Howdy Y'all, Las Vegas Style-Part 1

Hey y'all! It's rodeo time, live from Las Vegas. The super bowl of rodeos, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, started this weekend in sin city. Ten glorious days of buckin' broncos and wrastlin' steers. Cowboy boots, check....cowboy hat, check....official Wrangler NFR 2007 cowboy shirt, check....what am I missing....oh yea, my camera! Okay, now I'm ready to get down and dirty and dodge some bulls. Here's a few shots from the first weekend for you to enjoy.

The main reason we are down here is to cover our local guy, Cody Wright, of Milford, Utah. He came into the NFR this year ranked first in the world in the saddle bronc competition. Here he is hanging out after his ride in the third round:



Here's Cody in action during the third round:



Jason Miller of Lance Creek, Wyoming wrestling down a steer in the third round. He came out with the top time that night which put nearly $17,000 in his pocket. Not bad for 4 seconds of work:



This steer seemed a bit confused after Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta took him down to the ground:



This cracks me up, the lady in the front row felt a little uncomfortable as Jesse Bail of Camp Crook, South Dakota came a bit close to the wall during his bronc ride. Although her date didn't seem to concerned:



Here's some team roping action as footer Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas approaches the steer (the footer is the guy who ropes the back end of the steer, his teammate is the header):



Saddle bronc rider Jeff Willert of Belvidere, South Dakota is taken out of the arena on a stretcher following a bad fall off his bronc. He ended up with a broken right femur and is out for the rest of the competition. Who said rodeo life is easy:



Here's a few fan shots outside the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV:




And what rodeo would be complete without a country music legend performing before the competition. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Charlie Daniels:



I'll be back in Las Vegas for the action on Thursday, Friday, and the final round on Saturday. So if you happen to be watching the NFR on ESPN2 next weekend, look for the good looking cowboy with a camera. Yee-haw!