Did you hear that? That sound was me stepping up on my soapbox. Here we go!
I admit, I LOVE professional sports. I confess to being a truly obnoxious football fan. Having said that, I have often fantazied about how professional athletes would fare if we made all the sports 'cowboy style'.
1. Everyone would have to pay an entry fee just to compete. No salaries. No money at all unless you win. If you don't win, you get home anyway you can.
2. Each athlete is responsible to get to the game at his own expense. No team bus meeting him at the airport as he gets off the team plane.
3. Each athlete pays all his own expenses: housing, meals and equipment.
4. Each athlete is responsible for his own training. No team coach, no team doctor, no training camps, no rehab room.
5. No matter what the sport, the athlete will be outmatched as his opponent will outweigh him nearly 5 to one. He will rely on the commaradie of his fellow competitors for help and support.
6. Each athlete' competition will be at the mercy of a 'draw' system.
7. No athlete will have an agent, he will be responsible for his own entries, sponsorships and any deals he can make.
Get the idea? This is the situation that each and every rodeo contestant competes under.
How would these overpaid hotshot athletes take on real competition? How many of them would continue to play their sport? How many of them have the 'heart' to compete on the type of field that a rodeo cowboy and cowgirl competes?
I would love to see what this would do to professional sports. It would separate the men from the boys. It would intensify the competitive spirit and the will to win.
The upside also would be that we could take all those millions of dollars that are paid to these athletes and instead use it to support our teachers, military, police, firefighter and other public servants.
And when our children pick a sports figure as a hero, we could feel good about that knowing that he or she is a real competitor.
I know this will never happen. But, when you are old, fantasizing is an amusing pastime that requires little physical activity.
The next time you are watching a professional sport, imagine 'Cowboy Style'.
