ProRodeo Sports News - June 12, 2020

IN HIS WORDS SAGE KIMZEY

Kimzey shares sage advice for downtime I get it. You’re tired of rodeos being cancelled, you’re angry because we want to be rodeoing and want to be making money. But now is not the time to bash these rodeos. Rodeos are community events, we have been a part of community

Six-time PRCA World Champion Bull Rider Sage Kimzey leads the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $68,463. He’s looking to become the first ProRodeo bull rider to win seven consecutive world titles. Like all cowboys and plenty of fans, Kimzey has been disappointed that ProRodeos

events for over 100 years. If the community is struggling, how do we expect them to donate $250 to an ad in a program when they haven’t worked in over 50 days? How do we expect these people who are worried about feeding their families, losing their businesses and surviving, to put on a rodeo when their community is suffering? You can say that you’re disappointed because you expected more but maybe this is bigger than a virus and that is just one part of why they are canceling. People are also afraid for their livelihoods. The truth is, we have been out of work for a while, but they have too. This last weekend (May 22-24) a community came together to put on a rodeo and instead of celebrating that, we are bashing an event that has taken care of all of us at one point or another. Now is not the time to bash the very people that provide us with a chance to make a living rodeoing. Without rodeos, none of us have jobs and I think we need to open our eyes and see that communities and volunteers work really hard to make this happen and if they can’t make it happen, we should at least praise them for trying. This is out of their control, it’s coming from state government and probably lack of funds. Compassion goes a long way and right now, as an industry, we need to step up and be thankful for those that can still take place and

have been canceled and postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the 25-year-old from Strong City, Okla., also wanted to remind fans and fellow competitors that rather than complaining, they should be looking to the future and doing whatever needs to be done to help out. So Kimzey took to Facebook to share his thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic in the following post May 27. not focus on tearing down the ones that cannot happen. I will not bash any rodeo because they are all the reason that I have a roof over my head. Like I’ve said before, when it’s time, I’ll be ready to ride. None of us want to see it happen, but we cannot forget that right now, everyone is struggling and sometimes, they don’t have another choice. We’ll get through this, because that’s what cowboys and cowgirls do. #BeKind #BecomeLegendary To see more of Sage Kimzey’s social media posts check him out on Facebook (@sagekimzeybullrider) or on Instagram (@sagekimzey).

ProRodeo Sports News 6/12/2020

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