I’ve been to a few awards shows in my day. Like the one for all the freshmen orientation classes at the end of my first year of college. I snagged a nicely-bordered certificate for a website project. Granted, winning stuff usually makes award shows a whole lot more exciting, but in this case, I think the food from the cafeteria canceled the exciting part out.

Now put your awards show in Las Vegas, and suddenly things get a lot better. And when you win? I can’t speak from personal experience, but I bet it’s a little better than getting a preprinted certificate from the dean of students.

That said, there are several guys in Deadwood who can speak from personal experience – eight times. Last Wednesday night, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association gave their top award to Deadwood’s Days of ‘76 rodeo for the eighth time. Talk about being spoiled.

The first four times the Days of ‘76 won the award, the event was in the small outdoor category. But then the rodeo started giving out more prizes and attracting more cowboys, and they moved up into the next bracket. The last four awards, including this one, have been for best medium outdoor rodeo. The near week-long event includes outdoor concerts, huge parades and rodeo competition in a celebration that’s part Western culture, part sports and part history. The next Days of ‘76 is set for July 22-27, 2008.