Books, Sports, Rodeos

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Ty Phillips
Blacktop Cowboys: Riders on the Run for Rodeo Gold
by Thomas Dunne Books (Hardcover) (Release Date: 2006-10-31)

Blacktop Cowboys chronicles the 2004 rodeo season through the eyes of several steer wrestlers trying to make it back to rodeo’s version of the Super Bowl, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas.   Steer wrestling is an adventure that entails riding into an arena at 25 mph, sliding off a horse while taking hold of a 500-pound steer, and then throwing the animal to the ground. The best cowboys often accomplish all this in less than four seconds. The two main characters of Blacktop Cowboys are Luke Branquinho, a young carefree cowboy on a quest for his first title, and his best friend, Travis Cadwell, a veteran trying to make the NFR one last time.      Much of Blacktop Cowboys unfolds in trucks, trailers, arenas, behind the chutes, casinos, beds and everywhere else cowboys spend their time. By taking the reader deep into the cowboys’ lives, Blacktop Cowboys offers a true and intimate portrait of men having the time of their lives while living on the road in ...

Buck Brannaman, AJ Mangum
Ranch Roping: The Complete Guide to a Classic Cowboy Skill
by The Lyons Press (Paperback)

One hundred full-color photographs of Buck in action enhance the step-by-step methodology that leads to mastering this essential Western skill.

Josh Peter
Fried Twinkies, Buckle Bunnies, & Bull Riders: A Year Inside the Professional Bull Riders Tour
by Rodale Books (Paperback) (Release Date: 2006-09-19)

In this intimate look at a fascinating subculture, award-winning sports journalist Josh Peter takes readers along on the Professional Bull Riders tour to witness the death-defying confrontation between man and beast that has made bull riding the fastest growing sport in the world. Success in this sport is measured in seconds—staying on a bull for 8 seconds without getting tossed is likely to secure the rider a big score. Josh Peter captures the high drama of the sport and introduces readers to a culture that’s rife with colorful characters: courageous riders, scouts, breeders, love-struck groupies, and a few of those very angry bulls.

Marlene McRae
Barrel Racing 101: A Complete Program for Horse and Rider
by The Lyons Press (Hardcover)

Gavin Ehringer
Rodeo Legends: Twenty Extraordinary Athletes of America's Sport (Western Horseman Books)
by Western Horseman (Paperback)

In Rodeo Legends Gavin Ehringer presents the life and times of twenty of the sport of rodeo's greatest athletes, complete with hundreds of photos, many taken during competition. "Career Milestones" sidebars detail the achievements of each arena champion and include both historical and contemporary legendary rodeo figures. In his introduction Ehringer states: "I've tried to talk about their great arena accomplishments, for sure. But I also tried to talk about how they stumbled and fell, then picked themselves up and dusted themselves off." The stories are riveting and at times tear-jerking. Among the most extraordinary is the comeback of all-around champ Joe Beaver after a near-death and subsequent out-of-body experience from overdosing on drugs and alcohol; the sheer endurance of Bruce Ford and his three decades on broncs; and Larry Mahan's study of mental preparedness, his singing career, post-rodeo western-apparel businesses, and now his natural horsemanship and equine wellness ...

W. K. Stratton
Chasing the Rodeo: On Wild Rides and Big Dreams, Broken Hearts and Broken Bones, and One Man's Search for the West
by Harvest Books (Paperback)

Joy S. Kasson
Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History
by Hill and Wang (Paperback)

A fascinating analysis of the first famous American to erase the boundary between real history and entertainmentCanada, and Europe. Crowds cheered as cowboys and Indians--and Annie Oakley!--galloped past on spirited horses, sharpshooters exploded glass balls tossed high in the air, and cavalry troops arrived just in time to save a stagecoach from Indian attack. Vivid posters on billboards everywhere made William Cody, the show's originator and star, a world-renowned figure.Joy S. Kasson's important new book traces Cody's rise from scout to international celebrity, and shows how his image was shaped. Publicity stressed his show's "authenticity" yet audiences thrilled to its melodrama; fact and fiction converged in a performance that instantly became part of the American tradition.But how, precisely, did that come about? How, for example, did Cody use his audience's memories of the Civil War and the Indian wars? He boasted that his show included participants in the recent conflicts ...

Joel Bernstein
Wild Ride
by Gibbs Smith, Publisher (Hardcover)

Wild Ride presents a fascinating history of rodeo from its rugged beginnings in Mexico to today's professional circuits. This book captures the mystique of the cowboy and his place in Western folklore, from the early days when groups of cowboys from neighboring ranches met to settle arguments over who was the best at performing ranching tasks to the multimillion-dollar prizes and endorsements awarded to today's professionals all over the world including Canada, Brazil, and Australia.

Moira C. Harris
Rodeo & Western Riding
by Chartwell Books (Hardcover)

Billy Wilcoxson
The CB Cowboys: The Saga of the Legendary Christensen Family
by Eakin Press (Paperback)

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