Saddle Broncs and Sin City: The National Finals Rodeo
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| Rodeo Fans Watch a Country Music Concert at the Freemont Street Experience1 |
Every sport has its Super Bowl. Hockey has the Stanley Cup, baseball has the World Series. For the professional rodeo scene, it’s the National Finals Rodeo. And it’s held in the unlikeliest of places—Vegas. Yes, the Vegas of gambling tables, glittering stage shows and grandiose-themed hotels. The city of neon lights, wedding chapels and Elvis impersonators. But Las Vegas with buckin’ bulls, big, shiny belt buckles and horses worth more than the luxury limos parked in front of the Bellagio? Yep. For 10 days every December, Sin City comes alive with bucking shoots and barrels, ropers and wrestlers. And a posse of professional cowboys and cowgirls who prove you needn’t win big at Blackjack to leave town rich.
WHEN THE RODEO COMES TO TOWN
When and Where
Unlike the Super Bowl, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) isn’t actually one rodeo. It’s 10 consecutive nights of action-packed performances. When it comes to town in early December, rodeo fans far and wide—some newcomers, some long-time followers—pour into Las Vegas to watch the sport’s top contestants go head to head for the title of World Champion. Arguably, the all-encompassing global title is justified. Although the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is an American organization, its rodeo scene and the finals regularly draw athletes from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even South America.
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| A Saddle Bronc Rider Competes at the NFR2 |
THE RODEO LOW DOWN
Who Goes and How It Works
The NFR has been held in Las Vegas for over 25 years and has become the richest rodeo around. With over $5,000,000 in prize money being doled out in a mere 10 days, it pays to be on the final list of qualifying contestants. The cowboy calendar basically runs from October through September and the top 15 money-earners in each sanctioned event during that period head to the finals in Vegas. Much of the fierce rodeo action takes place over the summer when competitive cowboys and cowgirls race across the USA and Canada—covering some 100,000 miles and competing at up to 100 rodeos—to claim one of those top 15 spots.
There are seven NFR events, which fall into two categories: rough stock and timed events. Bareback riding, saddle bronc and bull riding are rough stock events and involve riding bucking bulls and broncos for eight seconds, after which the contestants earn judges’ scores. The timed events—barrel racing, team roping, steer wrestling and tie-down roping—mean contestants going head to head with the clock, and therefore each other, to determine just which speedy rider and horse can record the quickest times.
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| A Cowgirl Runs the Barrels at the NFR3 |
At the NFR, contestants participate each night (called a go round in rodeo lingo) and winners are awarded significant prize money for each session. At the end of 10 nights, the athlete who has earned the most (called the aggregate), combined with his or her yearlong earnings, is crowned world champion of that event.
And unlike football, where players rarely play more than one position, many cowboys compete in more than one event. It isn’t uncommon to see a champion bull rider also come out of the shoots aboard a bucking horse, or watch a roper bail off his mount to tie-down a small calf, then an hour later bail off again to wrestle to the ground, sans rope, a not-so-small steer. Of those that compete in two or more events, the best wins the title of All-Around World Champion—a coveted position with prize money and street cred to boot.
RODEO THRILLS AND SPILLS
A mere glance at an NFR-level rodeo and it quickly becomes clear that the animals are as much the athletes as their two-legged contestants. In 1986, as barrel-racing champion Charmayne James raced toward the first barrel astride her legendary steed Scamper, rider and crowd alike realized that the bridle was broken and dangling from the horse’s head—effectively taking away all Charmayne’s steering and control. Nevertheless, Scamper ran the barrels as any other time and the pair won the go round with the best time.
Even more of a crowd-pleaser than barrel racing, bull riding has been called “the most dangerous eight seconds in sports” and its best bulls might be lean and mean or gentle giants, but all are certainly athletic. The best of their kind rack up impressive records, such as the renowned buckin’ bull Red Rock. During his three-year competitive career, the bull bucked off every rider who tried to ride him—over 300 times—despite being known for his good manners outside of the arena.
RODEO EXTRAS
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The History of Rodeo |
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Of course, beyond the bucking shoots and country tunes, there is Las Vegas itself. The rodeo action doesn’t get underway until each evening so fans can spend their days and dollars like most other visitors—checking out that which makes Vegas a city like no other. Spectacular casinos and hotels along the Strip offer up the quirkiest attractions. Only in Sin City can one expect to see an exact replica of Paris’ Eiffel Tower (although at half the scale), walk through a lion habitat inside the MGM Grand and witness an erupting volcano at the Mirage all in a day of sightseeing. Or watch as fortunes are won and lost at the Roulette wheel. The latter might just make the bullfighting clowns at the rodeo arena seem not so crazy after all.
If you enjoyed this feature, take a look at these great WorldWeb.com articles:
• Canada's Top 10 Summer Rodeos
• A Weekend in Las Vegas
PHOTOS COURTESY OF:
- c/o Las Vegas News Bureau; Rodeo Fans Watch a Country Music Concert at the Freemont Street Experience; Las Vegas, NV, USA
- c/o Las Vegas News Bureau; A Saddle Bronc Rider Competes at the NFR; Las Vegas, NV, USA
- c/o Las Vegas News Bureau; A Cowgirl Runs the Barrels at the NFR; Las Vegas, NV, USA
