Ryan and the Rodeo

It is not often that you hear NBA and Pro Rodeo in the same sentence, but for four days in early September the two went hand-in-hand for Nuggets forward Ryan Bowen. Bowen, headed into his fourth year in the league, was selected as the Grand Marshall of the Tri-State Rodeo held in his hometown of Fort Madison, Iowa, located in the southeastern part of the state along the Illinois and Missouri borders. The event, held annually the week after Labor Day since 1947, is one of the nation’s top professional rodeos. For Bowen, who returns to Iowa each off-season, the chance to lead the parade was a big honor and definitely capped off a summer to remember. On July 17 the free agent re-signed with the Nuggets, for whom he has spent his entire NBA career. Bowen was joined at the week’s festivities by his wife Wendy and 16-month old daughter Isabel.

Nuggets.com’s Jonathan Goldstein caught up with Ryan to find out more about Fort Madison, his rodeo experience and how kept busy this summer.


JG: “So how big is Fort Madison?”
RYAN: “There are about 12,000 people.”

JG: “So did you go to the rodeo when you were growing up there?”
RYAN: “Yeah, it’s something I went to since I was little. It’s kind of the big event that happens in my hometown every year. On the scale it’s really one of the top rodeos out there. It really is. It obviously can’t compete with the Las Vegas rodeo or things like that, but they have the top cowboys from all over the United States come to the thing. So it’s a pretty big deal and I was honored to be selected as Grand Marshall this year.”

JG: “So what did your duties entail?”
RYAN: “Well, I went to the Little People’s Rodeo. Did that. Just went and signed some autographs. Then they had one of the nights as ‘Ryan Bowen Night’ at the rodeo – the rodeo is four nights - so I went there. A radio station from Denver donated tickets and transportation and rooming stuff to come out to a (Nuggets) game, so I gave away the tickets to the game. Friday I actually went to the rodeo and watched the whole performance. And Saturday was the big parade so I rode in the parade and waved to everyone. Overall it was a great week.”

JG: “It looks like you and Wendy and Isabel were donning proper rodeo attire.”
RYAN: “Yeah, well (Isabel) had hats and boots, the whole deal, but she wouldn’t wear the hat.”

JG: “You played golf, tennis, baseball, basketball growing up. Did you ever try your hand at any rodeo events as a kid?”
RYAN: “No, I went to it and I watched, but I never had any thoughts of doing any of that stuff.”

JG: “Not a 4-H Club kid, huh?”
RYAN: “No, not really. I rode a few horses but that’s about all I did.”

JG: “Any rodeo action for the Grand Marshall this year?
RYAN: “I got some pictures. There was a bull there and I sat on the bull and got my picture taken. I told Kiki (Vandeweghe) I have to bring it in and show him I rode some bulls. He kind of got a funny look on his face.”

JG: “What else have you done back home this summer?”
RYAN: “Really it seemed like we were busy, busy, busy. We had a bunch of weddings to go to. It seemed like every weekend there was a wedding to go to. We had a big birthday party for Isabel when she turned 1 back in May. We went to the Jimmy Buffett concert, which was up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which was an interesting time. We did a lot of things. I’m trying to think of anything else exciting that we did. It seemed like weddings and a concert, made a trip up to Minnesota to visit some relatives up there, and that was really about it. We just kind of waited, stayed back home to do the rodeo thing and then came back here. I played a lot of golf.”

JG: “So what is like living back in Fort Madison now that you’re in the NBA, as opposed to when you were growing up?”
RYAN: “Well we actually live in Burlington (Iowa) now, which is just 15 miles away. That’s where my wife’s from. But I spend a lot of time back and forth. It’s different. We love going back just for the fact that, you know you hate to call it the simple life, but in a sense it is. I always feel like that’s where my home is even though I have a house here in Denver and I live here more often. But I always consider Fort Madison as my home. It’s just the people, the friends – it’s kind of nice to go back. It’s sad leaving there, but you know it’s great to come back here to Denver because Denver is a great place. We have a lot of fun just being with friends and family and especially with Isabel, having the grandparents there to baby-sit all the time and things like that.”

JG: “That must be a nice relief.”
RYAN: “Yeah, it is a nice relief. It’s like we live two separate lives. It really is great to get back there. There are so many things that I can do and help out the community on. I help out with a lot of basketball camps. Just a lot of different things – speak a Lion’s Club and Kiwanas Club and Rotary – I do a lot of speaking and things like that. So overall, it’s a great experience to go back.”

JG: I know this is a stereo-typical question, but did you grow up on a farm?”
RYAN: “No, my grandparents had a farm so we’d go visit it whenever we’d go there. We just had a normal house and everything like that.”

JG: “Do you have a favorite event at the rodeo?”
RYAN: “Not really. It’s fun watching the bull riding because that’s kind of the big finish. But, you know, watching the little kids was a riot. They ran out there, wrestled sheep and they’d just hold on to the sheep for dear life, it seemed like, as they got dragged across the ground. Just everything is neat. My wife really liked watching the barrel-racing, where the horses just go around the barrels. But probably the bull riding is the neatest thing. We had a little rodeo golf outing and my cousin and I got first place in that. That was kind of fun. We got a neat little trophy. Overall it’s just a great experience.

The arena I think holds like 9500 people, so it’s a big event. You know sometimes you think small-town rodeo, you think 500, 1000 people. It’s not like that. I mean there are 10,000 people that come. I think the article in the newspaper said like close to 30,000 people attended all the different things throughout the week, which is a big deal for a small town in Iowa. So overall it’s a great event for the community. And like I mentioned, they bring some of the best cowboys in. Last year it was on ESPN2 so it’s up there with some of the best that are out there. Lonestar was the entertainment on Friday night. They’re a real popular band.”

JG: “So who do they normally have as their Grand Marshall, just a local dignitary?
RYAN: “Yeah, I think so. Just a lot of business people. Mostly older people, I think someone said I was probably the youngest grand marshall that they’ve had. It’s mostly older business people that have done a lot with the rodeo growing up, people that helped start the rodeo, or people whose kids helped start it. Usually it’s older people or whatnot, but when they were working with it this year they just felt that I was the perfect person for it. So I was definitely honored, very honored and privileged to do it.”



A special thanks to the Fort Madison Daily Democrat and photographer Gerry Baksys for the photograph and their help with this story.