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Sports Academy Honors Mormon Cowboy
DAPHNE, ALABAMA -- The United States Sports Academy recently honored
its first rodeo cowboy. The late rodeo champion and Earl W. Bascom
was honored as a "rodeo pioneer" and his name has been inscribed on
the USSA's "Walk of Fame." Bascom's name now stands with other great
sportsmen like the basketball great Michael Jordan, boxing champion
Mohammed Ali and the Olympic champion Carl Lewis.
Earl Bascom started rodeoing in 1916 at a time when the sport of
rodeo was spreading in popularity across North America. A four-event
rodeo champion, he competed in the United States and Canada in the
saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding and steer wrestling
events.
Bascom helped pioneer the sport of rodeo with two of its most
important pieces of riding equipment. In 1922, Bascom thought up,
designed and made rodeo's first hornless bronc riding saddle. Two
years later Bascom designed and made rodeo's first one-hand bareback
rigging. Bascom is also known for inventing the side-delivery rodeo
chute. These Bascom innovations are now standard equipment used by
rodeo associations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and Europe.
After his illustrious rodeo career, Earl Bascom became an
internationally-known cowboy artist. A Fellow of London's Royal
Society of Art, he created bronze sculptures of his life's
experiences.
Born in Utah and raised in Alberta, Canada, Earl Bascom passed away
on his California ranch in 1995 at the age of 89..
The United States Sports Academy, set on the eastern shores of Mobile
Bay in Alabama, is a graduate school of sports education - coaching,
fitness, management and sports medicine.
Source:
First Rodeo Cowboy Honored on Walk of Fame
Sports Academy Honors Mormon Cowboy
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