Profiles
The WNBA could take a lesson from Wyoming Rodeo. Before games 1, 2, and 3 of the 2026 WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, player and coaching rosters deliberately turned their backs on the court and exited to the tunnel moments before the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." They trotted back onto the hardwood seconds after the final note faded, treating the centerpiece of American civic tradition like an inconvenience or an optional stretch break.
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Despite clear league guidelines stipulating that personnel must stand in a dignified posture along the sidelines during the national anthem, the league remained silently complicit, refusing to issue fines or enforce basic respect for the flag. The contrast between mainstream stadium sports and a western rodeo is night and day; the sports sit on opposite ends of the spectrum. When entering a rodeo—especially during the Cody Nite Rodeo at Stampede Park—the audience can’t help but be immediately filled with overwhelming pride for the nation.
What makes rodeo so uniquely grounded compared to mainstream, corporate sports leagues? The answer lies in its very origins. Colter Ellis, the 24-year-old center-ring announcer for the Cody Nite Rodeo, broke down why western sports hold tight to values that corporate leagues have long abandoned:
"Rodeo is unlike any other sport out there. There's not a core meaning to it in other sports. There's no doing it as a way of life. Rodeo is a way of life. Calf roping, team roping, saddle bronc riding—you do that for a purpose: to train a horse, to doctor your livestock, to provide for your family.”
Ellis continued, saying, “As a cowboy, having that strong tie to family, to community, having a strong tie to God and country just comes second nature. Working all day on the land and with livestock grounds you. Without our freedoms, we couldn't do any of this. We couldn't have the liberty of speaking in public or praying without persecution."
Unlike multi-billion-dollar leagues flooded with corporate dollars, rodeo remains firmly rooted in real life, hard work, and faith. When asked why major athletic franchises have drifted so far from these values while rodeo stayed true to its foundations, Ellis explained:
"I really think that there's a big agenda of anti-masculinity, of anti-America, of anti-family. God made the family unit. I think that God made men to lead and be leaders inside their family, not to diminish women, it's a family unit. It's not one person. It's a team. And there's an erosion of America. That's when all these major franchises started to jump on that bandwagon, I think that rodeo is different in that fact because it's still grounded. It hasn't had that mainstream millions and millions and billions of dollars to influence it with kind of a woke agenda. It's grounded in reality."
That unshakeable atmosphere in Cody is no accident—it is purposefully cultivated by leaders who walk the walk. When discussing why the rodeo’s patriotic spirit runs so deep, Ellis gave full credit to the mentors behind the operation:
"As far as the Americanism at the rodeo, I want to give a lot of credit to Maury Tate, the producer of the night rodeo. He and his wife Nikki (they own No Better Rodeo Company), one of the most patriotic guys I have ever met in my entire life. He's like a father to me. I am only 24, but I have known Maury my entire life. He got me started in this, kind of trained me up. Having supporters like that in Maury and Nikki, they're very Christian, they're strong in their faith—having supporters like that I think shaped me a lot."
It was Maury Tate who sat in his recliner and penned "Why We Stand", the soul-stirring poem that plays during the opening ceremony as horseback flag-bearers circle the dirt of the arena. As the presentation echoes through Stampede Park, it directly calls on every person in the grandstands to remove their hats, stand tall, and give honor to the military veterans and first responders who protect our freedoms.
Supported and shaped by that strong Christian foundation, Ellis approaches his arena prayers and tributes not as a rigid corporate script, but as a genuine act of worship:
"When I pray to God at night, it isn't scripted. It needs to be genuine; it needs to be a relationship, not religion. Religion doesn't get you anywhere; it's just going through the motions, but having the relationship does. The first time I announced was during the kneeling in football about eight years ago. It mortified me. I had a thing written up and said, 'Here at the rodeo, we don't kneel for the flag. We love this nation, good, bad, or indifferent. We stand for our values, and we will stand for this flag.'"
And then Ellis said he heard the overwhelming approval of the crowd:
"I heard the response and it was much better than any other announcer, and I thought, 'Ooh, I think I have found something here.' And I just kind of ran with it from there. I thought, if I can just influence people for five minutes and spread that message—to love this nation, do your part in local communities to fight indoctrination, and have an intentional relationship with God that is intentional, not just habitual—that's kind of my goal."
Most powerfully, Eliis reflected on the ultimate purpose behind honoring our nation: “Without our freedoms, we couldn’t do any of this . . . we couldn’t have the liberty of getting to pray without persecution, which I’ve been in a situation where you can’t really do that—it's a very eerie feeling.”
Where corporate executives in the WNBA permit their players to hide in locker rooms while our anthem plays, young leaders like Colter Ellis—backed by faithful mentors like Maury and Nikki Tate—stand unashamedly in the dirt in Cody, Wyoming to declare that the American flag still means something profound.
Executives and professional athletes need to look away from San Francisco and turn their eyes toward Cody. They will find that patriotism isn't a political tool—it is the bedrock of our freedom, and standing for the national anthem is an honor we should never take for granted. It never is in Cody.
Author's Opinion
Having personally attended NBA games, College Football matchups, MLB games, and NHL face-offs across the country, I have witnessed this mechanical disconnect firsthand. In those massive stadiums, the anthem is sung; people are polite or preoccupied, going through the motions, and then everyone quickly moves on. There is no tangible sense of patriotism, no deeper reflection, and no real community around you—the flag is simply hung from the rafters and displayed on the screens, and the ceremony is rushed through as quickly as possible.
The WNBA and Wyoming Rodeo sit on opposite ends of the spectrum. Upon entering a rodeo—especially during the Cody Nite Rodeo at Stampede Park—the audience can't help but be immediately filled with overwhelming pride for the nation. There is a feeling of awe and a deep, solemn gratitude for the sacrifices of the veterans and service members who fought to secure our freedom. You feel an immediate closeness to God and to every person sitting around you. There is a deep, authentic sense of community, as if everyone in the grandstands has known each other their whole lives, even if it is your very first time attending. In that arena, there is an unmistakable feeling that God is right there with you in the moment, ready and excited to watch the rodeo too. Here, the anthem and the flag are not just rushed fillers; they are genuinely honored, revered, and given the time and proper respect they deserve.