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Sports
Dec. 07, 2007
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ED GRANEY: Rodeo followers a courteous bunch

ED GRANEY
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It's not that different, attending a boxing news conference one day and strolling around the National Finals Rodeo the next. Cowboys have enough bling in those buckles, some bigger than your standard wall clock. They also repeat a certain four-letter word over and over, although I'm not sure "ma'am" is suitable competition for most boxing lingo.

Maybe the Metropolitan Police Department is correct in fearing what could happen Saturday night when those attending the NFR spill onto the Strip with those here to watch Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight Ricky Hatton, when cowboys who have been tipping bottles of beer for a few hours watching others ride bulls and wrestle steers encounter British fans who have been tipping pints since birth.

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    • Then you add Mayweather fans to the mix and wonder if there are enough $1 bills in Southern Nevada to cover all those tips needed for dancers.

    But the thing you can't deny is how those who flock to the NFR for 10 days each December conduct themselves in and around the Thomas & Mack Center. I've never seen a group of people nod so much, like some sort of power switch is on the back of their hats that turns on every time someone wanders by. They're either really courteous or just passing on condolences for all who had to sit through another UNLV football season.

    They're an incredibly thoughtful bunch, these NFR types, to the point of offering a shooting gallery game that temporarily can appease any NBA All-Star fan who might have taken up residency since February.

    "The crowd we see at the NFR is corporate America from the Western market front and middle America," said Daren Libonati, executive director of the arena and one of the few people around it with a clue how to manage events big and small. "It's just a special group of people who are kind and have great values and principles.

    "We have relationships with these fans. I have ushers who exchange Christmas presents every year with generations of families who have been in the same seats for 24 years. It's all these fans have known."

    It's more spectacle than anything, a big enough party that one scalper at Thursday night's opening go-round was asking $500 for a lower-level ticket. Rodeo grows on you, but if I'm paying that much to watch it, I'm riding home to Summerlin on a new horse.

    It's possible to not even enter the building and still enjoy yourself. You can eat massive pieces of meat shaped like that club Bam Bam Rubble used to hold and ears of corn bigger than those standing in some Iowa field.

    You can ride a mechanical bull, which Beverley McDonnell did for 45 or so seconds without falling. She is 26 and here from England with friends, some of the few Brits you will find in town this week not to watch Hatton. In fact, one woman in the group has no idea who he is.

    "Never heard of him," said Jayne Wyatt, 43. "I don't do boxing. I like horses."

    I'm guessing Wyatt will be taken into custody upon arriving home some time tomorrow for breaking a few English laws. She not only doesn't care how Hatton fares in his welterweight title fight but also spent her entire time here without accompanying her friends for drinks.

    "And," McDonnell added, "she doesn't have sex."

    "I've been married a long time," Wyatt said.

    At least she has a reasonable excuse for something.

    Lines weren't long at the souvenir stands, but when you've seen one $59 hooded sweatshirt and $20 flask, you've seen them all. Several interested folks were standing around a Charmac trailer that goes for around $80,000. Inside, you were greeted with a leather couch, large bed, soft music, candles and a mirror on the wall.

    It seems that when they put these rodeo horses out to stud, they go all out to set a mood.

    It's not to say the action inside isn't exhilarating, and (trust us, boss) we're not talking about the press room which is anchored by a keg big enough to serve all fraternity gatherings within 10 miles.

    It's the entire atmosphere. A national anthem sung the way it should be. Beautifully. Fireworks. Music. Announcers who are never-stop-talking Louis L'Amour novels. The opening parade of contestants.

    One even carried a Florida flag Thursday, which is like a surfer from Wyoming showing up at a big wave contest in Hawaii.

    But he looked the part. Wranglers, a cowboy hat and a horse. I bet the guy even nods a lot.

    Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.



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    troy wilson wrote on December 07, 2007 04:50 PM: say hi to my friendsin vegas. everyone from knows why the nfr left oklahoma city for las vegas, but we won't get into oklahomas drinking laws. the nfr was one good reason for me to be in vegas for 11 years. if you never heard hank williams jr's song " a country boy can survive" then you won't understand the cowboy culture. kind a caught me off guard when i got to vegas, i would ask everyone how ya doin, and they would look at me like it's none of your business, or what the hey??? but after 11 years i begin to understand them, they aren't rude, they just aren't used to anyone caring how their days going. good luck with the finals, i always had fun when it was there. las vegas knows how to show them fun times and cowboys know where to look for it. to bad okla city with their over zealous enforcement of drinking laws lost the nfr for them, but then okies who never leave the state don't know there is a real adult world out there. ie, after five years or better of liquor being sold over the bar in clibs in okcity, ok decided to pass liqour buy the drink sales. we now even have a lottery after millions of dollars went to texas and kansas for their lottery. but as i site here waiting for the cold weather tommorow, it is nice to be back home in the 1910's. damn i'll bet the weather is warm out there. oh, i can't bet i'm in oklahoma again. ha ha have fun las vegas, guess i miss you.


    John wrote on December 07, 2007 10:53 AM: Keep the PBR and NFR coming, leave the All-Stars in LA where they belong.


    Rural Cowgirl wrote on December 07, 2007 10:25 AM: Yes Virginia, there IS life outside of Las Vegas. Out here in the rurals, we always wave at folks we pass on the dirt roads leading to our ranches and we tip our hats all the time as a means of saying hello. Kids are taught to say a respectful "ma'am" in kindergarten, if not sooner. Manners are abundent in the country and values surpass anything LV is forced to live on a daily basis. PBR (Professional Bull Riding) is our favorite sport and those bullriders are without question the bravest and hardiest athletes alive. The bulls are bred and trained for PBR and they actually THINK. Watch them. They know which way to move to get that cowboy off their back and when the 8-seconds is over, they quit spinnin' and stop dead and look at the audience for approval. LV sees bull riding for just a few short days ... we live it every day here in Nevada's rurals. Pure heaven.
    jessi winchester
    winnemucca, NEVADA


    Buck wrote on December 07, 2007 10:02 AM: Please don't sound so surprised. The majority of folks in America are down to earth and courteous. If you are not aware of that, you need to travel more. There are also a lot of really nice folks in Las Vegas that I have encountered.


    Eric wrote on December 07, 2007 07:35 AM: Thanks for your article. I have lived here for years, worked at one of the strip hotels and have been driving a taxi for the past 17 years. It is great when the rodeo comes to town, they are great people. If "What Happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" have the rodeo people leave their manners at the airport so the next group that comes will have something to work with.


    scottywrangler wrote on December 07, 2007 06:51 AM: Man, I miss the rodeo. Real men, polite folks, and a little dust in your hair. Makes me wish I were back in Vegas, at least this week! Yeeehawww!