I don't know who died and made you the end-all expert on everything rodeo, but I have lived here for most of my life and I have eyes. You say "potato" and I say "potahto."
Who made me the "end all expert on everything rodeo", well Beth, were you a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association for 15 plus years? I was! So, not only being involved in the arena, but in "contestant" status as well. And, my wife has been a very serious fan for some 15 years as well. That, in this forum, makes me an expert! Just take a look at the pictures I posted in my Diary thread.
It was noted on yesterday's local news that the National Finals Rodeo, aka NFR, will stay in Vegas thru 2035. With the 10-day total purse of over $14 million dollars, there will be lots of rodeo fans in Vegas at the beginning of every December, and that will include us, when we can.
Working my way through the third-level categories in my directory job, I updated/enhanced the description of our Rodeo category last night, so I thought I'd mention it. Descriptions are limited to 5000 characters, and I used most of them. The objective is not to list every rodeo site possible, since the business plan is for the owners of other rodeo sites to pay to have their sites listed.
What I have "finally" come to realize Ken, not everyone, and to a point, most likely no one, on your forum or another forum I'm in for relocating, are interested in professional rodeo. In fact, there was a website started, and note the word "started", for rodeo, but never completed. Even though the bleachers/stands at indoor coliseums and outdoor arenas get packed with rodeo fans, rodeo is still not that popular.
Maybe there's too much fighting when it comes to rodeo discussions. I think that's why many people didn't want to get involved in the rodeo threads here. While I have been to a few other rodeos, the ones that I am the most familiar with were the Los Fresnos PRCA Rodeo (which I helped found as a member of the rodeo committee of the Los Fresnos Lions Club, which was the instrumental organization in founding it, also donating the land where it is held), and the PRCA Rodeo at the Mercedes Livestock Show, both of which I provided EMS coverage for many times. Some years, I remained on the grounds of the Mercedes Livestock Show 24 hours a day for the duration since we had a mobile home there, where we also provided 24/hr. first aid services. Both of these rodeos were filled to capacity, so there was a significant interest in rodeo, and most of those who attended were not ranchers or cowboys. People who grow up in most of our cities don't know what rodeos are about, and if they give them any thought at all, the idea just doesn't connect with them. In that respect, rodeos will always be a niche, but they always have been; just more so today because fewer people live in rural areas. A lot of sports are hugely popular with their fans, yet they have a fan base that is small, as compared to football, baseball, and soccer.
I was under the impression that we don't have rodeos in Maine, but I see there is one in Levant, just outside Bangor. We rented a trailer in Levant for a year once when Michelle was working in Bangor, and I did know that there were a lot of people with horses in Levant. The Apple Hill Stables Rodeo is not PRCA-sanctioned, though. It is sanctioned by the APRA, IPRA, and WPRA. I don't think their rodeo includes bull riding, though. It's too late for this year.
I'm in a rodeo fan group on Facebook and a certain amount of arguing can happen when folks, watching a rodeo on tv from home, don't like a Judge's score, a clown act or how a rodeo announcer is describing the rodeo. The discussion can really become insane until an Admin person steps in. As for "maybe rodeo fans don't care about the internet", that's pretty wrong. Just read what I wrote above, John. And, on top of that, there are rodeo contestants that will enter a rodeo from a home computer or laptop they have on the road with them. An entry to a rodeo can also be called in. All rodeo, whether it's pros, college, high school or junior rodeo, there are certain groups of people that have an interest and either go to one or watch them on The Cowboy Channel. Unfortunately, some "city/suburban" types will call a Bull Riding (PBR) a rodeo, of which it definitely isn't. There are those that will go to a rodeo for the first time and only time. I've seen that kind. They don't like some of the events, just like they know very little-to-nothing about ranching. The old statement, "cruelty to animals" is spoken, just like those that protest zoos. Heck, if it was up to Animal Protestors, even fishing wouldn't be allowed. Rodeo got its roots from the ranching community. Farming also has connections to rodeo.
Attending a rodeo was a big part of my life when I was growing up. We had a local rodeo grounds, which was also used for gymkhanas (horse playdays) and we kids that had a horse all rode in the Grand Entry at the rodeo, and also helped the adult horsemen direct traffic when cars we coming in to park for the rodeo or even for one of the gymkhanas. I belonged to our mounted drill team (I was the captain), and we practiced our drill presentation at the rodeo grounds every week, so we could perform at the rodeo and also at local horse shows and at the fair in the fall. We also rode in the local parades for the area, and even in the Spokane Lilac Parade. In Spokane, they had a professional rodeo, the Diamond Spur, which had top contestants from all over, as well as entertainers like Gene Autry, Gail Davis (Annie Oakley), and Rex Allen and his horse KoKo. My mom took us to Spokane to see that rodeo almost every year, and that was a lot of fun, too. I have a picture somewhere of me on my horse at the rodeo, but it is not in my photos on this ipad for some reason. This picture shows our rodeo grounds from around 1959-60, and was from one of the playdays. The photo here is of the String Race, which is where the hay twine is tied to an overhead rope, and you have to race up to the line, stop your horse, and grab a rope. There is one less rope than there are contestants; and a rope is removed each time, until only two people are left , competing for that last rope. My horse was not as fast as some of the other horses, but she did an awesome sliding stop, so I could race up, and then stop quicker than most of the other riders could, and get the rope ahead of someone whose horse didn’t stop for the rope. I was not necessarily the winner, but I always came in real close when I didn’t win. The other photo is me riding my pinto in one of the parades. My mom ws always there with her camera, taking pictures of me and of the parades and fairs, horse shows, and anywhere else i was with my horse.
Well, let's see: All PRCA rodeos from Santa Barbara, California down to Del Mar Racetrack ("where the surf meets the turf" just north of San Diego. All Colorado rodeos along the Front Range from Pueblo to Loveland (Larimer County). In Wyoming: Cheyenne Frontier Days aka CFD. Will also list, but have never attended, the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Have been by Thomas-Mack Center, but watched the rodeo on tv at a Cocktail Lounge in the Mirage Casino/Hotel and big-screen in a "Watch Room" in South Point Casino/Hotel. My first rodeo I attended, as a spectator, was in 1984 at the Long Beach Indoor Arena in Long Beach, California. The rodeo action continued after I met my wife in 2000. Other than attending two rodeos, we gave up on PRCA rodeo action from Oct 2007 thru June 2018 while living in both North Carolina and northeastern Florida. In July 2018, we took a trip/flew to Colorado and drove up to Cheyenne, Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. After moving back to Colorado in Sept. 2019, we only went to a couple of rodeos, because we found out about The Cowboy Channel and got it for our tv.