When you are a bull riding fan in my part of the country, and you write about it to boot, you may discover that you do not have a lot of company in your passion. Here's where I stand in that regard.
1. Even my own brother will not watch bull riding.
2. I have two fan friends with whom I can discuss bull riding. We gossip about pulling ropes too tight or which bull is harder to ride. This is such a joy. We are so desperate.
3. A few of my friends are interested even though they aren't interested, if you know what I mean. They are interested because I am interested. Those people, they deserve a special place in heaven, if I have anything to say about it, which of course I don't.
4. I have discovered that when I am in a group of people, sooner or later someone will ask me what I am writing. When I cautiously say that I am writing about cowboys, they nod politely and may offer up a cowboy story or two. If, encouraged by that, I go further out on a limb, and say that I am writing about bull riding, the conversation suddenly turns to...anything but that.
5. There's a commercial about a guy who was unemployed and thought it would be fun to build a city out of toothpicks. Then some museum in France heard about it and bought the whole thing. Maybe something like this will happen to me, but with bull riding, and suddenly I will be surrounded by people who know everything about bull riding and want to talk about it all the time.
It is hard to admit that I have failed to convert ordinary people into fans. So I fall back on hope. Maybe if I can convince them to go to an event with me they will see the light. I hear that this works. My brother will become a fan and one day he will call me and he will want to know what a cornering bull is. And I will tell him and try not to say I told you so.
