Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Mighty big Shoulders
Jim Shoulders, "Babe Ruth of rodeo," died this morning at his ranch in Henryetta, OK.
When I was a teen ER, I used to want to ride bulls. Some of my friends did. Problem was, the beer window was too narrow. Took about three Coors for me to get the guts to do it, and three and a half to get me too loopy to try.
(Photo from National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum).
--ER
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That makes me sad. Jim Shoulders not only was a rodeo icon, he was a good man. I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting to know him. I interviewed him several times, and it was a joy each time.
The last I can recall is when Ty Murray retired a few years ago. Shoulders, who set the standard for all-around cowboys, said, "Cowboys don't retire. They just get too old to compete, and he ain't too damn old."
When steer roper Guy Allen passed Shoulders for the most world championships, I asked Shoulders about it. He said, "It's too damn bad a real cowboy didn't break my record. Instead, it was just a roper." He, of course, considered rough stock competitors real cowboys.
The last I can recall is when Ty Murray retired a few years ago. Shoulders, who set the standard for all-around cowboys, said, "Cowboys don't retire. They just get too old to compete, and he ain't too damn old."
When steer roper Guy Allen passed Shoulders for the most world championships, I asked Shoulders about it. He said, "It's too damn bad a real cowboy didn't break my record. Instead, it was just a roper." He, of course, considered rough stock competitors real cowboys.
First off, this is another example, along with cockfighting, of regional differences in our country. Sitting here in suburbanizing Northern Illinois, reading about rodeo is a bit like reading about bullfighting. I have to admit, it does take a brave man (and as you point out in your reflections, a somewhat less than sober one sometimes) to sit on a half-ton to three-quarter-ton animal that is mad as hell, get tossed ten to twelve feet in the air, face the threat of goring and stamping, dust oneself off, and do it again.
I think, ER, that as a scribe, you are doing a whole different kind of "bullriding".
I think, ER, that as a scribe, you are doing a whole different kind of "bullriding".
Geoff,
I agree that regional differences play a role in our various societies. For example, I can give you minute details about the differences between bareback riding and saddle bronc riding, the differences in the spurs used in the various rodeo events, the different ropes used in team roping and how they compare to the rope used in calf roping. But I have no clue about lacrosse, a sport my cousins played while growing up in Virginia.
One thing I'd like to point out is that bucking animals aren't necessarily mad as hell. They buck because it's a natural instinct, and they're also well rewarded for "performing" at their best. The really good horses and bulls get excited when it's time to get in the chutes, and they'll even strut afterward.
The reigning bareback horse of the year is a stud named Grated Coconut. He loves to be petted and loves to be around people. But when he hustles into the chutes and is strapped with the bareback rigging, he gets ready to go to work. He's virtually unrideable because of his ferocious bucking style. Then when it's over, he'll strut around and show off.
Stock contractors that own these athletic beasts take grand care of them. They get the best eats and are exercised regularly so the animals can perform at their best.
Jim Shoulders knew great animals. He won multiple all-around world titles, while also winning multiple bull riding and bareback riding world titles. He also raised bucking animals, including the great bull Tornado.
I agree that regional differences play a role in our various societies. For example, I can give you minute details about the differences between bareback riding and saddle bronc riding, the differences in the spurs used in the various rodeo events, the different ropes used in team roping and how they compare to the rope used in calf roping. But I have no clue about lacrosse, a sport my cousins played while growing up in Virginia.
One thing I'd like to point out is that bucking animals aren't necessarily mad as hell. They buck because it's a natural instinct, and they're also well rewarded for "performing" at their best. The really good horses and bulls get excited when it's time to get in the chutes, and they'll even strut afterward.
The reigning bareback horse of the year is a stud named Grated Coconut. He loves to be petted and loves to be around people. But when he hustles into the chutes and is strapped with the bareback rigging, he gets ready to go to work. He's virtually unrideable because of his ferocious bucking style. Then when it's over, he'll strut around and show off.
Stock contractors that own these athletic beasts take grand care of them. They get the best eats and are exercised regularly so the animals can perform at their best.
Jim Shoulders knew great animals. He won multiple all-around world titles, while also winning multiple bull riding and bareback riding world titles. He also raised bucking animals, including the great bull Tornado.
To Teditor, thank you for the information. I honestly did not know any of what you had written. I suppose I am one of those elitist northern/northeastern liberal-types who see rodeos as horrible and the animals as mistreated. Again, I don't know everything, and am always eager to learn.
I still say that, even if the bull isn't mad as hell, all the other dangers - being stamped upon, being gored, landing badly - do not mean that riding a bull is either easy or necessarily a sign of a sane (or at least cautious) mind. Me - I wrench my back when I trip wrong. I do admire those who do this, I just haven't followed it all that much.
Incidentally, I had a friend who played lacrosse for Syracuse University, and he tried to explain it to me, and it seems like a cross between hockey, soccer, and drunken insanity.
I still say that, even if the bull isn't mad as hell, all the other dangers - being stamped upon, being gored, landing badly - do not mean that riding a bull is either easy or necessarily a sign of a sane (or at least cautious) mind. Me - I wrench my back when I trip wrong. I do admire those who do this, I just haven't followed it all that much.
Incidentally, I had a friend who played lacrosse for Syracuse University, and he tried to explain it to me, and it seems like a cross between hockey, soccer, and drunken insanity.
Why, I b'lieve a gen-yoo-wine cultural exchange has done took place!
Oh, forgive my bad grammar!
I b'lieve a gen-yoo-wine cultural exchange done has took place!
Oh, forgive my bad grammar!
I b'lieve a gen-yoo-wine cultural exchange done has took place!
And then there are the fightin' rooster rodeos ... where the roosters self-spur and try to buck themselves. It is not a pretty sight ... (snort)
Ha, this is NOT made up: Cow patty bingo. I'da won $1,500 onetime at a private arean outside Dickens, Texas, if this ol' bovine hadda held it in another couple of seconds! (Ya bet on which of a number of squares in a grid drawn in an arena the object bovine will drop, uh, his or her, uh, load.)
Ha, this is NOT made up: Cow patty bingo. I'da won $1,500 onetime at a private arean outside Dickens, Texas, if this ol' bovine hadda held it in another couple of seconds! (Ya bet on which of a number of squares in a grid drawn in an arena the object bovine will drop, uh, his or her, uh, load.)
I also am a product of suburban Northern Illinois (NW Cook Cty), and grew up watching Westerns of all sorts. Rodeo always seemed really cool and totally cowboy to me and it wasn't until adulthood that I ever considered it totally nuts, which is way cool as well. What people will put themselves through for the sake of the competitive spirit has always been of great fascination to me. It's so... American.
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