A year ago we sent Courtney Bilderback along with her father, Johnny Dollar, Rodeo Attitude VP to Las Vegas to cover the National Rodeo Finals. For those who don’t know the NFR is the culmination of a year of hard work and competition for the members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA), rodeo’s version of the NFL or NBL. Rodeo Attitude has spoken with several ticket companies who told us that there are still tickets available for the 50th Annual National Finals Rodeo. There are many special things planned for this years 50th anniversary event so if you are thinking about going and considering taking your family here is what one 17 year old had to say about her trip last year:
The National Finals Rodeo is over and the thought that crosses my mind any time that I think about the experience is WOW! The things that happened at the rodeo were so far off of what I thought it would be that I was speechless when I got there. I thought that there might be some cool lights and some pretty neat before and after events. But when I saw what really goes on I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, from the light show to the fireworks, to the singers and the special guests who blew my mind with the talents they have. Another thing that blew my mind was how extremely well the contestants were at there events. To see two guys rope a calf in three seconds is mind blowing, considering most of the time the fastest I see is about 6 seconds. Also when I saw girls running barrels at times of 13.69 seconds it really made me appreciate the work that these men and women put into getting as good as they are.
Considering that the rodeo goes on at night some people would probably like to know what I did during the day for the fact that I am only 17 years old in an adult’s city that never goes to sleep. Well first off, there were plenty of things to do shopping wise because the Cowboy Christmas was in town. The greatest thing was that there was not just one location but three, which makes it really easy to pass by two to three hours if you have nothing to do. And at these Cowboy Christmases there is not only shopping there is food, demonstrations, and even people who show off their horse trailers. Also, for those people out there who think that taking children to Las Vegas is not a good idea, you should check out the hotel, Circus Circus. This hotel has an indoor theme park that is quite amazing. There are roller coasters and games that are available for children all the way up to adults. And besides the usual casinos that are available, the hotel has an arcade for kids, plus a circus show, which is pretty amazing.
Although going to Las Vegas and the NFR were extremely fun, there was one thing that I learned from all the excitement. This one thing was that the only way those people got to compete for buckles, saddles and money is because of the passion and hard work they put into this sport. They are there to work hard, and to win, not to goof off and just go out there and see what happens. They don’t get to have the free time that we do before they go and compete. I extremely respect the hard work and compassion that these people have for doing the things they do. It really makes me see what really has to happen to achieve what they have and to be what they are.
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