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When Terry Middleditch first decided, a couple of years ago, to
direct his energy and expertise to the sport of rodeo, he had to
decide, first of all, how to do that in a way that would accomplish
his overriding goal-to take the marketing of the sport to another
level.
He decided on two strategies-the first was to recruit a group of marketing and promotion experts he could rely on-and outsource to-so that he could offer rodeos, associations and even individuals the kind of expertise they had never had access to before. Terry's second idea was to put together a "Rational Dream Team." He wanted to do something concrete and dramatic that would address one of rodeo's most urgent needs. That need is simple-we have to find a way to make stars of rodeo's athletes, to make them household names in the same way that Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Tiger Woods, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter are household names in theirs. In David Poulsen's book, Wild Ride, one of the book's subjects, barrel racer Monica Wilson talks about this very point.
"One of the things we need to do in the future is to make stars of our rodeo athletes. That isn't happening now. With the exception of Ty Murray and maybe Fred Whitfield, most people, even sports fans, couldn't name a rodeo competitor...If we can make our stars as recognizable as the stars in other sports, sponsors will pick them up and things can become a lot easierfinancially for rodeo competitors." That job is, of course, made more difficult by the fact that rodeo athletes tend to be in a community for a very short time. They arrive in a town, compete at the rodeo, grab a burger and hit the road for the next rodeo. The only people who have close contact with them are the fast food servers and service station attendants. Enter the Rational Dream Team. It is a collection of the best and brightest rodeo has to offer-all under the promotional umbrella of Rational Media. Athletes, personalities, and contract personnel, the Dream Team features many of the sport's most celebrated individuals. This site is dedicated to keeping rodeo fans up to date on the triumphs and heartbreaks, ups and downs, buckles and buckoffs of team members. You'll see them at rodeos in the Rational Media gear and now you'll be able to get up close and personal with them--right here!! Not only will you be able to cheer on the accomplishments of your favourite Dream Team members on our site, but you will also be able to track their schedules, read what they have to say about life on the rodeo trail and even e-mail them.
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