When someone says "rodeo" to me, the scene that pops into my mind is clowns dashing around a dirt ring, trying to distract a living Mack truck from making ground beef of a fallen guy in a pair of chaps, a hat, and a shield-sized belt buckle. Rugged, Skoal-chewing, filterless cigarette-smoking, dust covered, five-o-clock-shadow-sporting manly men daring the wrath of the beasts they ride. Stetsons and lassos, testosterone and dung, accents and animal noises. And, of course, country music. This is what i remember the rodeo being like.
Sometimes ESPN plays the rodeo, and i watch it. You know, just to satisfy that East Texas itch i sometimes get since i left. My husband found it today when he was flipping through the channels, and we watched it for a few minutes. . . and i have to ask-
What in the blue FUCK has happened to the rodeo?!
When did the manly men get replaced by umpire-mask, padded flack-jacket wearing Nancies?! Elbow pads?? Seriously?? Now, i'm not saying i enjoy seeing guys get hurt. This is why i don't watch the rodeo regularly (well, one of several reasons). But it seems to me if they didn't want to risk suffering injury they should be sitting behind desks or giving PowerPoint presentations or something. I mean, when it comes down to it, is an elbow pad really going to save you? No. You just look like your mom said, "Not without your elbow pads, Bobby, you know how nervous i get," and you meekly submitted to her demands (and by this, i mean handed her your balls to keep in her purse).
But that wasn't the worst of it. The final insult: in place of the country music we all associate with cowboy-oriented sports, they were playing "Tricky" by Run DMC. Now, under normal circumstances, i'd pick Run DMC over Waylon Jennings any day of the week. But it doesn't make a suitable sound track for a manly sport like the rodeo! Even for this watered down Rodeo Lite, i would expect to hear some sugary-pop Carrie Underwood type country music. Run DMC is just. . . well, inappropriate! It'd be like showing up to the X-games and enjoying some nice Phil Collins in the background. It just isn't right!
And that about sums up the whole few minutes i was able to stomach before outrage set in: It just isn't right.
4 comments:
Good points! It's the same thing that happened to military boot camps. Men used to be men but now it's all about safety and not being sued.
My goodness...it's been a LONG time since I've seen a rodeo but what you describe doesn't surprise me. It seems like everything nowadays is going mainstream and being commercialized to suit the times. Don't know if I really want to see someone get heavily gored but give me a running of the bulls in Pamplona any day and let the bodies fly! (tongue in cheek, of course, LOL)!!
I understand the desire for safety, i really do. But i also feel at times that people carry it too far- to the point where during the undertaking risky employment, people expect NOT to be injured.
I agree that rodeos have become very diluted and I can barely stomach to watch it either. There are many aspects that I can understand them doing for protection, but elbow pads are just over the top.
Maybe it has something to do with the PBR and its requirements for the funds they use to support injured riders from the past. It all seemed to change when Layne Frost died from injuries, it was a pretty big deal.
Unfortunately, I learned a lot from my ex in this aspect, he rode bulls competetively....sigh....I sure wish THAT bull would have gotten HIM! lol J/K!
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