Fort Worth stock show and rodeo cancellation more COVID contradictory madness
We are hosting MLB playoff games, with fans, Dallas Cowboys games, with fans, a NASCAR race, with fans, a national rodeo, with fans, but an event scheduled for mid-January is canceled while all of these move on.
It was Vince Lombardi who once eloquently asked, “What the hell’s goin’ on out here?!”
It has been less than a week since the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo announced it canceled its 2021 event due to concerns over the coronavirus.
At this point, expect Santa Claus to send out an e-blast informing kids he ain’t coming this winter, either.
I now use “Concerns over the coronavirus” to apply to everything I don’t want to do, which includes paying bills, mowing the lawn, and speaking to people I want to avoid, a list that grows by the dozens daily.
COVID-19 is not a joke, and like millions other I take the precautions seriously. I know two people hospitalized, and on a vent’, fighting it.
It is our collective lack of consistency towards operating in a COVID world that is bewildering, laughable and infuriating. We are “being safe,” and stupid, in the same sentence.
Let’s pick one.
Something about all of this not only stinks like one of those animal stalls at the stock show, but none of it adds up.
The FWSSR made this announcement about 10 days after the ticket renewals for the rodeo were due.
Toss out the desire to have cash on hand, and consider why this event is axed while others proceed.
DFW boasts with pride that they are moving forward, safely, by trying to reopen during COVID, so much so Major League Baseball is having its National League Division Series and World Series at Globe Life Mall with fans.
The Dallas Cowboys are hosting games with some fans. The same for the Texas-Oklahoma game at the Cotton Bowl in an empty Fair Park during a closed State Fair of Texas.
The National Rodeo Finals moved from Las Vegas to Arlington, which runs from Dec. 3 to 12 at the Mall.
Included in this is the “Cowboy Christmas,” a shopping and interactive experience that normally covers more than 400,000 square feet. This will be held in the Fort Worth Convention Center, not to mention the Cowtown Christmas in the Stockyards with 300 plus vendors.
Maybe you lean in the direction that says hosting these events with any fans/patrons during a global pandemic is a terrible idea.
Attending the Texas-OU game on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl was full of anecdotal evidence that says you’re right. People were met with signs urging them “not to gather,” but the coronavirus apparently can’t stand in line for beer or Fletcher’s Corn Dogs.
Writer’s Note: If COVID-19 is standing in line ahead of me or behind me for a Fletcher’s Corn Dog, I’m rolling the dice.
The 24,000 fans in attendance, for the most part, were spread out all over the cavernous Cotton Bowl. Except for the students, who did as young people do and operated knowing they will live forever.
All of these other events are proceeding with limited capacity, and yet the stock show is a total N-O.
Event planners were confident that patrons would not adhere to rules. Safe bet there.
There are concerns about ventilation at the buildings that house the animals, among others. The concerns are legitimate.
The fear of potential litigation is no small threat. Proving where a person actually contracted the virus would be tough to prove in a court room, but event organizers want no part of the cost and time to handle a legal proceeding, and issue a settlement check.
There is the matter of budgeting, and running an event where if they could not have a certain number of people they’d lose money. These other aforementioned events generate some TV revenue while the stock show has no such opportunity.
“Hosting livestock shows, horse shows and other events at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, in addition to rodeo at Dickies Arena, makes creating protocols and procedures for deterring the potential spread of coronavirus extremely difficult,” the FWSSR said in a statement.
“In the final analysis, the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo decided against taking this risk, keeping the health and safety of our 1.2 million loyal guests, employees and participants as a priority. We’ll be back in 2022 with an awesome Stock Show & Rodeo.”
No one at the FWSSR wants to cancel its annual event. Just add it to the list of things we won’t be doing this year — and now next year.
It’s the consistency of all of this that has us all screaming, “What the hell’s goin’ on out here?!”
