|
Bronc rider Mark Gomes and bull rider Mike White are shown competing in
the
National Finals Rodeo in 1999. The 2000 event begins its annual 10-day run
in Las Vegas on Friday.
Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Photos by Mike Copeman.
Editor's
Note: Robert Macy was an Associated Press writer for nearly 30
years and head of the AP's Las Vegas bureau from 1981 until the summer of
2000, when he retired to write nationally-syndicated features and pursue
publishing ventures. He covered the National Finals Rodeo for several
years when it first moved to Las Vegas in 1985.
By ROBERT MACY
DATELINE LAS VEGAS
Set aside the
Gucci loafers and slip on the cowboy boots. Stash the
silk suits and bring out the blue jeans.
Las Vegas' annual flirtation with its past begins
Friday (Dec. 1), when the
National Finals Rodeo kicks off a 10-day run to determine the world
champions of professional rodeo.
The event, dubbed the World Series of rodeo
competition, may seem like
a stretch for a city known as the Gambling and Entertainment Capital of
the
World.
But Las Vegas is a town with western roots, and
they sprout every
December when the nation's top cowboys and cowgirls hit town, followed by
legions of rodeo fans. During Rodeo Week attire in businesses
citywide
switches from fancy duds to western wear as the city welcomes tens of
thousands of visitors during what was once the slowest time of the year
for
its lifeblood tourism industry.
"The rodeo has really transformed the whole
month of December," said
Rob Powers, spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
"Prior to the rodeo coming here, December was a period when hotels
cut back
on staffing, showrooms closed. Now it's a period of great activity."
Last year's rodeo drew some 40,000 visitors to
the city who spent an
estimated $38 million, exclusive of gambling.
"The rodeo crowd is a very free-spending
crowd," Powers said. "The
restaurants and hotels love to have the cowboys and their families
here."
This year's NFR, the 42nd annual, will be
offering big bucks to the top
qualifiers. The 2000 prize money is a record $4.5 million, up from $4.42
million in 1999 and $50,000 when the first National Finals Rodeo was held
at
the Texas State Fairgrounds in Dallas in 1959.
The $4.5 million pay out at this year's NFR ranks
between NASCAR's
Brickyard 400, which offers $6.1 million in prize money, and golf's U.S.
Open, which pays out $3.5 million.
The rodeo is again sold out, with attendance
expected to top 175,000 at
the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus. Another 9 million viewers
are
expected to watch the action on ESPN and ESPN2. The events run nightly
Dec.
1-9, with the final go-round at 11:45 a.m. PST Sunday, Dec. 10.
The NFR features the top 15 contestants in each
event of the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women's Professinal Rodeo
Association.
The participants accumulate points throughout the
year at 700
PRCA-sanctioned rodeos in 42 states and four Canadian provinces. The 2000
regular season ended Nov. 5 with the Grand National Rodeo in San
Francisco.
Rodeo contestants earned more than $31 million last year, according to the
PRCA, and more than 20 million viewers watched rodeo events on TV.
After 10 days of competition at the NFR, the
contestants in each event
with the highest earnings -- including money earned during the season and
at
the Finals -- are the world champions in their events. World championships
are awarded in bareback bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle
bronc riding, calf roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
The top money winner earns the coveted title of
All-Around Cowboy.
Some of the sentimental favorites at this year's
rodeo include:
* Scott Johnston, a native of South Wales, was
rookie of the year in
1996. He suffered a broken back in a private plane crash in California in
November of 1998, but still managed to help pull other passengers to
safety.
He returned to the dangerous world of bronc riding competition against
doctors' orders and climbed back to the top of the standings.
* Roy Cooper, who won his first world
championship 24 years ago as a
rookie, will be making his 20th -- and final -- appearance at the NFR
after
having his gall bladder removed with three weeks left in the season.
Cooper,
of Childress, Texas, has won eight National Finals titles and eight world
championships in calf and steer roping. He plans to retire after the
season.
* Charmayne James, of Justin, Texas, has broken
numerous barrel racing
records since winning her first world title at the age of 14. A crowd
favorite and winner of 10 world championships, she's back atop the
standings
for the first time in several years.
The launch of the NFR in Dallas marked the
fruition of a dream by
longtime cowboy Casey Tibbs to bring together the world's greatest rodeo
contestants and livestock to match.
After three years in Dallas, the NFR moved to the
Los Angeles Coliseum,
running there through 1964. In 1965 the event moved to Oklahoma City,
where
it remained through 1984. That year, Las Vegas officials made a successful
pitch to move the event to the gambling mecca, upping the ante by offering
to double the prize money to $1.79 million. The success of the event in
Las
Vegas has generated a 250 percent increase in prize money the past 16
years,
and a new contract that will keep the NFR here through at least 2007.
|
