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.