Alberta's Official Sport: Rodeo

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by J pold

Does that make Quebec's bongo playing?

You ever been there......it is clearly smoking!

[Thunderball]

I echo the facepalm. Utterly stupid.

If by pure playership, the official sport of Alberta should be a toss up between Hockey and Soccer, with Slo-Pitch Softball trailing behind.

If by global distinctiveness and playership, it should be curling. I'd wager there's more curling rinks in Alberta than in most countries.

Rodeo is really a niche "sport" with a few hundred people.

Even Lacrosse makes more sense... while people laugh at it being one of Canada's national sports, it makes way more sense than rodeo.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

I echo the facepalm. Utterly stupid.

If by pure playership, the official sport of Alberta should be a toss up between Hockey and Soccer, with Slo-Pitch Softball trailing behind.

If by global distinctiveness and playership, it should be curling. I'd wager there's more curling rinks in Alberta than in most countries.

Rodeo is really a niche "sport" with a few hundred people.

Even Lacrosse makes more sense... while people laugh at it being one of Canada's national sports, it makes way more sense than rodeo.

I agree with everything but.......slo-pitch.....

[habernac]

anything you can do while holding a beer is clearly not a sport (see: Slo Pitch, Curling)

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by habernac

anything you can do while holding a beer is clearly not a sport (see: Slo Pitch, Curling)

finally my someone agrees with my argument that Auto Racing is not a sport

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by ok, ok,....I get it

I agree with everything but.......slo-pitch.....

LOL... that was a joke. Maybe I should put it in green font.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by ok, ok,....I get it

finally my someone agrees with my argument that Auto Racing is not a sport

auto racing might be an exception. Keeping a car on the road at 200 mph while holding a beer and taking corners sounds sport worthy to me.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

LOL... that was a joke. Maybe I should put it in green font.

No it is fine as is, because slo-pitch guy thinks it's a sport. I love seeing that guy with his expensive spikes, glove, bat......awesome!

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by T@T

Learn to spell "Keiths"!

As a bluenoser I take great offense in the miss-spelling of provincial art!

Drinking Keiths in Nova Scotia isn't a sport though...It's a demanded thing you're born with that you do at sporting events, lying on the couch, having sex, or watching your first child being born.

Guess I don't spend enough time looking at a Keith's label.

[Ford Prefect]

I'm a third generation Albertan, and I know people from many of Alberta's more famous ranching families ... Kessler, Doan, Cosgrave,Wade, Seaman, Daines, Glass, Rutledge, Strandquist, Blume and others. These are good people, and they're people who had a major hand in building this province. And they all have been involved in rodeo, whether as participants or stockmen. Rodeo is part of their history, and it's part of Alberta's history. I don't get why so many people are so strongly opposed to rodeo being Alberta's sport. It's part of our heritage and culture. To resent and dispute that is to resent and dispute Alberta. And if that's the case, Hwy 1 leads out of the province in both directions.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by habernac

anything you can do while holding a beer is clearly not a sport (see: Slo Pitch, Curling)

So you're saying that drinking two Keiths is a sport, since both your hands would be full and you wouldn't have anywhere to hold a real beer.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

I'm a third generation Albertan, and I know people from many of Alberta's more famous ranching families ... Kessler, Doan, Cosgrave,Wade, Seaman, Daines, Glass, Rutledge, Strandquist, Blume and others. These are good people, and they're people who had a major hand in building this province. And they all have been involved in rodeo, whether as participants or stockmen. Rodeo is part of their history, and it's part of Alberta's history. I don't get why so many people are so strongly opposed to rodeo being Alberta's sport. It's part of our heritage and culture. To resent and dispute that is to resent and dispute Alberta. And if that's the case, Hwy 1 leads out of the province in both directions.

Yes, yes, thats all fine and good, but the official sport should have prevalence, not be a historical footnote, niche sport for a few hundred people and be a side event for a 10 day party.

There's a reason the Canadian flag doesn't have the union jack anymore. Hey, Britain was a significant contributor to Canada, they founded the Dominion of Canada, the majority of our traditions come from there, and our head of state is the British monarch. But, that reflects a diminishing group, and the flag is probably the biggest symbol of that. So too is rodeo/agriculture to Alberta. Important in its day, but the day has passed.

Alberta's official sport should be Hockey, Curling or one of the Footballs. This is the equivalent to England stating its official sport to be horse racing or fox hunting because of past historical relevance, rather than the obvious cricket (the actual official one), rugby or football. Millions of Britons actually play the big 3... very few race or fox hunt.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by redforever

The world economy in in a dive and the Alberta oil producers are in trouble and.....


our legislature is debating what our provincial sport should be.

What is wrong with that picture?

I just checked the Hansard. Nearly 3 hours spent discussing this.
Yet earlier in the day the more contraversial Bill 208 took less than an hour.
Thankfully it failed.

[Displaced Flames fan]

nevermind

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

Yes, yes, thats all fine and good, but the official sport should have prevalence, not be a historical footnote, niche sport for a few hundred people and be a side event for a 10 day party.

There's a reason the Canadian flag doesn't have the union jack anymore. Hey, Britain was a significant contributor to Canada, they founded the Dominion of Canada, the majority of our traditions come from there, and our head of state is the British monarch. But, that reflects a diminishing group, and the flag is probably the biggest symbol of that. So too is rodeo/agriculture to Alberta. Important in its day, but the day has passed.

Alberta's official sport should be Hockey, Curling or one of the Footballs. This is the equivalent to England stating its official sport to be horse racing or fox hunting because of past historical relevance, rather than the obvious cricket (the actual official one), rugby or football. Millions of Britons actually play the big 3... very few race or fox hunt.

There are more rodeos in Alberta than just the Calgary Stampede. Pretty well every town in Alberta with a population greater than 1000 hosts an annual rodeo, and the number of participants number in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. And Alberta rodeo athletes are among the top in the world. I lived in Calgary for 20 years, and I understand how you would come to your conclusion based on an urban perspective. But there are other perspectives than just an urban perspective.

[calculoso]

Looks like a false alarm:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...Ch9OhQheBeavIQ

Taft got majority support Monday in the assembly for a non-binding motion to have rodeo given official sport status.

But Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett has thrown a rope around the idea, arguing that other sports are just as deserving, so rodeo shouldn't be given special status.

"Does a province need a provincial sport? I frankly don't think so," Blackett told reporters on his way into the assembly Tuesday.

"We have lots of great sports and organizations and participants across the province. I don't think we have to show one over another."

[peter12]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Looks like a false alarm:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...Ch9OhQheBeavIQ

Our provincial government is a total sham.