(Continued)

loan  each other equipment and even horses, frequently valued at $50,000 to $100,000 per animals, when a fellow competitor's ride didn't arrive in time for tonight's roping or bulldogging or whatever.

When 'The Star Spangled Banner' is played, to a man and woman they rise to their feet and put their hats over their hearts in respect.

They don't wear T-shirts bearing offensive sexual messages.

When a cowboy (or cowgirl) is injured, the rest hold fund-raisers and donate time and money to help him or her and their families through a rough financial time.

A lifetime achievement is the day when a contestant reaches $1 million in earnings. To reach that goal, he or she has spent about 15 years practicing and suffering

 dozens of injuries, traveled hundreds of thousands of miles from rodeo to rodeo, frequently with their toughest competition, who also happens to be their best friend.

Headlines never seem to carry news of a world-champion bull rider or calf roper beating up his wife or being arrested for molesting under-age girls.

And they, too, have their groupies and some even have failed marriages, sad victims of the vagabond lifestyle necessary to follow the rodeo circuit.

They seem to know who their fathers are and most often seem to be married to the mothers of their children. They thank their families for their successes.

So, I have to ask: What's wrong with being described as a "cowboy?"

It seems to me to be high praise in a world full of folks with questionable moral standards,     (continued page 3)

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