Call it weird, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t have cable TV. No streaming subscriptions, just YouTube and one of those HD Antennas… which sounds like a great idea until you get it and realize all of the stations you’d like to watch don’t reach far enough into Lawton to actually watch… Channel 6 and even our local channel 7… Worthless. So, I consume pretty much all of my entertainment through YouTube, which ends up being more documentaries than I’d ever openly admit.
As a free movie offering to fill the void while cooking the other night, I watched 8 Seconds. The story of Oklahoma’s own Lane Frost, just when rodeo was becoming big business. Because YouTube loves to populate suggestions based on what you watch, I ended up on some rodeo documentary into the evening. While I’m not what you’d call a “fan” of rodeo per se, it was fascinating how much Oklahoma kept showing up.
When The NFR Left Oklahoma
For instance, the National Finals Rodeo used to be in OKC every year. Or at least until the mid-80s when they moved it to Vegas. In hindsight, that tracks considering the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is in OKC… But even though pro rodeo traded the plains for the glitz and glamour of Vegas some 40 years ago, tomorrow’s rodeo stars still come through Oklahoma first.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I started looking at the careers of some of the biggest names in rodeo and bull riding. At some point in their career, there’s a Lazy E Arena story or result on their wiki page…