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On Rodeo Bulls and Flyfishing
Having just returned from the "Daddy of them All," the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, I was struck by the following:
Exiting the PBR event, I noticed a small bunch of Angus and Herefords on a street corner with a sign that read "LET-P... Livestock for the Ethical Treatment of People." (If you've watched Professional Bull Riding up close, that makes sense.)
When an apparel company owns flyfishing the way Wrangler jeans owns rodeo, then I'll be impressed.
We should name flies after rodeo bulls... tough, gritty names like "Brass Knuckles," "Bounty Hunter," "Born to Boogie," and "Bad Breath." My personal favorite is "Liquid Kitty." I'm gonna cheer for Liquid Kitty from now on, and when I invent that killer fly, I'm calling it the Liquid Kitty.
There is a pro bull rider named Ryan Dirteater, I kid you not. Now that is supreme confidence. I'm thinking of changing my name to Kirk Waterflogger.
Pretty women in chaps v. pretty women in Gore-Tex waders. To me, still a toss-up.
I don't want to be a fish pundit anymore. I want to be a "fish-fighter." Like those guys who save the cowboys from getting stomped on after they get thrown off the bulls. They call them bullfighters. And they get right up in the faces of those ticked off bulls and tease them. I think I could do that with trout. You're fighting the fish, it gets off, and I'll run out there in the middle of the run and wave my hand over the water, just to be sure the trout swims away from you.
I will say this, those rodeo cowboys are dirt tough, and it's really worth checking out a rodeo event sometime when you get the chance. Great fans.
Deeter
modern rodeo "cowboys" are full of scheisse, deeter...
they compete in a controlled environment, with clowns (or whatever those guys they use to distract the bull)...some of them are using helmets and pads now....and for what, to stay on a bull for 8 seconds?
the average international rugby player or motorcross participant takes more of a beating.
first of all, there's no such thing as a real cowboy anymore (what, to get the cows to the feedlot?) what you're watching there is nothing but a circus routine. come down here and see some real gauchos do some stuff bareback on a horse that will make you cringe.
by the way, that chick is hot.
Posted by: joey | July 23, 2008 at 02:07 PM
liquid kitty sounds like me sitting on the john after a night of too much whiskey.
Posted by: joey | July 23, 2008 at 02:10 PM
I don't know, Joey. I grew up in the decidedly poofta-like atmosphere of a college town (Norman's not quite as bad as Austin in that regard...) so I made a lot of fun of rodeo cowboys, too.
Then I moved to the extreme northwestern edge of the state - very high plains open range country - and began to meet some real, saddle-up-the-horse cowboys and got to watch a few local rodeos.
Changed my way of thinking quite a bit, even though you'll never catch me in a pair of boots or a cowboy hat.
I couldn't give a damn about rodeo before I had to cover and shoot it for newspapers but it kinda grew on me, especially the timed events, probably because I'm a field dog person and I recognized and appreciated the interaction between the person and the animal.
Now the roughstock stuff I can take it or leave it. Not really my bag but I'm not sure I'd say it's a controlled environment. I've taken an awful lot of photographs from behind the chutes and none of it looks very controlled to me.
Posted by: Chad Love | July 23, 2008 at 05:06 PM
If you ever catch some classic rodeo on the tube, watch for "Rambo"...scariest bull I ever did see.
Posted by: ninja | July 23, 2008 at 05:20 PM
i'm not saying they are all wussies....
check out ramzy telley's RODEO CIRCUS FILMS: http://www.rodeocircusfilms.com
he's an old client of the now defunct austin angler, where i used to work. he did a great documentary on Ty Murray, rodeo bull rider that got his ass handed to him...
still...it's all carnival show....
Posted by: joey | July 24, 2008 at 02:00 AM
chad, you used to be photographer?? me too....norman...way classier football team than UT. also, home of the Flaming Lips, one of the great rock bands of all time. ok, we had the dicks, scratch acid, big boys and the butthole surfers.
Posted by: joey | July 24, 2008 at 02:14 AM