PRORODEO Sports News - August 23, 2024

MANAGER’S MESSAGE TRACY RENCK 1948 souvenir program offers great rodeo insight A fter covering rodeo for 31 years, I have a true appreciation for the history of the sport. That’s why it was fun to take a trip down memory lane recently and look through the issues of the 1977 Rodeo Sports News , which became the ProRodeo Sports News .

during the various roundups. Rivalry among the cowboys in sports of their own devising naturally developed in that frontier period, and this was the beginning of rodeo.” In a page headed up “Dictionary of the Puncher’s Lingo,” these are given: Eating Gravel – Being thrown from a bucking bronc or wild steer Mail Order Cowboy – A tenderfoot in custom-made cowboy regalia and devoid of range experience. Grabbin’ the Apple – When a bronc rider grabs the horn of a saddle to keep from being thrown. Thumbing through more pages, there was a Wrangler ad that caught my eye in the April 1, 1977, issue, on page 5. The ad read: “Freedom for the American cowboy. Freedom from puckers. Freedom from wrinkles. Freedom from shrinking. Wrangler ‘No-Fault’ 100% cotton jeans & jackets with Sanfor-Set. Because Wrangler thinks the American cowboy should get what he pays for. Wrangler Western Wear. Wremember the “W” is Silent.” Also, in that magazine there was an ad titled ‘American Cowboys Songs Gives you an Update on Chris LeDoux,’ which catches people up with what the world champion is doing. At the bottom of the ad, it lists LeDoux’s six albums and the songs that were on each of them. There was an order form to check what albums a customer wanted and in what form, 8 track stereo tapes; Stereo record albums; or Stereo cassettes. That was the world in 1977. It always fun to look back at the past to understand how far things have come in the future.

The March 15, 1977, issue offered up some good reading. Willard H. Porter wrote an article headlined – ‘Early programs told a lot about a rodeo city – and its slate’ Porter examined the 1948 Souvenir Program from the ninth annual Championship Rodeo, Aug. 23-26 in Chickasha, Okla. On the cover is a picture of Clyde Burk on the famous rope horse, Bartender. Burk began a rodeo career that took him to the pinnacle of his profession. He won world championships in tie-down roping in 1936, ’38, ’42 and ’44. In 1944, he was also the Cowboys’ Turtle Association Calf Roping Director. Burk was at the top of his game in 1945 when a freak accident in the arena ended his life at the age of 31. His death was caused by a fall while hazing in the steer wrestling in Denver. Burk was selected into the 1979 inaugural class of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. In the program, there is a full page in memory of Burk who was the arena director in Chickasha in 1940. An interesting tidbit from the 1948 program came on page 8 when the question is asked? “What is a rodeo?” Then provided the following answer: “Rodeo (or RO-DAY-O) is a Spanish word which signifies the roundup of cattle on the open range and is the only American sports contest originating in America. As football came from rugby and baseball from Cricket, the rodeo was founded many years ago in the cattle country

Tracy Renck is the Manager of Communications and Media. He previously served three years as the editor of the ProRodeo Sports News , and before that he spent seven years as a media coordinator at the

PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism.

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