Regarding "Top steer fetches $360,000 in stock show sale" (Sunday City & State, Page B2), the steer brought in a bid of $360,000, but the youngster that raised it earned only $75,000 of the proceeds. This has been the practice for several years now, but it used to be that the youngsters that raised the champions in all categories got all the money. The Rodeo would no doubt defend the practice by claiming that they raise funds for education and that this is a fair thing to do, but keep in mind, the State of Texas originally made the same claim about the proceeds from the lottery, while only a fraction of those funds actually go for education, and the rest is just a gigantic slush fund.
And then there is the payoff relative to the take. The grand champion steer winner netted less than 20% of the bid. That's actually less than what the Texas Lottery pays off on the gross. Here's hoping that the Houston Rodeo does a better job of using the millions they take in than the State of Texas.
Pete Smith
Cypress
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