A few weeks ago I had an average day. I worked and after working out I picked up my boys who were playing sports. When I got home, I turned on the TV as I was headed into the shower and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel caught my eye on HBO. The episode focused on the Angola Prison Rodeo. No, I have never heard of it. Have you? Probably not. They were interviewing the warden and explaining what goes on during the prison rodeo. This rodeo began over 40 years ago as a "fun" thing by a handful of rodeo-loving inmates and employees and is now big business. Proceeds from the Angola Prison Rodeo cover rodeo expenses and supplement the Louisiana State Penitentiary Inmate Welfare Fund, which provides for inmate educational and recreational supplies.
Well apparently there are six dates of the rodeo a year and almost 10,000 people come to watch the rodeo during each session. Did I mention that the inmates are the participants in the rodeo! You probably could have guessed it from the title of this post, but I just wanted to make sure. What you can’t tell from the posting is the crazy (you can be the judge) events they have in this rodeo. Here are a few of them:
Bust Out – All six chutes open simultaneously, releasing six angry bulls, with temporarily attached inmate cowboys. The last man to remain on the bull wins the event.
Wild Horse Race – Six wild horses are simultaneously released into the arena with short ropes dragging behind them. Three-man teams attempt to grab the ropes and hold the horse long enough for a team member to mount. The first team to cross the finish line while still on top of the horse is the winner.
Wild Cow Milking – Teams of inmate cowboys chase the animals around the arena trying to extract a little milk. The first team to bring milk to the judge wins the prize.
Bull Riding – This dangerous and wide open event is what the fans come to see. Inexperienced inmates sit on top of a 2,000 pound Brahma bull. To be eligible for the coveted "All-Around Cowboy" title, a contestant must successfully complete the ride (6 seconds). The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rules govern this event.
Convict Poker – It’s the ultimate poker game, and even winning has a price. Four inmate cowboys sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing a friendly game of poker. Suddenly, a wild bull is released with the sole purpose of unseating the poker players. The last man remaining seated is the winner.
Guts & Glory – A chit (poker chip) is tied to the meanest, toughest Brahma bull available. The object here is to get close enough to the bull in order to snatch the chit. This is the last event of the day, and perhaps the most exciting.
I must admit if I was close by (over 450 miles away) I would go once to check it out. Although I can’t imagine participating in one of these events, if I had to pick one, which one would it be? Bust Out and Guts and Glory would be a quick "no!" Wild Cow Milking I wouldn’t do if 10 people were holding down the cow. I guess it would have to be Convict Poker. Seems like a bit of a game of chicken. Although they showed this game on the segment and inmates were airborne for 3-4 seconds and some went as high as 12 feet. AMAZING!
- Ok time to sign up for one of the events. Which one is it?
- Would you go and see this rodeo?
- Have you been to it or heard anything about it?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Fee Sepahi says:
This wild, no pun intended!!!!
Ok, well not being a big fan of the sport, I would think I would have to hope and count on the bull being a bit clueless about the intent of the game and I’d opt for the Guts & Glory!
Plus being a bit of an adrenaline it seems the draw….:-)
Merrill Dubrow says:
PRISON RODEOS PROVIDE ESCAPEFROM ROUTINE
ANGOLA, La. — For 8.8 seconds, convicted murderer Michael Fasola felt like a free man — courtesy of a 1,600-pound Brahman bull charging down on him.
Fasola, 27, is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He was convicted in 2003 of killing his roommate. But this week, Fasola was one of about 100 inmates at the penitentiary who voluntarily participated in the Angola Prison Rodeo.
It’s one of only two rodeos in the U.S. performed almost entirely by inmates. The other is at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
“Incredible,” Fasola said as he dusted off his jeans and hair. “All those people watching, cheering you on. It’s like time stops. You feel free for a day.”
At one time, there were as many as six prison rodeos around the country, said Art Leonardo, executive director of the North American Association of Wardens & Superintendents. Fear of lawsuits from injured inmates and lack of political will caused most of them to close, he said.
“There’s an admiration for being able to put something like that together,” said Leonardo, who has visited the Angola rodeo three times. (The Louisiana penitentiary is better known as Angola State Prison.) “Once you get there, you realize, it’s a lot more than a rodeo.”
Every Sunday in October and one weekend in April, the Angola inmates ride bulls, wrestle steers and try to pluck wooden chips from the horns of a rampaging bull. Spectators pay $10 each to attend. The show sold out four times this year. A crowd-favorite event: Convict Poker, where four inmates sit around a poker table as a Brahman bull is let loose upon them. Last man to stand wins.
Inmate Alex Hennis, 34, has participated the past 10 years, specializing in events such as Wild Cow Milking, where a team of inmates try to subdue a 900-pound Black Angus cow long enough to extract some milk. Over the years, Hennis has had a broken eye socket, broken nose, broken leg, broken hand, strained shoulder and 14 concussions. On Sunday, he was riding with a fractured fibula but wouldn’t go to the hospital until the rodeo was over.
“In prison, you don’t get to make too many good memories,” said Hennis, who’s serving 40 years for aggravated burglary. “This is the place you can do it.”
The nation’s financial crisis has forced prison officials across the USA to face deep cuts at their prisons. Money-generating events like the rodeo have become increasingly important to fund inmate programs and activities, Angola Warden Burl Cain said.
The rodeo, which generates up to $450,000 a day in revenue — which includes income made from prisoners selling their handmade crafts — pays for Baptist seminary classes at the prison, funerals for inmates, educational programs and maintenance of the prison’s six chapels, he said. The event is also a good incentive to keep inmates orderly throughout the year, Cain said. Only well-behaved prisoners are allowed to ride.
“The rodeo requires inmates to improve and be good and prove to the public that they could be rehabilitated,” Cain said. “That’s the most important part.”
Most of the 5,100 inmates are serving life sentences at Angola, the state’s only maximum security prison. Average age of inmates is 41 and average sentence is 85 years, assistant warden Cathy Fontenot said. More prisoners die here each year than are released.
Once known as the “bloodiest prison in America,” Angola State Prison sits on 18,000 sprawling acres of farmland, a former slave plantation.
The rodeo began in 1964, an idea realized between inmates and prison employees, and was first opened to the public in 1967, Fontenot said. A 10,000-seat arena was built by inmates in 2000 and has sold out nearly every year.
“We are not the same people we were when we committed that crime 25 years ago,” said Edrick Jenkins, 49, who is serving a 60-year sentence for burglary and robbery. “It means a lot to us to get the opportunity to communicate that.”
Inmates don’t practice and many are climbing onto a bull for the first time, Fontenot said. Paramedics stand at the ready. On Sunday, they carried out several injured inmates from the arena, including one whose head was bleeding after a bull trampled on it. There have been no deaths at the rodeo the past two decades, though minor injuries are common, Fontenot said. There have also been no escapes during rodeos, she said.
Angola inmates get paid for events they win, including $300 for the person who grabs a wooden poker chip from the horn of a 1,800-pound raging bull in the closing event, called Guts & Glory.
Fasola, the inmate serving life for murder, said he had a good day: no injuries, some pocket money and a chance to bond with other inmates. His take-home pay: $17.50.
“There’s nothing like it,” he said as he gathered his gear and headed back inside. “We just live rodeo to rodeo.”