Can’t-miss event being missed by thousands

By Ted Harbin
Posted Thursday, December 13, 2007

I missed it. I really missed it.

Call it an awfully tiny inconvenience to the ice storm that has left hundreds of thousands of people without power throughout portions of the Midwest, but I missed the National Finals Rodeo – at least the sixth and seventh rounds.

For the record, folks in northwest Missouri can’t recall an ice storm this bad. In our smallish neck of the woods, thousands of homes are still without power, and it’s not nearly as drastic as Oklahoma, where 23 people have died. Those without power around Maryville, Mo., have made due, whether through temporary housing with family and friends or putting generators and portable heaters to use.

My wife’s folks have been camping out at Case de Harbin for two days, and they’ll likely be here for a few more awaiting power to electrify their farmstead. Others have three or four families occupying one household – three families-of-four and a set of grandparents have found solace in one home, where a newly installed propane heater and a camp stove have kept the entire brood fed and warm.

And I’m complaining about missing ProRodeo’s grand finale?

But that’s what addicts do. I don’t reach for a bottle, but I do reach for the remote. And here’s what I missed:

– Five-time world champion saddle bronc rider Billy Etbauer finally making a qualified ride after five straight buck-offs.

– Bronc rider Taos Muncy earning his second go-round victory in his first NFR.

– Bareback rider Justin McDaniel doing the same thing.

– A guy named Ted – I always root for guys named Ted – winning bull riding when Ted Bert did so in Round 6.

– Trevor Brazile battling through excruciating pain to win a tie-down roping go-round.

– Calf roper Tyson Durfey, who is wearing a pink shirt through all 10 go-rounds of the NFR to raise awareness for cancer, finishing the seventh round in a tie for third place on Tough Enough to Wear Pink night to double his NFR earnings.

– Bulldogger Matt Reeves throwing his steer after busting his head on the head of his steer.

– Canadian Rod Hay busting his sixth and seventh straight bronc, holding on to a commanding lead in the average.

“The weather outside is frightful,” with ice-laden trees, limbs, poles and power lines falling all over the place. Friends have vacated their frozen homes, and family members are stacking one on top of another to get through the days.

I’m thankful for so many things – that my family has been cared for and that we’ve been given so much, like electricity and heat.

I’m also thankful for the cable crews that on Thursday afternoon reestablished my lifeline to the NFR.