STOCK SHOW LESSONS

With the National Western Stock Show wrapping up Sunday, we thought we'd sum up a a few things we learned during the show:

* A chicken takes 21 days to hatch from an egg. After that, a hen can live up to 20 years.

* A 1904 rail car, donated by the Ben Houston Family, is set in the stockyards to display how cattle were transported to the stock show during its early years.

* The best way to clean manure off your boots is to take advantage of the boot shine booths stationed throughout the events center. For $8, your boots will be like new.

* One of the biggest stock show scandals was in 1972, when it was discovered that the grand champion steer, Big Mac, was not a black Angus but a white Charolais. Shoe polish and paint and conniving Iowa cattlemen-owners were the culprits.

* A Texas Longhorn's horns average a span of 66 inches. (And by the way, if you want to see their horns for yourself, you can check them out during today's 8:30 a.m. youth halter show or 10 a.m. haltered show, both in the stockyards arena.

HE SAID IT

"Non-Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks."

Ryan Rodriguez, National Western rodeo clown, on what NASCAR really stands for

SPEAKING OF SPORTS

* Check out the Rocky's sports coverage of Friday's PRCA rodeo finals, wrapping up a total of 23 stock show rodeos. The top-scoring performers from the 22 previous performances competed for their share in the $199,500 purse. SPORTS 11