Probullstats HOW TO Dept:
San Antonio Progressive round trade prodedure

The procedure on how progressive go-rounds are traded has been changed.

In the past, Procom sent the rodeo secretary another random priority list with all the contestants’ names on it. In order to see if you were going to get traded you had to go down through the list and see who was advancing and what preference they were giving. That was pretty hard to do sometimes with all the scribbling and changing and a stressed out, underpaid, un appreciated rodeo secretary.

One thing for sure... if you were low on the priority list many times you had NO chance of getting out of a conflict at another rodeo--which at the San Antonio time of year was another BIG rodeo. Last year we had some guys end up in a conflict in the progressive round at San Antonio and the first go at Houston. That just shouldn’t happen. Best I could tell is that they did everything right--they just were so low on the list that they didn’t have a shot of getting up any other time.

THE NEW WAY:

We’re going to take some sheets out of the timed eventer’s playbook. Everyone knows how adept (sneaky) they can be. What the secretary is going to do is fill in the progressive go round positions from the highest score to the lowest score--starting at the last performance of the progressive go round and working forward.

Example: If there are 5 performances in the progressive go round, and 50 guys advance--the highest 10 scores in the first go will go in the 5th performance.

The lowest 10 in the first performance of the progressive. While in some cases you really won’t know for sure where you’ll end up, you’ll have a good enough idea so that you can TRADE WITH SOMEONE to prevent getting up in a conflict like the San Antonio/Houston deal.

How do you trade with someone else? First of all, go to the secretary and get a trade form. Next... find someone who looks like they will be up when you need to be. Get them to agree to the trade (they have to sign the form--so do you). Give the form back to the secretary before the trade cut off time (the secretary will set that time but I’m guessing it will be after the last bull is bucked in the long go. Hopefully it will be at least 20-30 minutes after it so if you’re up the last perf you can hustle to the office and turn in or change your preferences.

It certainly won’t be perfect but at least it will give a guy a shot. It will take some pre planning and creativity on your part. If you are kinda on the bubble wondering which perf you’ll be placed in--you may need to find different guys to trade with you depending on where you/they end up. Be aware that if the progressive go round doesn’t fill all the positions, it can shift a person from one performance to another.

It would also be smart to tell the secretary how nice she looks... what a good job she does... how you REALLY appreciate her... and a few cherry chocolates wouldn’t hurt. DO NOT buy those 99 cent Wal-Mart chocs. You really DO need to communicate with her. There may be 800 contestants entered in the rodeo--700 of which she’s never heard of or been introduced to. To her you’re just a signature on another potentially hot check.

If you aren’t going to be there that last performance of the long go, you need to have someone who is is going to be there (a person you trust who doesn’t spend alot of time at the beer stand) and have them handle business in your behalf. They may have 3-4 trades forms depending on where guys end up score wise. In some cases the forms will need to be pre signed with only the performance blanks needing to be filled out.

Don’t forget--both guys have to sign the trade form. Sometimes in the timed events both guys will show up to compete at the same time. Someone forgot to tell the poor sap that they forged his name or traded him differently than they agreed upon. He drives 400 miles only to find out he was supposed to be up three days before. He is SCREWED. Plus--if he rats on the other guy--RATSO can be disqualified.

Whoever you trade with should call in to make sure where he ended up. Some guys will go about anytime but they need to know WHEN. More often than not they will actually end up in a better pen of bulls.

And when you pay your fees (assuming you do) be SURE to ask when the trade cut off time is and how she wants you to handle things.

This will take a little work but it can both save and make you money if you’re rodeoing for a living. The guys that don’t handle business still won’t but the guys who do--at least have a shot.

Bryan McDonald
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