Happy to be back in the saddle again

Another December, another trip to Las Vegas.

I'm proud to be joining the Review-Journal staff, albeit only for a short while, to help bring you insight and coverage of the spectacle that is the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the better part of the next two weeks.

The R-J has historically done a great job covering the "Super Bowl of Rodeo," and I'm excited to be able to add the paper to my growing list of bylines and enhance the overall coverage package.

This will be my ninth Wrangler NFR, and it's always a blast to be here for the 10-day extravaganza. It truly is like no other sporting event, and if you're in town and have yet to experience it, then giddy up and get to the Thomas & Mack Center.

My first seven trips to the Wrangler NFR were as a staff member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), and this will be my second as a rogue writer left to my own devices in Las Vegas.

I went to work for the PRCA in the fall of 2004 as a staff writer for the association's official magazine, the ProRodeo Sports News, and I was greener than the greenest pasture as far as rodeo knowledge went. But I stuck with it, soaked up the ins and outs of the sport like a sponge and eventually became the magazine's editor.

Through the years, I learned much about the sport, made some great friends and gained a special appreciation for the athletes - both human and animal - that make pro rodeo great. It really is a labor of love for everyone involved in the sport and the industry, and the Western way of life is alive and well because of their efforts.

I've covered virtually every sport invented - well, maybe not jai alai or chess-boxing - and I can say firmly and confidently that pro rodeo athletes are some of the most down-to-earth and genuine people in the sports world.

In most sports, you don't have to look hard to find a prima donna or an athlete with a rap sheet a mile long, but rodeo is a different animal.

I've been lucky enough to write for The Associated Press, USA Today, ESPN, ESPNW and the Colorado Springs Gazette, just to name a few media entities, and cover a variety of sports that is seemingly endless, and the Wrangler NFR is simply one of my favorites.

Rodeo has some of the greatest people you'll ever find, and the Wrangler NFR is an illustration of just how impressive the sport and its contestants can be.

It may sound odd to compare the world's richest rodeo (total purse $6.125 million) with the likes of the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Finals, but the fact remains that the Thomas & Mack Center has been sold out 17,000 strong every night since the rodeo came to town, and that's not too shabby.

I've been amazed with how the Vegas casinos have gone out of their way to welcome rodeo athletes and fans to the "Entertainment Capital of the World" on an increasingly deliberate - and competitive - manner in the eight years I've been coming here for it. It really is a "Cowboy Town" during this stretch in December, and the Thomas & Mack Center is the place to be if you're around.

There is sure to be high drama, records set, dreams realized and dashed and legends made the next 10 days, and I will do my best to help the R-J bring all of the juicy details your way. It's going to be a heck of a ride, so saddle up and enjoy the slice of Americana that is pro rodeo.

Neal Reid is a freelance writer based in Colorado Springs, Colo., who spent five years as editor of the ProRodeo Sports News and who has written for USA Today, ESPN, ESPNW, American Cowboy, Western Horseman and The Associated Press. This is his ninth Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.