Yee Haaaw! It's the Tucson Rodeo!

Today, I went to the Annual Tucson National Rodeo, AKA "Fiesta de Los Vaqueros"... the world's largest outdoor rodeo and a really big deal in Tucson every year. I went with a girl named Christina as well as Rachael and Ed, the married couple that hosted that same Thanksgiving dinner. Rachael is in my department, and Ed is a truck driver.

Anyway, today was the finale, where the final 12 contestants in each of the seven rodeo categories got to compete. Apparently, the points earned in all of the national rodeos go toward an annual total that are used for entry into the World Rodeo Championships in Las Vegas each year. Therefore, the cowboys I saw today are from all over the U.S. and Canada and are considered the best in North America...

So here are my pictures from the day...

View from our seats:

Setting the scene... here are the "chutes" where the bucking horses and bulls start out. The announcers and cameramen sit up in the little booth. (BTW, we were definitely in the "nosebleed" seats, but we did get a good view of the whole arena.)

Looking to the right:

Here is the area where the horses and calves come from for the tying competitions as well as the barrel racing. The calves run out of that blue shoot, and the cowboys get ready to run from the horse pit section where a lot of commotion seems to be taking place in this picture.

The horse pit area:

Here is a picture from down on the ground next to the horse pit section. These are some of the competitors as well as some of the wranglers.

You've got to start young:

Look at the little mini-roper!!

Event #1: Steer Wrestling

This event involves two horses and a steer, which is sandwiched in the middle of the two horses. The rider on the right (in blue) is just there to keep the steer going straight. The cowboy competing is the one that is jumping off of his brown horse closest to us. He's jumping onto the steer, which he then throws to the ground. The best time for this event was around 5 seconds. (BTW, that is a very large spectator in the background... wearing grey.)

Event #2: Team Roping

Here are two pictures of team roping, which looked really hard. One guy ropes the calf's horns in the front, and the other guy goes around back and ropes his tail legs. The guy who ropes the legs has to be very fast and very talented. Lots of guys missed on this event. I liked that the calf's wore little protective helmets, I guess to keep the rope from cutting the area around their horns. You can click on the pictures to see them at a larger scale if you want to see more detail...

Event #3: Saddle Bronc Riding

This is just like Bareback Riding (which is the one event I didn't take a picture of) except that it uses a full saddle, and rider is definitely sitting more upright. He also kicks his legs back instead forward like the bareback riders, who kick the horse while they're almost lying down, thus putting their boots in the horse's shoulder area. The saddle riding looks a lot easier, if you ask me. The horse on the left is preparing to wrangle the bucking horse after its rider disembarks. Minimum time allowed per ride: 8 seconds.

Event #4: Bull Riding

This is just insane. I had to really zoom in to get this picture because the riders were really far away from me. They cordon off just a tiny area around the chutes for this event because I guess its easier to control a bull in a small area. This shot really shows off this bull's private parts. I think the rider is getting bucked off too.

Event #5: Tie-Down Roping

This is one of the coolest events because the horse has a big responsibility. He has to pull back on his own to tighten the noose around the calf's neck, which incapacitates it temporarily so the cowboy can flip it over and tie its legs in the air. These horses were really smart and well trained! The calf did look rather pathetic for about 10 seconds (one can't help but feel sorry for the little critter) but then it's all over, and the calf is up and running around again after the event. I guess that's better than being veal...

Event #6: Barrel Racing

This is the one chick event. These girls race full speed around three inflated plastic beer cans (umm, I mean barrels). They get time tacked onto their scores if they knock over the beer can (oops, I mean barrel). Classy ad placement, Coors.

This was sort of the half-time show:

Here is the Quadrille de Mujeres Precision Riding Team with a lot of colorful cowgirls, cascading blonde curly locks, and well-groomed horses. Probably a lot of make-up under those hats too...

And finally, a couple of small observances in the stands. Sorry, my blog would not be complete if I were not to point out two of the more interesting "people watching" events that occurred:

Here is the fat lady that took off her white L.A. Gear tennis shoes to my left:

In my opinion, rodeo bleachers are not exactly a place for the health of the bare foot. This woman sat through most of the rodeo with her shoes off. Not only did her feet look very similar to Bilbobaggins', but there was a lot of long yellowed toe-nail action going on... I really wish I'd been wearing blinders.

Check the ill-fitting top to my right:

I really want to know what some people see when they look in the mirror before going out. Here is a Mexican lady that sat diagonally in front of us wearing a top that was clearly two sizes too small. While this picture makes it seem that her crossed arms are creating the cumbersome cleavage clearly apparent in the photo, I assure you that the cleavage was awkwardly heaving out of her shirt in any and all positions in which she was sitting, creating a very mangled, mashed, distorted chest line that looked very painful. The back flesh squeezing out of the rear "peek-a-boo" hole only made me wince more at what must have been a very difficult effort to put this shirt on. She might just have to tear it off at the end of the day if it doesn't rip open like the Incredible Hulk's shirt.

Who is this broad?

I was certain that I was getting sunburned on my neck so I put my collar up. I also wanted to recreate 1986. Oh, the memories...

View of South Tucson:

We were in the upper-most row of bleacher seats so here is the view directly behind me. Pretty wicked skyline, eh?!? Oh yes, and the inevitable Tucson strip mall and mega-parking lots too...

I have to go do homework now... KVB