Rodeo

Last night, in spite of the storm, we took our family to Kansas' largest night rodeo, the Pretty Prairie Rodeo. It was a blast from the past. Other than a rather amusing mix of music between events, the night could have been set in 1970 or so. I know I'm waxing nostalgic and that I tend toward idealizing things, but that little event was very Mayberry in my books. Oh, sure, there were some bizarro types there (aren't they everywhere?) and as always there were over-priced concessions and other elements of greed, but otherwise, it was a trip down memory lane. The people were My People and thus, of course, pleasant to be around.

I noted a whole subculture that I've not paid much attention to, I guess, since my own childhood: The Aggie. There were girls in Ropers (hot) and boys with big buckles. Parents encouraged their kids to ride sheep and grandparents spoke of the days before electronic score boards and cell phones. The rodeo clown's humor was rural but enjoyable. The kids were all told to "cowboy up" whenever they fell in the mud or bounced down the bleachers. Everyone wore Wrangler jeans and Justin boots. Real participants were lean and lanky.

Okay, I'm no rodeo guy, and at the moment, my only livestock = cats/dogs. I wear cheap boots to keep the snakes and chiggers off my ankles and I don't even own a pair of Wranglers...but, all that aside, I felt comfortable with these people. I, personally, do not find the sport to be animal abuse.

I do, however, find it to be a sport. We sat next to the bull riding gates, and I was watching the guys prep for their 8 seconds. They looked every-bit like an athlete in any other sport, running through rituals, taping up, getting their game on. The difference is that a rodeo cowboy has a two thousand pound adversary, not some peer, to grapple with. While a baseball game may take several hours, a rodeo event seldom runs over a minute.

The best part of the whole event was: my boys. The eldest went grudgingly, griping the whole time about how bored he would be. ...then after, he was so very engaged, he was already making commitments for next year's rodeo and wants to find others to go watch! The middle boy was pumped up from the first mention of it until he fell asleep on the way home. The youngest was excited throughout the event, though he did not say much. If I had any doubt we should get some livestock, it's gone now. I know they are eager to have some animals around.

The boys will drop into some subculture, some stereotypical clique sometime....there's worse ways to end up than an Aggie.