Was going to start a new thread, but decided to put this here: Our 4-days/5-nights in Vegas, for/during the National Finals Rodeo was, let's just say "The Good, The Bad and (in some ways, definitely) The Ugly". Vegas has grown, grown and grown even more. Lots and lots of people, mostly much younger than us. Definitely not that many Seniors. Traffic is now a real nightmare. More than it was before. Best breakfast buffet was at MGM, but it was $44 each and "serve yourself". That much and "serve yourself"......hummm? Had breakfast buffet at the Cosmopolitan. Not cheap either, but pretty good. Had to get a waiter for our table or my food would've been cold before I even got any coffee. Lots and lots of young folks at the Cosmopolitan and the hotel is 68 stores high! Breakfast buffet at Circus, Circus........one word description, "YUK!". Lunch/dinner buffet at South Point was pretty terrific. Should've probably stayed at South Point instead of The Mirage. Very few equestrian/rodeo folks at the Mirage, but South Point was loaded with those folks. Huge Team Roping Championship going on there, put on by Ariat. Cowboy Christmas, at the Convention Center was just "ok". Lots of young ladies that looked like Western Call-Girls. Couldn't believe what we saw. Definitely not the "olden days" of Western wear for some ladies. Seemed like there were a lot of "nightclub" Buckle Bunnies there! LOL SIL (wife's sister) was there and caused some pain. Wanted to be in as much control of us, and where we went, as she could. She would've rather that I stay in our room at the Mirage and her and my wife went to places together. My wife told her "no way" and she really didn't like that. She followed us to Cowboy Christmas and had bought a Resistol Straw to wear. I looked at her in the parking lot and could see she had the hat on backwards! She said to me, "isn't this the way it's suppose to be worn?" All-in-all, not a bad trip, but not necessarily a great one either. Lots and lots of walking, some driving around and getting a little lost. But, the, the last night there, wife and I did combine to win some $500 gambling. And, we wore a mask 99% of the time. Many, many young folks didn't wear one and no enforcement of it was done. Even at both airports, masks were required, but not enforced. On the plane, fully enforced. If someone wasn't wearing a mask in Vegas, Hotel Security would offer them one, but if refused...........no problem, the person would just walk away. Most likely, our last time going to Vegas. We have our own casino's right here in Colorado we can drive to.
@Cody Fousnaugh Glad you had as good a time as you did. I really didn't think you would find it all that cowboy western. Yes, the young crowd is taking over and anything goes these days. The young ladies dress more like they are going to the gym. I laugh every time I hear buckle bunnies. I gave away the few buckles I earned. I never use the word won as it infers it was luck. I hated buckles since I only wore very small ones or concho belts. I preferred cash. No one ever called me a buckle bunny as the guys I knew preferred keeping their body parts intact.
I didn't see any of the NFR contestants in any of the hotel/casinos unless there was an autograph session on. Guess none of them want to be asked "What store did you buy that beautiful buckle at?". "Buy??" they would say. "I earned that". Another funny note, I would ask some folks, "do you know much about rodeo?". They would say "yep, know all about it". Then, I'd ask, "do you know what a PRCA Permit is?" and they would answer "nope". I was pertaining to when I bought my Permit in 1985 for Team Roping. Then, I told them that I was a "weekend rodeo person" in that I had a full-time job working in electronics during the week. They thought all rodeo contestants were full-time rodeo contestants. Anyway, so much for "yep, know all about it".
Like everyone, I’m glad you had a fairly good time Cody. Just a mention though. A person can know every major person by name involved with rodeo, their horses names and even where they’re from and how many buckles they’ve won and how much money they’ve won without knowing what permit they have. And, adversely, simply because someone has a PRCA Permit doesn’t mean they know everything about rodeo either. Sometimes it is better to let people have a good time without being challenged.
Well, in the PRCA, there is only one type of Permit and that is a Contestant Permit to be able to compete at Permit "approved" rodeos. Not every rodeo allows Permit holders. Once the Permit is filled (money won), than the contestant can get/pay for full-membership which is also known as being a Card Holder. With that, a person can compete at any PRCA approved rodeo in the U.S.. I was only asking the question because many folks there only go to one rodeo a year..........the NFR. I asked. I didn't challenge anyone. Simply asked a question of those that said they knew about rodeo. When someone tells me "I know about this", I would except they would know, but I found out just how wrong I was. If someone tells Faye, "I know all about ranching" and Faye asks them a question, concerning ranching, they should be able to answer her.
Ok, Bobby, if you've never been a PRCA contestant, who held a Permit, and later, a Card, then, YES, I do know pretty much everything about rodeo that you don't. Only other person on this forum that would know as much, or more, than I do, would be Faye. IOW, I told you what a Permit was, and that wasn't good enough for you! Just like the time I told you that men wear cowboy hats into Cowboy Church and you disagreed. Then, Ken told you about a YouTube Video showing men wearing cowboys hats into Cowboy Church. Perhaps you wouldn't do that, but many, including the Minister/Pastor will wear his cowboy hat inside Cowboy Church. Heck, I even know the PRCA Rules of rough-stock riding and timed-events. I had to learn the PRCA Team Roping Rules. And, I'm sure there are things that you know about that I don't.
@Cody Fousnaugh Thanks for the compliment but @Tex Dennis has forgotten more about rodeo than I ever knew.! I imagine @Yvonne Smith may even be more knowledgeable than I about rodeo, especially drill team. I bet there are others but discussing such doesn't interest them.
The rodeos with professional riders that I went to were back in the mid-1050’s, when the riders were people like Deb Copenhaver and Casey Tibbs, and some of the other great riders of that era. I enjoyed the rodeos, but never was interested enough to follow them beyond what happened at our local one, which was the Diamond Spur Rodeo in Spokane each year. Seeing Rex Allen and Koko was actually more exciting to me than watching the rodeo itself. (My mom said she would take me to see Elvis Presley, or Rex Allen that year, but I have always wondered if I made the best choice.) Later, when I had my own horse, and was part of the local mounted drill team, we always rode in the grand entry, as well as performed sometime during the rodeo, and helped with parking cars in the right areas. These were just small rodeos, at the rodeo grounds in Sandpoint, and mainly local riders from Washington, Idaho, and Montana. I actually know nothing about the later rodeo stars like @Cody Fousnaugh follows, and have not even watched a rodeo for well over 25 years. What I miss, is having my horse to ride. For all of my life, I lived to to be out riding my horse in the mountains, wherever I lived at the time. When I discovered Peruvian Paso horses, I changed from Arabians to gaited horses, and still enjoy watching the videos of them on youtube, and wishing that just once more, I could be riding again.
When I met my wife, I had already sold my rope horse and all tack. Kept two of my Classic brand "heading" ropes. One I never used, the other, definitely used. Even though I was no longer roping, I paid each year for my PRCA membership so I could help any Stock Contractor at any rodeo. Mainly: Flying "U" Rodeo Company, Triangle "T" Rodeo Company, Misner and Sons, Western Rodeo, Growney Brothers and Honeycutt Rodeo in So. California. Each Contractor knew me from when I was in the arena as a Team Roper. Actually, I took my wife to some 35 rodeos in 2000, after meeting her. She sat in the bleachers and I helped in the Timed Event area. Sort and load steers and calves. So, from about 1984, and the following 15 years, I went to local So. California PRCA rodeos and to numerous Jackpot Ropings in Riverside and Norco California. Actually, I couldn't believe how much my wife was interested in rodeo, but found out very quickly. For the 10 1/2 years in Florida, we only went to one rodeo in Lake City, FL. and watched one NFR on the CBS Sports Network. After coming back to Colorado in 2019, we jumped right back into PRCA rodeo and went to our Mountain States Circuit Finals here. Then, in March of 2021, we got the Cowboy Channel and this last summer went to both the Pikes Peak Or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs and the Dodge City Roundup in Dodge City, Kansas. But, it was thru The Cowboy Channel that we learned more and more about the Top 15 contestants in each event. IOW, "Thank You" to The Cowboy Channel!. So, for approximately 27 years, I've been both a contestant and fan of PRCA rodeo and, for my wife, she's been a major fan for 11 years. There you have it...........my experience and knowledge in years!
My wife bought me, and I took to Las Vegas to wear, a nice pink button-down collar long-sleeve shirt for the "Tough Enough To Wear Pink" night at a rodeo. That is a specific night for Breast Cancer Awareness. I wore it last Monday night at The Mirage while watching that round of the NFR on hotel mega-screen tv. I'm very proud to wear the shirt for that specific night, even though I'm no longer competing in rodeo. We've got an autographed picture, on our living room wall, of Tie-Down World Champion Joe Beaver wearing a pink shirt for that Awareness night.
Unlike Faye, I love, and am very proud of, my Team Roping/Header belt buckles I've got. It took a lot of practice, of swinging a loop, to get them! Have three of them. Also love my button-down, long-sleeve shirts with major PRCA/NFR sponsor patches on each. For me, it's advertising sponsors of rodeo, not them sponsoring me (obviously).
I read, in my e-mail, in your post replying to mine about belt buckles. Personally, I've only known one rodeo cowboy's marriage that broke up while he was competing. PRCA doesn't list marriage breakups and Cowboy Profiles don't either. Actually, I think there are more marriage breakups in the careers of law enforcement, fire department, doctors and military than anything else. Family means a LOT to any rodeo cowboy that is competing. Just think if Trevor Brazil or Charmagne James got rid of all of their winning buckles..........and both have a lot! I'll just keep mine and show them off proudly.