Real Rodeos Wear Pink

The Gunnison, Colorado Cattlemen’s Days Rodeo is the oldest rodeo in the state of Colorado.  The first night is Tough Enough to Wear Pink night, which is the largest and most lucrative Tough Enough to Wear Pink event in the nation.  Cowboys, Cowgirls, and most of the attendees are decked out in their best and brightest pink to raise money to fight breast cancer.  Every penny they raise, over $33 million since 2005, stays in the Gunnison Valley to support cancer patients and their families.  

If a rodeo contestant wins while wearing pink, he or she gets an additional $1000 in prize money. And they are going all out.  Some of the top national contenders compete each year in barrel racing, calf roping, team roping, bareback, and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, and bull riding. 

We went Thursday night, proudly wearing pink.  Evans didn’t have a pink shirt, so our first stop was the merchandise tent where he was thrilled to find a shirt in his size.  Along with our friends Troy and Kathy, we were four very pink patrons. 

We arrived very early.  Evans thought it started at 5:30, but that was when the gates opened.  So, we had an hour and a half to wander the food trucks, bar tent, and do some serious people-watching.  We also found great seats before the stands filled up. The “pre-game show” is entertaining.  Both local and visiting rodeo queens parade out on their horses.  In addition to the Cattlemen’s Days Rodeo Queen and her court, Miss Rodeo Colorado and Miss Rodeo New York rode, waved, and were generally fabulous.  Instead of ballgowns, they wore sparkly chaps and hats but make no mistake, those are cowgirls under all that glitter and glamour. 

When the Rodeo Queen rode out with the American Flag for the invocation and national anthem, I started crying and couldn’t stop until she was out of the arena. Out here people take the national anthem very seriously.  Everyone stands. All hats are off. People sing. One young man was walking to his seat with four beers precariously balanced when they started the invocation.  He set those beers in the dirt, whipped off his hat, and put it over his heart.  I boo-hood.  After thirty-six years Evans is used to me.  

Kathy and I went to get dinner just before the events began.  We ordered hot dogs, a hamburger, and a barbeque plate.  At the last second, I saw someone with what looked like a brontosaurus rib.  I told the lady I would have one of those too.  Somehow, we made it back to our seats with enough food to feed our section, which we promptly finished off. (Except for the brontosaurus rib.  That was too much even for the four of us.)  I also learned not to wear white jeans to a rodeo especially when you are eating in the stands. 

Kathy offered to go get everyone drink refills.  After she had been gone a while, I felt guilty and went to help her.  She was halfway through a monster line that did not appear to be moving, just growing. We made friends with all the people around us, watched what we could see from our place in line and chatted with the charming cowboys who were running the event.  In Nashville, when most men wear boots and hats, they look a little try-hard. Here, they make your heart race.  These are real cowboys, and they were all raised right. For the record, let me add, Evans is a real cowboy. He doesn’t dress the part in Nashville, but here he is home, and it is obvious he belongs in cowboy boots and Wranglers. 

We had so much fun, Evans and I decided to go back Saturday night. I wisely found regular jeans that would fit over my boots.  I am not proud to say I can wear a belt Evans wore in high school. We were both thinner in the late seventies. But it is a beautiful belt with a gold C on the buckle and I love it.  Evans wore, as he does whenever he is wearing jeans, a belt with a buckle he won for calf-roping when he was in high school.  He won it in this very arena at a high school rodeo competing for Aspen High School.

Saturday night was Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy night honoring the long-time, multi-generational ranchers who are the backbone of the Gunnison Valley.  These are the people who live rodeo on their own ranches taking care of their livestock. It is not uncommon to see cattle being driven up Highway 135 from Gunnison to Crested Butte throughout the summer and you are likely to be stopped by cattle or sheep on several local roads that intersect free range pastures. 

The pre-event festivities included eight girls, mostly teenagers, but one who was much younger, doing a choreographed flag routine on horses.  I did flag corps in high school.  I can’t imagine doing the intricate choreography that these ladies did on horseback while carrying flags.  If I cried at the National Anthem on Thursday night, I was a sobbing mess watching these girls on Saturday.  One young lady was markedly smaller and younger than the rest.  She did not have a flag, but she got every step right and never missed her mark.  She made up for the lack of flag by waving maniacally at the crowd and we all waved back. 

Unlike Thursday night, nothing was moving me out of my seat on Saturday.  I wanted to see every event. I have listened to enough George Strait to know that the contestants needed to stay on whatever they were riding for at least eight seconds. Evans explained when someone fouled, or “broke the barrier,” or did whatever might disqualify them.  He also pointed out why some were scoring higher than others.

I love sports and was completely engrossed.  I also know that rodeo is inherently dangerous, so every event was nerve-wracking.  One of the top contenders, who is either smart or has been at this a while because he was wearing a helmet instead of a cowboy hat, was bucked off the bull and stomped. He got up, but I saw that bull step on him.  He was wearing a flak jacket.  I think they all were.  He walked off, but I saw an ambulance leave the fairgrounds about fifteen minutes later.  I am guessing he went to get a sternum X-ray.  

My favorite contenders of the night were not professionals.  During team calf-roping, a local father and son team competed.  They were by far the fastest and cleanest team in the arena.  This was a fun night for them, but I expect they have roped calves for lots of long days because that is their life.  The crowd went wild when they brought that calf down.  

In some ways, the star of the show is someone we never saw.  The rodeo announcer was amazing.  He, along with his sound man, kept the crowd informed, engaged, and entertained.  He interacted with the rodeo clown during his routine.  He told you something about each contestant and encouraged applause even for the ones who did not do well.  He did country music sing-alongs that ranged from The Kentucky Headhunters to Roger Miller. He made it all make sense to the newbies without boring the veterans. I expect he travels to rodeos just like the cowboys do.  I look forward to hearing him again next year. 

This is only my second rodeo, but it will not be my last.  Next year, I think we will buy the three-night package.