LUCK OF THE DRAW OFTEN DECIDES RODEO WINNERS

The smell of manure, livestock and hay wafted through the Show Me Center as people dressed in Western shirts, fringed vests, jeans and cowboy hats walked through the doors Saturday night to see the Longhorn World Championship Rodeo.

Competition continues today with a 2 p.m. show. During the weekend, more than 250 contestants, three-fourth of them men, will have competed for a $39,000 purse.

But it's not the money, or the ride or even how much you practice that matters in rodeo competition -- it's the luck of the draw.

"It's a lot of luck," said Brandy Cline, who has been barrel racing for 10 years. Each race has many different variables, such as the size of the arena and the condition of the dirt.

About 50 truck-loads of dirt were dumped onto the Show Me Center floor Thursday morning to create the indoor arena for the rodeo. The type of soil and weather conditions before it's hauled in also can make a difference in the rides.

Yet the chance of winning keeps contestants coming back. Before each show, rodeo judges draw poker chips imprinted with numbers to represent each animal eligible to compete. This time, red chips were for steers to be wrestled and white chips were for calves to be roped.

Every contestant is then matched with the animals in the order the numbers were drawn.

"It's our version of the lottery," said rodeo secretary Jackie Cannon.

The draw is probably the most important difference in a rodeo competition, Cline said. Good riders may not get the chance to show off their skill if they draw a tough bull or horse.

Audiences and contestants like the uncertainty of an event because rodeos symbolize independence and the American spirit, said Johna Cravens, a publicist for the Tennessee-based rodeo.

"Everyone has played cowboys and Indians once in their life," she said. "It's all the mystique of the American cowboy and the American West. It was a simpler time."

To celebrate that simpler time, the rodeo theme is "Hats Off to America." The theme celebrates both the independence of the nation and the cowboys and cowgirls who compete.

Contestants in the Longhorn World Championship Rodeo are not guaranteed a salary nor are they required to compete at all 13 rodeos of the season. There's not much money in the rodeo, Cravens said, but the thrill keeps the competitors addicted.

Most of the contestants are regulars, she added. "But it's always somebody's rookie year."

Cline isn't a rookie, but this is the first year she competed outside of the Oklahoma area. She had competed in local and regional rodeos before deciding to join the Longhorn circuit.

The Longhorn World Championship Rodeo was founded about 30 years ago by country musician Loretta Lynn, but rodeo itself began in the late 1800s when cowboys herded and roped cattle on the open range.

The uncertainty of a rodeo keeps the whole family entertained and the contestants on their toes. Many people remember a past rodeo performance in Cape Girardeau when a bull got loose.

"It was like the parting of the Red Sea," Cravens said.