One thing you probably don't know about me is that I'm a rodeo fan. So today I want to talk a bit about the National Finals Rodeo, a ten day event going on now. Because of the virus, its usual home in Las Vegas, Nevada is off-limits. But hey, the Governor of Texas stepped up to offer Globe Life Field, the site of the baseball bubble, a place to have a big ol' rodeo, bringing people from all around the country to compete. In a way, it's not quite a bad as it sounds, because there were so few rodeos this year that every one had the same set of professionals turning up to compete.
It is, pretty obviously, a conservative culture around the sport. The opening prayer hoped for the safety of Our Troops, but didn't mention healthcare workers. Since it's Texas this year, they naturally make a spectacle of how awesome Texas is, even including a rock anthem crying "God bless Texas!" Of course, it's mathematically 40% less awesome than Vegas, because the prize money only $6 million instead of $10 million. And here I thought Texas was full of millionaires! But in fact, people are doing pretty good about wearing masks in the arena, which is great!
But what I really wanted to talk about was the Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem. She's pretty bright, gives a good speech, and has a state facing among the worst rates of infection and death in the nation right now. So what does she do? She gets on a plane, goes to the rodeo, and makes a big public appearance about how much her state helped the rodeo in this difficult year. She seems smart enough, so I'm forced to the conclusion that she thinks it will be politically helpful to her to leave her state in its hour of need to attend a sporting event. What does that say about us?
It is, pretty obviously, a conservative culture around the sport. The opening prayer hoped for the safety of Our Troops, but didn't mention healthcare workers. Since it's Texas this year, they naturally make a spectacle of how awesome Texas is, even including a rock anthem crying "God bless Texas!" Of course, it's mathematically 40% less awesome than Vegas, because the prize money only $6 million instead of $10 million. And here I thought Texas was full of millionaires! But in fact, people are doing pretty good about wearing masks in the arena, which is great!
But what I really wanted to talk about was the Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem. She's pretty bright, gives a good speech, and has a state facing among the worst rates of infection and death in the nation right now. So what does she do? She gets on a plane, goes to the rodeo, and makes a big public appearance about how much her state helped the rodeo in this difficult year. She seems smart enough, so I'm forced to the conclusion that she thinks it will be politically helpful to her to leave her state in its hour of need to attend a sporting event. What does that say about us?
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto