Rodeos Difficulty Badly Misunderstood

Everybody knows that cowboys are the toughest athletes around. But just how difficult is rodeo? I was reading an article on ESPN.COM lately about the most difficult sports. While rodeo is represented with Steer Wrestling at #15, I disagree (puttin' it lightly) with the rest of the list.

It seems that a bunch of 'experts' got together to rank 60 sports in a bunch of different categories like agility, nerve, endurance, etc.; to come up with a list of the most difficult sport. My conclusions are that these 'experts' don't know one stinkin' thing about rodeo.

Fencing and surfing came in as more difficult than the roughtock events. Surfing in a tank of hungry sharks, maybe? But come on guys! What exactly are you experts of? You pull any Joe Schmoe of the street and ask if they want to play Lacrosse (#14 on the list) or ride a bull (#42 huh?) and what do you think the answer will be?

Let me clarify by saying that I love all sports (even curling). But I also believe in giving credit where credit is due. For example: I love tennis and play it often, but I have never had to recover two-weeks from a rough tennis match, like I had to from the Chico Rodeo with a bruised tailbone.

To me difficulty is (unless I'm wrong) how hard something is to do. A couple of buddies of mine are great golfers but when I took them to try bucking out at a practice pen, they couldn't even stand on the chute rail when the stock rolled in because of weak knees. One buddy did eventually get on a head and got a trip to the hospital (yes, I did feel bad). To be totally fair however, they did reciprocate and took me golfing and I did get a sore heel (from a bad pair of golf shoes).

The roughstock events got a 9.5 in the nerve category (the highest) but received a 3.25 for endurance and a 4.00 for power? Guess the experts never had their neck popped back by a high dive from a bareback horse or took a horn in the face from a bull. I'd rather take my chances with a lineman from the 49'ers than go one round with Bodacious.

So I offer this challenge to the 'experts', go bust out on a rank one and then let me know about difficulty. Hey, don't be afraid! You only need a 1.75 in speed and that's less than racquetball! I'd like to see them try and get their spurs back in the neck of a bronc after the first jump out (if they even make it that far). Now talk about speed.

And finally, to all you rodeo rounders out there, don't forget to tape up for your next badminton match (at #30 big ole' HUH?). I know I will. I think there is more crap on this list than at the bottom of a chute stall. Just MY opinion of course.