Any PRCA Rodeo Fans In Northern Colorado? (Greeley, Evergreen: live, park)

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by NBeener

Anybody else appreciate the irony in a rodeo fan continuing to beat a dead horse ?

Well, just because you aren't a rodeo fan, doesn't mean everyone is like you! But...........

[Mike from back east]

Thread moved to the main statewide forum to attract more attention.

There's an article in today's NY Times about women in rodeo, telling how a woman 6 months pregnant, won a "breakaway roping" competition.

Excerpt: "Jackie Crawford was six months pregnant when she won the breakaway roping title at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association National Finals in December 2020. Calf ropers in the sport generally tuck in their shirts to reveal their prize belt buckles, but when Crawford rode, she let her shirt hang loose over her belly for comfort."


Great story and lots of good photos.

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Well, some of what you list here is very true, but some not so much.

PRCA rodeo is still extremely popular. This last July, we went to the packed Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in CO Springs. Note the word "packed", as in sold-out performance. A couple of weeks later, we drove to Dodge City, Kansas for their Roundup Rodeo and it was packed as well. It doesn't seem like rodeo has lost much-to-any interest. And, the NFR, at the Thomas-Mack Center in Vegas, was pretty packed at each performance.

PRCA rodeo isn't like the old days when contestants, who entered a rodeo, had to call in their "entry" into it. There are those that will take a laptop while traveling and enter a rodeo in their hotel/motel room.

As far as ranchers go, today they have software for feeding and breeding livestock. High school kids are taught about livestock, not only in the barn/field, but on a computer in the classroom.

So, whether it's PRCA rodeo or some other rodeo association, like for ranchers, there are those serious rodeo fans, like wife and I, that would love to live in an area that is popular with it and other Western stuff. When folks, like us, can't find that "popular" place, The Cowboy Channel sure plays a big part in our lives for tv watching/rodeo.

I don't know where the idea that farmers and ranchers do not have technology capabilities even comes from. Anybody that has been in a newer tractor knows that they are more technologically advanced than pretty much any other vehicle on wheels.

The question isn't whether rodeo people know how to use a damn computer, most of them are probably as proficient on it as anybody on this board as there is no computer store to run into when you have a problem, they learn how to fix it themselves.

That is not the point I was meaning to bring up, my point is that most of the people I know who follow rodeos do not do social media. They don't have twitter, facebook, snapchat or any of the other popular social media as they consider them time wastes and bringing in drama. I am in several small town groups on Facebook and you would be amazed at how many people post ads for farm stuff for their Dads/Brothers/cousins/ grandparents/ neighbors/ friends because that person does not have facebook. I just looked at my cousins facebook page, he retired from rodeo about 4 years ago, he hasn't updated his facebook page in 9 years. Ranchers and Farmers prefer solitude, they don't want everybody knowing their every move.

You would think that someone that is a supposed expert on small towns despite never living in 1 and a huge rodeo fan would at least understand the basic type of people you are such a fan of. To put it simply most farmers/ranchers who are the rodeo participants would rather spend 2 months without seeing another person than they would like to spend 1 day in downtown Denver. They don't go online seeking other people because that is not who they are.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by jwiley

I don't know where the idea that farmers and ranchers do not have technology capabilities even comes from. Anybody that has been in a newer tractor knows that they are more technologically advanced than pretty much any other vehicle on wheels.

The question isn't whether rodeo people know how to use a damn computer, most of them are probably as proficient on it as anybody on this board as there is no computer store to run into when you have a problem, they learn how to fix it themselves.

That is not the point I was meaning to bring up, my point is that most of the people I know who follow rodeos do not do social media. They don't have twitter, facebook, snapchat or any of the other popular social media as they consider them time wastes and bringing in drama. I am in several small town groups on Facebook and you would be amazed at how many people post ads for farm stuff for their Dads/Brothers/cousins/ grandparents/ neighbors/ friends because that person does not have facebook. I just looked at my cousins facebook page, he retired from rodeo about 4 years ago, he hasn't updated his facebook page in 9 years. Ranchers and Farmers prefer solitude, they don't want everybody knowing their every move.

You would think that someone that is a supposed expert on small towns despite never living in 1 and a huge rodeo fan would at least understand the basic type of people you are such a fan of. To put it simply most farmers/ranchers who are the rodeo participants would rather spend 2 months without seeing another person than they would like to spend 1 day in downtown Denver. They don't go online seeking other people because that is not who they are.

First, I have no idea how "farmers and ranchers" got into this thread.

But, for about 4 years, wife and I did live in Parker. Back then, 2003 thru Oct 2007, it was much smaller than today. But, when we left, Parker was growing like a wild weed.

Also, like I've already stated, this thread was asking about rodeo fans, not participants. In all of my previous years of covering the southern part of the Sierra Circuit, which is now the California Circuit, I never once seen a contestant that was either a rancher or farmer. Working ranch hands have their own rodeo organization today that has nothing to do with PRCA.

And, to make this absolutely clear, rodeo fans did/do follow a couple of NFR Facebook Groups. But, what my thread was asking about is rodeo fans in Colorado. Wife and I follow PRCA rodeo all year long and that's how we got to know some of the Top 15 in each event. We watch a lot of rodeos on The Cowboy Channel and still go to a few. Most not-so-serious fans only go to their hometown/local rodeo, and that's it. While this year, we drove to both Colorado Springs and Dodge City, Kansas for their rodeos.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Thread moved to the main statewide forum to attract more attention.

There's an article in today's NY Times about women in rodeo, telling how a woman 6 months pregnant, won a "breakaway roping" competition.

Excerpt: "Jackie Crawford was six months pregnant when she won the breakaway roping title at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association National Finals in December 2020. Calf ropers in the sport generally tuck in their shirts to reveal their prize belt buckles, but when Crawford rode, she let her shirt hang loose over her belly for comfort."


Great story and lots of good photos.

First, thanks Mike, for moving the thread. Yes, Jackie is quite the BA roper and champion.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

But, what my thread was asking about is rodeo fans in Colorado.

This was your original question: "So, we were just wondering if there are any serious (like us) rodeo fans in northern Colorado?" After almost ten days with no responses to your specific question, I think the answer is "no". At least, as has been stated, not on this forum.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by NBeener

Anybody else appreciate the irony in a rodeo fan continuing to beat a dead horse ?

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

This was your original question: "So, we were just wondering if there are any serious (like us) rodeo fans in northern Colorado?" After almost ten days with no responses to your specific question, I think the answer is "no". At least, as has been stated, not on this forum.

or... just use the available demographics (I don't see C-D as a reference point, but garden clubs look hopeful)

The Rodeo Enthusiasts audience is distinctive due to the websites they visit.
As seen below, the highest indexing website for the Rodeo Enthusiasts audience is cheyenne.org.

https://www.prorodeo.org/Portal/Home...p-Breakout.pdf

I prefer this data
https://d38trduahtodj3.cloudfront.ne...mographics.pdf

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Don't necessarily know if the PRCA Headquarters and the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame would totally agree with you on your post here, but..........

What I mean is, The Front Range hasn't gone totally "Los Angeles" yet. I see stores like, JAX Outdoors/Farm/Ranch and still some, but not a lot like years ago, crop land and cattle grazing. The Centennial Livestock Auction in Ft. Collins is still there and the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver still draws a lot of folks to it. So, no matter how many California and/or "big city" folks have moved to Colorado, parts of Colorado are still western/rodeo related.

I never said CO nor Cos didn't still hold western related activities. Nor have we gone full "Los Angeles" in all our recreational activities. Yes, we still have quite a few western activities, to include rodeo. In some places in the state, it is very much a lifestyle in addition to a recreational sport. What I said was the PRCA headquarters and office relocation to Cos was a manipulated decision that came with a number of financial benefits for the organization to motivate them to relocate to a place with a long history of tourism and a shoe-string thin association with rodeo.

Typically, I would think one would put a headquarters, museum, or Hall of Fame in a location that holds some significant relationship to or history with the activity. Cos has neither related to rodeo. Yes, we have a rodeo, two in fact, but neither are particularly outstanding nor old when compared against the rest of the rodeo circuit. Heck, the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo didn't even start until 1937, long after the era of the cowboy was gone from most of the west. We also lack any significant rodeo culture, or even ranching, in the area to make it feel especially at home.

What we did have was some very, very influential families and organizations that had elder benefactors that fancied themselves as cowboys, because they came to CO in the 1880s, that had the money and influence to convince those at PRCA to relocate to Cos to give them exposure to a larger tourist base that would allow them to make money outside their typical demographic. Additionally, the other recreational activities of the region mean that PRCA fans can also find other things to do while here so they are more likely to make that special trip to see the Hall of Fame because there are other things to do over the course of several days. We also have a social and political climate that would not make visitors feel like they had come to a foreign planet to visit the museum.

Personally, I'm surprised the PRCA Headquarters and Cowboy Hall of Fame aren't located in Texas, another state with a larger ranching base, or at the very least, Nevada.

[BabyBoomers2]

Just why is it that so many people seem to think that anything western, rodeo, cowboy or ranch related should be in Texas? We did go to the High Plains Western Heritage Center in South Dakota, just west of Deadwood. Should this museum be in Texas also?

Funny how some folks, even here in Colorado, can think a person either lives or is originally from Texas if wearing a cowboy hat. I've had that asked of me.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Just why is it that so many people seem to think that anything western, rodeo, cowboy or ranch related should be in Texas? We did go to the High Plains Western Heritage Center in South Dakota, just west of Deadwood. Should this museum be in Texas also?

Funny how some folks, even here in Colorado, can think a person either lives or is originally from Texas if wearing a cowboy hat. I've had that asked of me.

I was big into rodeo, as were my friends, when I lived in CO. Yuma County then Weld (Greeley).