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>.