SI.com
SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY OFFER: Now you can own an original first issue of Sports Illustrated!
THE WEB SI.com Search
left edge right edge
bottom bar
NFL NCAA FOOTBALL MLB NBA NCAA BASKETBALL GOLF NHL Racing SOCCER TENNIS MORE SPORTS FANTASY SCORES
Back to SI.com SI.com 50th Home Pick a State SI Covers Trivia Challenge Tour Info All-American Teen Wyoming
SI.com 50th Home
Classic SI photo by Walter Iooss Jr.

Golden Harvest

The gold medal win by Rulon Gardner of the U.S. (right) over Russia's previously invincible Alexander Karelin in their Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestling match was the greatest upset of the 2000 Summer Games. Gardner built his strength and endurance working long hours on his family's 250-acre dairy farm in Afton, Wyo.

SI COVERS
Classic SI cover A Bum Steer? Sports Illustrated's 1987-'88 college basketball preview issue proclaimed that Wyoming's flamboyant forward Fennis Dembo might just lead his squad to the NCAA title. It appears, however, that the SI cover jinx may have branded this Cowboy. Wyoming lost in the first round of the 1988 NCAA tournament

Click here to see a gallery of every college basketball cover

GREATEST ATHLETES
Boyd Dowler, Cheyenne
NFL Rookie of the Year led Packers in receiving seven times from 1959 to '69; won two Super Bowl rings with Green Bay.

Lance Deal, Casper
Won silver medal in hammer throw at 1996 Olympics; first American to medal in the event in 40 years.
John Godina, Cheyenne
Two-time world champion shot-putter took silver medal in 1996 Olympics; won '98 Jesse Owens Award.
See the complete list of Wyoming's Greatest Athletes


FLASHBACK
1987: They're Jumping For Joy
All Wyoming is wild about the Cowboys, whose Fennis Dembo could lead them to the NCAA title
The Deeses of Georgia -- Benny from Mount Vernon and Nancy from Alma -- are out on the town in Laramie, Wyoming. Wyoming? Well, actually, Lahrmuh, Wyomin', as pronounced by the Deeses, who, since they moved here in April, are never so much understood in Wyomin' as they are believed in.
FULL STORY



SI 50th Poll
Which rodeo event do you find most exciting to watch?






THE SI POLL
Who do Wyoming residents root for? SI asked Equality State residents to weigh in* on sports.
Favorite major league baseball team
Colorado Rockies
29%
New York Yankees
9%


Favorite NFL team
Denver Broncos
34%
Oakland Raiders
9%


Favorite NBA team
Utah Jazz
18%
Los Angeles Lakers
11%
No favorite team
34%


Favorite NHL team
Colorado Avalanche
44%
Detroit Red Wings
5%
No favorite team
35%


Favorite pro team
Denver Broncos
26%
Oakland Raiders
9%
Colorado Avalanche
7%
State's biggest rivalry
Wyo.-Colo. St.
27%
Wyoming-BYU
16%
Natrona County High-Kelly Walsh High
4%


Greatest athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in Wyoming
Fennis Dembo
13%
Rulon Gardner
11%
(tie) Jim Kiick, Jay Novacek
9%


Favorite announcer
John Madden
24%
Curt Gowdy
6%
Terry Bradshaw
5%


Favorite sport to participate in
Fishing
25%
Golf
12%
Swimming
10%
Bicycling
9%
Favorite sports to watch on TV
Football
78%
Winter Olympics
52%
Summer Olympics
44%
Basketball
37%


Sport participated in within last 12 months
Fishing
45%
Bicycling
31%
Billiards or pool
31%
Hiking
31%
Bowling
30%
Swimming
30%
Running or jogging
27%
Weight lifting
25%
Golf
24%


FUN FACT
30 percent of respondents have openly booed a referee or official in the past 12 months
*Harris Interactive poll, conducted online, of 385 Wyoming residents who identified themselves as sports fans. Margin of error +/-5.0%  Multiple responses allowed
Sports Illustrated's 50th Anniversary
At home on the range

Wyoming's population may be tiny (at less than 500,000, it's the smallest of any state), but its citizens have a super-sized taste for sporting adventure. As SI's E.M. Swift discovered, the West doesn't get any wilder than the Frontier Days rodeo and festival in Cheyenne. And Afton (pop. 1,500) native Rulon Gardner reveals how farm life helped shape him into an Olympic champion.


Frontier Days
• Photo Gallery: Cheyenne rodeo
• SI Sportstown: Casper, Wyo.
Wyoming's 50 greatest athletes
What's your top Wyo. sports memory?
SI 50th Tour Information

advertisement
ENEMY OF THE STATE
Rick Majerus
Majerus's Utah basketball teams have been a Wyoming nemesis, just as former Brigham Young football coach Edwards's teams used to be. Wyomingites' choice as their state's most villainous opponent: BYU (39%), Colorado State (25%) and Colorado (6%).

Rick Majerus
19%
LaVell Edwards
12%
Al Davis
10%
STATITUDES
1 Female general managers in the Pioneer League. On Sept. 18, 2002, Mary Stanley was named President/GM of the Casper (Wyo.) Rockies, a rookie club affilated with the Colorado Rockies.

15 Fans who were on hand in 1944 to hear Curt Gowdy make his broadcasting debut in his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyo. A future member of the "Scribes and Mikemen" wing of the baseball Hall of Fame, Gowdy did the play-by-play of a six-man football game between Pine Bluffs and St. Mary's.

3 Consecutive seasons in which Jim Kiick led Wyoming in rushing (1965, '66, '67). The Cowboys posted a 26-6 record during his three seasons as starting tailback, including a perfect 13-0 home record.

32 Family rate admission price in dollars to the Wyoming Rodeo with the JH Rodeo Company. Billed as the "Least Expensive Family Activity in Jackson Hole", the rodeo is held Wednesday and Saturday nights from Nov. 15 through April 1.

24 Stations throughout Wyoming and western South Dakota that make up the Cowboy Sports Network. The flagship station is KFBC Radio 1240 in Cheyenne.

100 Miles in the The Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run, a competitive event that takes place annually in the Little Bighorn-Tongue River areas of Wyoming's Bighorn National Forest.

1899 Year of the first Wyoming-Colorado State football game. The oldest interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi River, the "The Border War" has been held every year but six since the schools began playing.

1968 Year in which the ROTC detachments of both Wyoming and Colorado State initiated the Bronze Boot, a travelling trophy awarded each year to the winner of the Border War football game. The Boot was originally worn in Vietnam by a CSU graduate.

FAST FACTS
Admission to statehood: July 10, 1890 (44th state)

Area: 97,818 square miles

Bird: Western Meadowlark

Capital: Cheyenne

Economy: Agriculture -- Cattle, sugar beets, sheep, hay, wheat. Industry -- Mining, chemical products, lumber and wood products, printing and publishing, machinery, tourism.

 
Flower: Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia)

Nickname: Equality State

Population: 493,782 (50th)

Pro sports teams: None

Major college programs: Wyoming Cowboys
SI.com
SI Media Kits | Subscribe | Customer Service | Press Room
Copyright © 2003 CNN/Sports Illustrated.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
search THE WEB SI.com Search