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Cowboys ready for first CINCH Rodeo Shootout at CFD [Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne :: ](Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, WY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 18--CHEYENNE -- Market research was too much for Darin Westby and the rest of the Cheyenne Frontier Days brass to ignore. Fans liked rodeo, they liked the tradition of the "Daddy of 'em All," and they wanted more of it, CFD's general chairman said. "They weren't telling us that the old things were bad, they just wanted to see some new stuff," Westby said. Ask and ye shall receive. This afternoon's CINCH Rodeo Shootout will provide fans with more rodeo action. It will give them some of the world's best cowgirls and cowboys competing on some of rodeo's best stock. It also will give those athletes a chance to pad their bank accounts with a share of $70,000 in total prize money. "We're not changing our perspective on our normal performances, we're just trying to give the fans a chance to watch the best cowboys compete on the best animal-athletes," Westby said. "We've gotten a lot of positive feedback about it from the cowboys and the fans." The Shootout features champions from what are widely considered the world's eight most prestigious rodeos: Frontier Days, Calgary Stampede, Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show and Rodeo, Houston Livestock Show, National Western Stock Show (Denver), San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, Reno (Nevada) Rodeo and Rodeo Austin (Texas). Team members representing those rodeos will compete in bareback riding, barrel racing, bull riding, saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling. The field will be narrowed from eight to four after the first go-round. Those four athletes will compete for the prize money. In an added twist, fans will vote via text message on which cowboys compete on which animals in the final round. Many cowboys want to know which animals they're getting on so they can get a scouting report and know what to expect from their ride. They won't have that luxury in the Shootout, but it shouldn't matter, bull rider Cody Whitney said. "For the most part, I'm sure we're going to know every single bull or horse they have there for the Shootout," said Whitney, who will represent CFD as its 2013 champion. "The way I look at it, if you're a professional, you shouldn't need to know two or three days in advance what you've drawn. You should be good enough to ride anything they put you on." The voting won't slow the rodeo action because votes will be cast as soon as an event is finished and tabulated while another event is being contested. "The Shootout is going to be fast-paced and interactive the whole time," Westby said. Houston, Fort Worth and Calgary are already running successful Shootout-style events, but the fan interaction is unique to Cheyenne. It also was the result of CFD's market research. "If you look around at a rodeo crowd, a lot of people are on their phones," Westby said. "At first you think it's disrespectful, but then you realize that they're taking a picture and posting it on social media and actually doing some marketing for you. "They're not being disrespectful, they're helping your brand." Even though the Shootout paychecks don't count toward the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world standings, they'll still help, Whitney said. "It counts in your bank account just the same, and that's the money that keeps you going up and down the road," the two-time CFD champ said. "We're out here trying to make a living. It doesn't matter where the money comes from." Whitney sits outside the top 50 of the PRCA standings after scaling back his competition schedule considerably. "I've mostly been hanging out at home with my kids, going to T-ball games and whatnot," the Sayre, Oklahoma, cowboy said. But CFD and the Shootout are the types of events that will get Whitney back on the road. They're the type of events cowboys want to compete in, Westby said. "The ones who are coming here are really excited, and the ones who didn't get invited really want to win one of those eight rodeos so they get an invite next year," he said. ___ (c)2014 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |