Rodeo Sports News Page: 1 of 12
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2929 West 19ih Ave., Denver, Colo., 80204 Ph. 244-8657 Copy 25<
Vol. 16, No. 8
March 15, 1968
Rodeo Cowboy*' Assoc., Inc.
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Mr.. Jean Neustadt
505 Sunset Drive
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Copyright 1968 by
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The family of the late E. L.
"Doc" Simon, of Limon, Colo.,
wish to thank their many
friends for the many letters,
cards and flowers received
following his death. Such
thoughtfulness and kindness
will be remembered always.
r' )
Jay Himes On The
Mend From Injury
Jay Himes, the game’s rookie
of the year in 1967, who suf-
fered crushed vertabrae in his
neck during the Fort Worth ro-
deo, is mending rapidly at home
in Beulah, Colo.
The ranch-raised 19-year-old,
whose injury occurred when he
turned a flip off a bareback
horse he was mounting out for
Larry Mahan, wears a brace
while he putters around the
ranch and expects to be back
in action by July. The doctors
say it’ll be the end of that
month but Jay has his sight set
on July Fourth rodeos.
Horse Fall Fatal
To Colton Proctor
B. G. “Cotto n” Proctor,
former R. C. A. member from
Belton, Tex., was killed Monday,
March 4th, when the horse he
was riding fell on him.
Riding with Cotton, on the
outskirts of Belton, when the
accident occurred was his close
friend, Dude Wallace, also of
Belton.
Cotton, 39 at the time of his
death, joined the Association in
1947 and through his full-time
contesting years entered all
three riding events and steer
wrestling. He resigned in 1960.
Survivors include his widow,
Charlene Proctor, two children,
Ronnie and Paula, and his
mother, Mrs. Dale H. Parker, all
of Belton. A brother, Bill Proc-
tor, was electrocuted, while
working as a lineman, in 1967.
Funeral services were held at
2 o’clock Wednesday afternoon,
March 6th, at Miller Heights
Baptist church in Belton. Burial
was in the North Belton ceme-
tery.
But let’s not get carried away.
Rodeo is not a sport, and that’s
that. Shut up, kid, eat your
snow cone and watch the “en-
tertainment.”
It doesn’t matter in the slight-
est that Sports Illustrated, with
the largest circulation of any
national sports magazine, has
recognized rodeo as a sport
since early publication days
when winners of the Pendleton
Round-Up were listed.
You had better believe that
Sports Illustrated isn’t going to
tell any newspaper sports editor
what to do. Besides, the maga-
zine really can go a bit berserk
at times with accounts of such
“sports” as fireplug - painting
and rock-collecting.
Recognized by TV
Neither does it matter that na-
tional television networks have
recognized rodeo as a sport,
with millions of viewers watch-
ing championship finals.
If Sports Illustrated isn’t going
to tell newspaper sports pages
what to do, then it’s for by gum
certain that no television per-
sonality is going to have the
slightest influence.
So let’s temporarily forget ro-
deo, except for one final in-
quiry prompted by sheer stupid-
ity.
The long - established and
widely-respected Hayward Ban-
quet is a sports function, right?
(Continued on Page 3)
■ "ST--
Hllll Rid ill <r action during the 1968 Astrodome rodeo at Houston, Tex., where more than
■U,UI1 $89,000—a record for five events—was cut up among winners. The 12-day rodeo,
on Saturday night, March 2nd, also set another mark for an indoor contest with a sell-
out crowd of 42,486 in attendance. This is Boog Bryant, of Roswell, N.M., weathering a high
dive by Harry Knight's No. 112. (Ferrell Builer photo)
___
IS RODEO A SPORT?
By John White
RSN is grateful to the Portland Oregonian's Northwest Magazine, of February 25th, for permis-
sion to reprint this article. Its author, John White, now a free-lance writer, formerly was executive
sports editor of the Journal, Portland’s evening paper.
A*
For 361 days a year the village of St. Paul in the Willamette Valley south of Port-
land is friendly but reasonably drowsy.
But for three or four days a year, depending on the schedule, there is bedlam as the
nation’s finest professional cowboys take over for the St. Paul Rodeo, fixture for the past
32 summers.
On the evening of last July 3rd, there were 12,417 fans in the stands. And on the
afternoon of the 4th, the turnout, despite oppressive heat, was 10,192.
Now if hockey’s Portland
Buckaroos draw back-to-back
sellouts, the sports page head-
lines scream. If the baseball
Beavers attract a two-day total
of 22,609, the columnists have a
ball (ouch!) for days.
Draw 22,609 for a pair of pro
basketball games in Memorial
Coliseum, and there would be
major league talk for months.
So naturally there were large
headlines on the sports pages of
Portland after the St. Paul Ro-
deo mob made the scene.
Right? Forget it. There wasn’t
a line on the sports page. There
were stories in news sections.
But there was nothing in sports.
The reason is absurdly sim-
ple. Rodeo is not a sport!
Who says rodeo is not a sport?
Those who run the sports pages
say so, that’s who! And that’s
who counts.
Now don’t look for any “mes-
sage” inciting rodeo fans to
arise. They don’t need it. They
arise early and stay late.
From the standpoint of ground
rules, however, the decision that
rodeo is not a sport is a bit puz-
zzling.
when the
stepped on him.
A member since 1960, Reed’s
death marked the first at
R.C.A. rodeo since the fall of
1966, in bull riding competition.
That year, Andy Andelt, of Lin-
coln, Neb., died from injuries re-
ceived in the Omaha rodeo
arena.
To help defray immediate ex-
penses Lawrence’s home town
rodeo committee — Houston’s
Live Stock Show and Rodeo—
opened a fund for the Reed fam-
ily with a check for $500. Fel-
low contestants also had con-
tributed $400 by the end of the
Astrodome rodeo on March 3rd.
Lawrence Reed Is
Dead From Injury
Injuries suffered February 9th
when he was bucked off and
trampled by a bull during the
San Antonio (Tex.) rodeo
proved fatal for Lawrence Reed,
Negro cowboy from Houston.
Reed, who leaves a widow
and six children, died February
21st at Santa Rosa hospital in
San Antonio where he had been
under intensive care since the
accident. Hospital attendants
said his spleen was ruptured
1,200-pound animal
The Golf Tour
Big-time professional golfers
play what is called a “tour.”
In each tournament, they com-
pete for prize money. The Pro-
fessional Golfers Association
keeps meticulous records of
total earnings.
z
- ■ ; 7 .
flintr na,ional bronc riding champion, Shawn Davis,
II<II , tapping out a tune on Harry Knight's Boots, be-
fore a packed house in Houston’s Astrodome rodeo.
(Ferrell Butler photo)
And the sports pages duti-
fully publish them.
The professional bowlers do
the same thing, although at
times before a mere handful of
real live spectators. But the
sports pages mention their ex-
ploits.
Well, gee whiz, professional
cowboys do the same things.
But sports pages look the other
way, because rodeo is not a
sport.
In a technical sense, too, the
decision is puzzling.
Rodeo is not a sport?
The bronc rider has exactly
10 seconds to live or die finan-
cially -and take a chance on
the other way. And as in the
"sports” of diving or ski jump-
ing, form counts heavily in de-
termining winners.
The bounce of a football, in
bounds or out of bounds, can de-
cide a championship. So can a
skittish calf which heads straight
for the exit at track-record
speed, then swerves at a 90-
degree angle, leaving a roper
broke for the move to the next
town.
Speed, endurance, courage,
toughness, touch, skill, quick-
ness—all are terms applied to
stars of professional football,
basketball, hockey, baseball.
The stars of professional ro-
deo are endowed with or learn
the same qualities.
New Records Set
At Houston Rodeo
Houston’s annual rodeo, held for the third year in the
palatial Astrodome, set a new attendance record of 380,048
during its sixteen performances which ran February 21st
through March 3rd.
Highlighting the new mark .
was a sellout of 42,486 persons
on the night of March 2nd, the
largest crowd yet to see an in-
door rodeo.
Prize-money wise the Astro-
dome rodeo out-did itself again,
paying out a whopping $89,080
to winners in five events. Ten
contestants won from $2,000 to
over $4,500 apiece. The previ-
ous high for the Astrodome was
1967’s payoff, of $87,189.
Things fared just as well for
the livestock show held in con-
junction with the rodeo, accord-
ing to E. C. “Dick” Weekley,
Houston’s competent general
manager. The stock show entry
roster tallied 15,000 individual
entries, and exhibitors realized
$1,140,000 from sales.
Overall attendance at the
stock show — many of whom
also attended the rodeo — was
another Houston record, Week-
ley said, of 501,394, up almost
30,000 over last year.
RODEO SPORTS NEWS (9)
^°CfATlOt<Z ®
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Rodeo Sports News, text, 2013; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1626866/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Ardmore Public Library.