, he grew up surrounded by values he wouldn't fully appreciate until years later.
"I grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which is southeast of Tulsa, and now looking back, I realize I was being raised with Western values," Blankenship said. "But I wouldn't have called it that growing up, and now I do very proudly because I understand what it is and where the values that have been instilled within me come from."
Turns out, the kid from Oklahoma was preparing for a job that hadn't been invented yet.
His career took him through advertising, roughly seven years at ESPN and startup ventures in New York before eventually landing at PBR, where he unknowingly helped create his next opportunity.
"Part of what's fun, as I reflect on seven years at PBR, is that I didn't know, unbeknownst to me, I was helping create my next job," he said. "That all makes sense in the rearview mirror, but through the windshield, we don't always see these things ahead."
When PBR Teams launched in 2022, there were eight general managers in the league. Today, there are 10, and Blankenship still sees the organization as a startup with plenty of room to grow.
"There's a very rising tide spirit right now across the league and all 10 front offices, and with the league office," he said. "We're all working together to build this thing for the betterment of our bull riders and their lives and their families, and then all of us and our families."
It's a fitting perspective for the newest member of the Golden Clipboard club.
Of course, winning the Golden Clipboard requires more than a successful season or a well-organized locker room.
According to the official criteria, recipients must have a dogged determination for dates and deadlines, an enthusiasm for DOEs, DOIs, EAs, IRs, RFTs and whatever other acronyms the league office dreams up next.
They must ask good questions, be even better listeners and avoid clipping wings while staying on board.
And for those who didn't take home the Golden Clipboard, the league office has made one thing clear: Losing is not grounds for filing a grievance.
Good luck arguing with that one.
Jokes aside, recognition from the people who understand exactly what goes into running a PBR Teams franchise carries its own weight.
"I'm deeply flattered by this award. I'm absolutely shocked to receive it," Blankenship said. "It's humbling. It's always something to be recognized by our peers."
With Blankenship's win, the Golden Clipboard has officially broken its Chris-only streak, giving a third deserving leader his moment in the spotlight for the work that makes it all happen behind the chutes.
The clipboard itself may not be solid gold, but the men who've earned it are worth their weight in it.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media