Does the sports media dis rodeo?

[jgmacg]

Rodeo gets exactly the play the public demands -- very little, maybe good for a feature once in a while. It's a niche sport. ESPN was showing a polo match this afternoon. It is to the rich and affluent like rodeo is to rural cowboys. Poker and bowling probably get higher ratings than either of them.

The PBR gets higher ratings than the NHL.

Just saying.

How many televised first-run PBR events per week? One? Two? On how many outlets? One? Two?

How many televised NHL games every week? 60? 100? On how many outlets? 30? 40?

Apples and oranges. PBR concentrates its viewers on far fewer events on far fewer outlets. The NHL audience is atomized across a wide range of teams and outlets.

There are a lot more people watching hockey in this country than there are watching bull riding. Limited ratings information doesn't mean much.

NASCAR tries to make the same comparison, except with baseball. It sounds good, right up until the moment you compare the raw numbers of people who choose to watch baseball in a given week versus the raw number of people watching NASCAR. NASCAR gets its ass kicked. But then that doesn't sell sponsorships very well.

 

[slipshod]

I want all to know that in my very early days working for an itty bitty PMs daily in Oregon, my job was to cover the handful of local rodeos. I took pictures, too, and because I was 18 and bullet-proof I climbed into the arena with the clowns. Once I was chased all the way across the arena by a bull that had quickly dispatched the cowboy on board. I escaped by leaping to the top of a billboard, my feet slowly sinking out of sight of the crowd, which of course roared with laughter.
Rodeos bore me to tears now but boy was it a big event in the little town where I grew up.
A bit hard to cover in terms of getting results, hometowns, etc. But it can be done. Pendleton, Cheyenne, Tucson all devote considerable resources to coverage of the large rodeos there.
And the pro cowboy who goes from rodeo to rodeo, sometimes hitting two or three a weekend, is a tough guy who loves what he does. Just listen to country music if you don't agree, but don't count on the good woman to wait forever for him at home.
And pity the calves in roping. They seem to get the worst of it, including the occasional broken neck.

 

[sportschick]

I know it's Garth and all, but a cousin of mine who rode bulls in the PRCA for a coupla years loved, loved this song when he was riding. Said it was a fairly accurate portrait of life in the rodeo.

"Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)"

This ol' highway's getting longer
Seems there ain't no end in sight
To sleep would be best, but I just can't afford to rest
I've got to ride in Denver tomorrow night

I called the house but no one answered
For the last two weeks no one's been home
I guess she's through with me, to tell the truth I just can't see
What's kept the woman holding on this long

And the white line's getting longer and the saddle's getting cold
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old

The competition's getting younger
Tougher broncs, you know I can't recall
The worn out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze
Seem to be the only friends I've left at all

And the white line's getting longer and the saddle's getting cold
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old

Lord, I'm much too young to feel this damn old

 

[pressboxer]

We find it distasteful to write about the calf-raping event.

Actually, they call it tie-down rapingroping these days. I never knew the bondage crowd was into rodeo.

 

[ServeItUp]

I know it's Garth and all, but a cousin of mine who rode bulls in the PRCA for a coupla years loved, loved this song when he was riding. Said it was a fairly accurate portrait of life in the rodeo.

"Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)"

This ol' highway's getting longer
Seems there ain't no end in sight
To sleep would be best, but I just can't afford to rest
I've got to ride in Denver tomorrow night

I called the house but no one answered
For the last two weeks no one's been home
I guess she's through with me, to tell the truth I just can't see
What's kept the woman holding on this long

And the white line's getting longer and the saddle's getting cold
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old

The competition's getting younger
Tougher broncs, you know I can't recall
The worn out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze
Seem to be the only friends I've left at all

And the white line's getting longer and the saddle's getting cold
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old

Lord, I'm much too young to feel this damn old

Save yourself listening to crap-ass Garth Brooks and listen to one (1) Chris Ledoux CD. He was a bareback world champ so he knows of what he writes. Garth should stick to ungodly breaking shirt and exploding sliders.

 

[slipshod]

Chris Ledoux RIP...God bless him.