Rodeo’s day has arrived, and there’s
more to come.
Rodeo—born
on the frontier, refined by decades of trials in
the arena—emerges in the early
20th century as a legitimate candidate for recognition
as “America’s sport.” Not only
is it in ascendancy as a spectator event—having
overtaken both golf and tennis for total numbers
of fans—it has surpassed every other major
American sport for the way it has linked families,
communities, and generations. With its wholesomeness,
pageantry, decorousness, and thunderous action,
rodeo is coming into its own as a hybrid of fierce
competitiveness
and grand spectacle. Part extreme sport and part
everyday pastime, part human drama and part social
event, rodeo stands poised to do what NASCAR
Racing did in recent years—take another
quantum leap forward.
New
Regime
Nowhere is this new spirit more evident than
in the most influential of all rodeo organizations,
the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. A gust
of fresh air is blowing through the hallways
of the
PRCA. The name of this human hurricane is Troy
Ellerman, and he’s got his eyes on goals
as high as the sky.
The
rodeo-raised attorney, who for years was a highly
respected professional bull rider
and trick rider,
has taken the reins of the cowboy sport.
He’s
a straight shooter with an agenda that won’t
quit, and he’s going straight after anything
he can think of to elevate the sport for everyone
involved—contestants to fans, sponsors to stock
contractors.
“We
have a great sport, and people love it,” said
PRCA Commissioner Ellerman. “How
often do you have three generations of
a family watching an event
together and loving it? There’s nothing
phony about rodeo. It’s the real
deal. I truly believe it’s the best
sport in the world.”
More
than 24 million fans flocked to PRCA events in
2004, according to Sports Business
Daily.
That doesn’t take into account the more than 60
million people who tuned in to ProRodeo events on
CBS, OLN, ESPN, and ESPN2 in 2004 alone.
“The
cowboy is an icon,” explained Ellerman,
whose wardrobe is Justin Boots, Wrangler
Jeans, and a Resistol cowboy hat whether he’s
negotiating in the boardroom or watching his son’s
Little League game. “If you walk down the
street with a cowboy hat, that’s the symbol
of integrity and hard work. It’s John Wayne.
The cowboy is this country’s icon. Cowboys
are heroes, and everyone admires them.”...
Find
the rest of this exciting article and more in
the July/August 2005 issue of American Cowboy magazine...
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