Cowboy Pinball

We went to the rodeo last weekend.  It isn't something that we have seen in a very long time and I'm not certain that the kids would remember ever having been.

The show started with some cowboys riding some bucking horses.

We also saw barrel racing and, of course, bull riding.

The MC and rodeo clowns put on some skits and told jokes between events and the entire show was very entertaining.

At one point the MC called for anyone interested in playing "cowboy pinball" to come to his end of the arena.  I thought it was some kind of kid thing but wasn't sure what it was.

Toward the end of the evening I saw the rodeo clowns pouring chalk circles into the dirt floor of the arena.  The circles were pretty close together and the MC called for the people playing "cowboy pinball" to come down to the gate.

I leaned over and told my daughter that they were going to stand people in the circles and release a bull.  I was kidding and she wasn't believing me.  Then I leaned to my other side and told Cari the same thing.  She didn't believe me either but I was beginning to believe myself.

The volunteers were all adults and they all ran onto the dirt and claimed a circle.  Two women were in the group and they were told to use the two circles furthest to the back.  Then the MC went into this speech that everyone in the arena was a witness to.  He declared this game to be stupid and a bad idea.  Nobody in their right mind would do this and if anyone got hurt it was their own stupid fault.  The audience cheered and I knew for certain my prediction was about to come true.

The gate swung open and an angry bull jumped sideways into the arena kicking and bucking.  A few of the guys closest to the gate dodged and moved from their circles.  They were out and made a run for the wall.  

A few times the bull got too far away from the players so a rodeo clown would lure the beast back toward the circles.  One of the women took a hit to the stomach by the bulls head and she tumbled into the dirt.  Another player took a good headbutt and hit the dirt pretty hard.

In the end there was one guy remaining in his circle with his hands up victoriously.  He won. No prize for this game, but he won.

Rodeo's are awesome.