reflection

Clay Gross

B3

12/10/11

Final Reflection

            1800 pounds of fury thrust down upon your chest sounds like death just waiting to happen.   The only thing to protect a bull rider from an 1800-pound bull landing on his chest is a one-inch vest built with leather and Styrofoam.  Coming from a background where I have been around rodeo all my life, I never once thought about how insignificant the protective gear for the competitors is.  Researching rodeo revealed many details that I never completely understood and changed my look upon the sport.

            During the process of this project, I stayed focused and completed the majority of my blogs on time.  I turned one assignment in late during the entire project, but I was very busy that weekend with athletics and pregnancy testing our cattle.  I was surprised to find some very resourceful websites that gave me information on protective gear in rodeo.  Some sources contained a very strong bias against the lack of protective gear because they had been apart of personal tragedies connected to rodeo; therefore the source had strong emotion and great information.  In order to complete my blogs on time, I usually sat down Saturday morning after our football game and popped it out.  Once basketball started and we had games or practice on Friday and Saturday, I had to start my blogs on Friday during school in order to get it on in time. 

            The most interesting and conclusive information that I gathered from this research project was the difference between the enforcement in protective gear between rodeo and other physical sports.  Players receive $50,000 dollar fines for head to head contact in football, yet bull riders are not enforced to wear helmets when they can be stepped on or kicked by a bull weighing in at a ton.  I plan on riding bucking horses this summer at Snowmass and Beaver Creek and I definitely plan on using a helmet on every ride.  It has also made me realize that rodeo will probably change its protective gear rules in the near future because of new technology showing statistics against the present gear enforcements.  I believe that is why rodeo is such a special sport.  The competitors understand that they may die every time they compete and the culture of the cowboy lives through this sport.  Rodeo is one of the only sports to be free of corruption from steroids, technology and over paid contestants.  I truly hope that some rules do change, but the spirit of rodeo stays as it has always been. 

student choice

Student Choice

Clay Gross

I am going to write about the life style of a rodeo competitor in order to give the reader their point of view. 

            The rodeo contestant is unlike any other sports athlete in a variety of ways.  A below average football player earns around $750,00 dollars a year.  A below average bull rider has to live from pay to pay check driving on the road from rodeo to rodeo.  Unlike most professional sports, rodeo contestants only get paid when they place very high at the competition.  I think this makes the sport so much more exciting because the contestants never take a night off.  Rodeo contestants get to face livestock during their sport.  Some people think that rodeo consists of animal cruelty, but all rodeo competitors would disagree.  Many cowboys believe that when competing against the animal they aren’t trying to break the animal’s spirit, only match it from leap to leap.  They feel a certain connection to the animal that most people would know nothing about.  Rodeo is also a certain type of culture that has been around for hundreds of years.  The cowboy image and lifestyle fits in snug right with rodeo contestant.  You will never see more cowboy hats and cowboy boots in one area than at a rodeo.  Rodeos are a place for families to gather and people to share their stories of ranch work during the week.  While the majority of society goes bowling or hits the bar after a long week of work, ranchers and farmers spend their time at the rodeo.  Rodeo is a sport that hasn’t been corrupted by new technology or the use of steroids or money.  It has kept culture and tradition for hundreds of years and that’s the difference that is seen between rodeo athletes and the average athlete.

rhetorical analysis

Clay Gross

B3

Rhetorical Analysis

            The article I chose to dissect is called “Rodeo Vests: Adequate Safety Devices” by Paula Lavigne.  The author shows their credibility by having the article posted on ESPN’s website and containing many credible sources from well-known rodeo professionals inside the article.  Having the article posted on ESPN’s website shows it’s credible by itself because ESPN is respected as the highest competition of sports news.  The purpose of this article is to create questions inside the safety of competitors in rodeo.  The main part of safety expressed in this article is of the protective gear used to protect the competitors from 1800 pounds of fury.  The author believes that the gear used is not adequate enough for the danger in the sport.  The author also uses emotional appeal to help persuade the reader about the importance of safety gear in rodeo.  She uses the death of a bull rider and the help of the mother of that bull rider to help express the emotional stress.  “But on July 9, 2010, Derickson-Hall was less than two weeks away from competing in the National High School Finals Rodeo in Wyoming when he was killed by a bull's hoof that came down on his chest during a ride at a rodeo in Valemount, British Columbia.”(Paula Livigne, PG 1)  The author also uses logos to state many facts that show the danger in riding a bull without a helmet.  These facts also show that the rodeo protective vest hasn’t been proven to truly save the competitor from a bulls force on his chest.  The author also uses interviews in her article from well-known cowboys associated with professional rodeo, which can have a major affect on the reader.  I feel like the author is preparing this article for younger bull riders and bull riders parents and trying to get them to pay attention to the safety gear.  The purpose of this article is to save the lives of future rodeo contestants, through the knowledge of rodeo protective gear. 

Lavigne, Paula. "Rodeo Participants Increasingly Wearing Protective Gear but to Unknown Benefit, Study Shows - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=6674104>.

Rodeo Research Blog

Clay Gross

B1

Rodeo Research Blog

            The sport of rodeo doesn’t require or contain proper protective gear for the contestants to use at work every week.  With today’s modern technology rodeo’s protective gear seems very outdated.  Rodeo is considered the most dangerous sport and yet competitors wear the least amount of protective gear.  Some contestants feel that wearing a helmet goes against the traditional cowboy image or it damages their vision and flexibility.  The vests that bull riders are required to wear in only some states are merely padded Styrofoam coated with a leather barrier.  That means that bull riders are relying on a half inch thick leather/Styrofoam vest to protect themselves from bulls weighing 1800 lbs.  It is obvious that some changes need to be made in order to keep the rodeo contestants safe from the most dangerous sport in the world.

            Rodeo is by far the most dangerous professional sport in present America and yet it has the least amount of protective gear.  Football is a much less physical sport and yet football helmets and shoulder pads are a required at any age. “Rodeo athletes get injured or die at a higher rate than athletes in any sport.”( Paula Lavigne, pg 1)  It’s not as if the contestants are uneducated about their safety when participating in the sport, they understand that each event could mean death.  Why then, should we allow the safety requirements to be of such a smaller magnitude for rodeo. "I've had some really good friends die in this sport, but I didn't have to lose friends to understand this sport and how dangerous it is," said Cody Lambert, a former bull-riding and saddle bronc champion. "Just because you have a helmet or vest or a pair of chaps, you can still die out there." (Angela K. Brown, pg 1)  That attitude should not have to be a part of the sport.

            Rodeo has always held a certain culture in many ways like football.  The image of a bull rider doesn’t contain a helmet or the attitude of a precautionary person.  Cowboys are taught to shake injuries off and that its just a part of the sport.  But what if that could all be changed with a new set of safety rules, that no longer made injuries such a part of the sport?  Tradition has always held a strong moral in rodeo and probably always will.  What the PRCA  could do to change the tradition is start with the new generation of athletes and teach them about the safety of rodeo.

            The technology of the vests worn by the bronc and bull riders is progressing, but still has a long road. “From 1989 to 2009, 16 bull or steer riders died from thoracic compression injuries -- blows to the chest. Of those, nearly all were wearing protective vests.  None of the five rodeo contestants who died of head injuries -- including two bull riders -- were wearing helmets.”( Paula Lavigne, pg 1)  "I think it says vests could stand further investigation and need to be improved," said Dale Butterwick.  This statistic shows that the vests are not doing there job and need to be investigated in order to find a better solution for protection.  The thought of a half inch leather/Styrofoam vest protecting the rider from over 1800 lbs of fury sounds like a joke. 

            Rodeo is much to physical of a sport for the protection of the riders to be taken lightly.  Someone needs to take charge and make it a rule that helmets must be required as well as the investigation of vests.  Rodeo is moving towards a better path of safety, but it isn’t even close to complete. “But bull riders, including some of the sport's stars, are increasingly donning their own. Rodeo officials estimate just under 40 percent of adult riders now wear helmets, up from 10 percent five years ago.”(Angela K. Brown, pg 1)  Let rodeo become a sport where it can be enjoyed without the possibility of death or serious injury every time the rider gets on. 

            

current affairs

Clay Gross

B1

Rodeo Current Affairs

           

         Rodeos have become a source of entertainment for many families every week across the United States.  There is no other sport that compares to rodeo in today’s professional sports.  It hasn’t been infected by the use of steroids or had to deal with over paid superstars that have everything thrown at them.  Everything a cowboy receives is what he has earned. Rodeo has a unique quality of origin to which no other professional sport can lay claim. It emerged from an industry... from the daily routine and tasks of a low paying job with long hours performed by ranch hands who came to know very well the animals with which they lived. (101 Wild West Rodeo) The super bowl of rodeo is the nation finals rodeo, which is held in Las Vegas every year.  This is where the best of the best come to compete for a large check and the chance to end up on top.  Rodeo consists of many associations that keep rodeo organized and protects the contestants.  The main association is the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association).  One of the current issues in rodeo is that some protesters believe that animal cruelty is a part of rodeo.  What they don’t understand is that the livestock that take part in rodeo on average live longer than regular livestock.  Rodeo livestock compete only once or twice a week and are given more feed than the average bull or horse.  Rodeos are sponsored by the town it takes place in and local sponsors that help pay for the livestock fees and prize money for the contestants.  Many professional sports are played for the money, fame and competitive nature of the athletes.  Rodeo participants (cowboys) grew up with this tradition and were raised to be apart of the sport since they could barely walk.  There is no other sport like rodeo.

"Rodeo Information." Welcome To The 101 Wild West Rodeo. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.101ranchrodeo.com/info/index.htm>.

Stachowski, Kathleen. "Are Rodeos Humane? No Buckin' Way!" Brittanica. 30 July 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2011/08/are-rodeos-humane-no-buckin’-way/>.

The History of Rodeo

Clay Gross

B1

The History of Rodeo

       The history of rodeo dates all the way back to the early 1700’s when early settlers of America considered today’s rodeo a daily chore.  During the westward expansion, many large cattle ranches moved large amounts of cattle in order to feed the new towns and take advantage of new grazing grounds.  This created a chance for cowboys to compete against one another in horsemanship and cattle cutting during the long cattle drives.  Once the cattle expansion started to die down, the wild west show was created by cowboys like Buffalo Bill.  The wild west show was for the view of the eastern city people that had never seen the western cowboy culture.  These wild west shows were the first form of rodeo back in the late 1800s.  rodeo is one of the only sports that has originated from the skills of a working situation.  Rodeo consists of two types of events, Roughstock and timed events.  Roughstock events contains saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, and bull riding.  In all of these events you must ride the animal for eight seconds while holding onto the animal with only one hand.  The timed events consists of calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, and barrel racing.  These events are not scored like the roughstock events, but instead are measured in the amount of time it takes the cowboy to complete the task.   Rodeo is unlike any other sport competed by man in the world.

      Clark, Ralph. "Rodeo History - The Early Years." Rodeo. About.com. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://rodeo.about.com/od/history/a/rodeohistory1.htm>.
      Quaid, Ronda. "Rodeo History." Silicon Beach Communications. Santa Barbara News Press, 1996. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.silcom.com/~imago/sbnp/rodeohist.html>.