Clark Coleman

Where Are Professional Athletes?

May 04

LisaRants athletes, cowboy, football, professional athlete, rodeo 7 Comments

I grew up the son of an all around athlete and like him I came to appreciate the skill of a fine athlete—golfer, skier, bowler and, of course, America’s big three as well as all others. I loved to watch Wide World of Sports, the ESPN of the 60s and 70s.

As to my distain, I will highlight football, but it spreads to all areas in theses times we live, which I refer to as the “Me Era”.

In my private moments I secretly aspired to play pro football, but it ended in college. I would sit down Sunday, Monday and Thursday to watch football. It did not matter who played, I just wanted to watch football.

Yes, I had my favorite team; they being the Kansas City Chiefs. My favorite players were mostly defensive players, linebackers mostly. The top men were Dick Butkus, Chris Hanburger and Willie Lanier—football heros.

In those times you never saw players, or at least it was rare, showing-out after plays. To give a good lick was all that was needed. No Dance to seal-the-deal, as it were.

I watch defensive players of today run out to open ground and dance as they pump fists and contort their bodies—Look at what I did! Did you see that? That was me! See my number, dear fans, aren’t I great to make that tackle?!

Yeah, Sparky, It’s what you’re paid millions to do.

What of the poor performance on the 5 previous plays?? Did you point to yourself, separate yourself form the rest, hang your head and ask forgiveness? Not likely! You stayed hidden and slinked back to the huddle.

The persona of ‘tough guy’, the player who sucks it up and plays hurt is gone albeit a few. Every Sunday it’s  ‘He’s out for a few games for a strain, pull, a fracture this-and-that’ while he still banks millions for not performing!

It does not end there, if it were only so. The crying and whining is most tiring—calls by officials and refs leading to the tirades by players and coaches.

Quite becoming? Not even by a half, Mr. Professional! Today, I rarely watch football except for college. The professional, and I use the term with fingertips, has made me sour for antics of these self-indulgent prima donnas! So-called professionals!

I turn you to a sport steeped in this country’s tradition of the west, the cowboy sport of rodeo.

Within this sport there are athletes at a professional level who embody toughness, skill and mastery of body and beast. All live and perform by the still present code of the cowboy—the working cowboy—respect, courtesy.

They live in a life that’s real with real people, real events that are performed to this day on ranches that dot this country. The sport grew out of cowboy’s daily life.

Cowboy athletes performing in a rodeo event, whether bulldogging, bull riding, roping, saddle-bronc and the others, make their living off these individual event within the sport called rodeo. Cowgirls, too, are expanding beyond just barrel racing—They too, do I include here.

These are highly skilled athletes, and I stress athlete, for like their counter-parts in other sports, cowboys cross-train, lift weights and diets are constructed to maximize performance.

A cowboy pays his entrance fee each week to perform and a chance to earn a portion of the pot. If he performs well, he’s paid well. If he does not, his paychecks reflect the poor performance.

Sound as if something might be amiss in other sports?

A cowboy pays for his gas, meals, etc. to get to the next state, town and event the next week. He loads his horses, feeds and cares for them, maybe better then himself.

Bruises, pains, aches, fractures, strains and pulls must be tended to off his own earnings—And the previous weeks’ injuries must heal fast! Those that don’t, well, he must suck it up, or as it is said in cowboy parlance “Cowboy Up”, and perform well if he’s to make it to the pay window.

On and off the arena floor, a cowboy is expected to comport himself with respect for the judges, the fans, the animals and himself. If he fails in this regard, sanctions are quickly imposed—heavy fines—that can be a half a cowboy’s yearly earnings in some cases.

One cowboy was disqualified from competing for a year for bumping into a ref for what he deemed a poor call. In another case, a bull rider was fined $7,500 for throwing his head gear at a 1-ton bull (who probably thought a fly landed on him).

Bad form, as the Brits call it, is not tolerated and cowboys know that harsh penalties will ensue if they do. I read an article of a cowboy who lost a 3^rd world championship and $8,000 to a call by an official.

Consistent calls are sought after, unlike other sports. The meaning of the event matters not as, say, basketball or football. The cowboy who lost the title and the cash didn’t rant and rave afterwards. (And by the way, it mattered not, the call stood in concrete, good or bad)

The cowboy watched the replays and saw as others, the call was so very close and he had met the criteria. As he put it in the cowboy way, “I” put myself in that position. If “I” had performed better the official, in that tough position, would not have had to make the call and “I” would have another world title and be $80,000 richer.

Geesh! Are you kidding me? Do you know the backlash in something similar? If it were football, baseball, basketball the furies of hell would have emerged from every crack in the earth.

America, there IS a pure professional athlete! He can be found in the American Rodeo and real heroes of the American Cowboy—both professional in the arena and out—are so much forgotten.