Cowboys Riding the Margin

According to the site CollegeRodeo.com, Colorado State University is having their annual rodeo this weekend (March 31 and April 1).

CSU was founded as an agricultural University in Fort Collins. The university has expanded through the years, but is still the states primary source for agricultural based education. One would expect the rodeo at a agricultural university in a traditionally agricultural based state to be a big thing.

The CSU Rodeo Club, does have a page that says that the 54th Skyline Stampede will take place on April 1st. The page does not give the year. Club web sites are often out of date; So, I decided to check the University Calendar.

The official CSU Calendar does not list a rodeo. So, I figured that this year's rodeo must have been cancelled. The CSU calendar seems to be quite complete. March 31 is, of course, Cesar Chavez Day. Cesar Chavez is a revolutionary hero who led masses of the oppressed in protests against the small farmers of yesteryear. April 1st is some sort of Green Gala Day. There is no mention of the rodeo. Anyway, I figured I would do more research to see when and why the annual Skyline Stampede was cancelled.

The Equine Science Page lists a rodeo. But that might be out of date like the Rodeo Club. After all, if the main recreation calendar of an argricultural university does not list the rodeo, then you can assume that the rodeo has been cancelled. All of the other team sports are listed on the calendar.

CSU publishes an extremely detailed quarterly magazine on Campus Activities. If there was a rodeo as the College of Equine Sciences and other Rodeo sites suggest, I suspect I would find it is the Spring Issue of the CSU Campus Recreation Magazine. This 52 page magazine only has one word about the rodeo (See PDF). The CSU Recreation brochure has full page layouts for everything from Yoga to Cycling.

I've found a large number of pages on the net that seem to indicate that CSU was a big thing for many, many years. The rodeo club claims to be a popular club. Rodeo athletes from the University seem to be in good standing, yet this activity only gets one word.

As for why I am writing this post. One more search of the CSU web site brought up the CSU Giving Page. This page which is pleaing for donations plays up CSU's proud tradition as a center for the sport of Rodeo.

If this rodeo actually exists. Then it appears that the two faced politically correct bastards at CSU are intentionally marginalizing their rodeo and their rodeo. To add insult to injury, they then hold up this group that they are intentionally marginalizing to solicit donations.

PS: My final conclusion is that the CSU Skyline Stamped must have been cancelled. I could find no reliable source indicating that it would take place this year. If you are looking for Rodeo action this weekend, you might voyage south to Denver and join in the fun at the Gay Rodeo which starts April 1st. The promotional literature for Brokeback Mountain may be true. 2006 just may be the year that the paradigms of "cowboy" and "rodeo" shift from describing western agrian lifestyle to a modern, urban sexual life style.