Another year has come and gone for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and it just gets better. We topped the 1 million mark in rodeo ticket sales, and overall general attendance exceeded 1.7 million again this year.

You can see the results and statistics elsewhere in this issue of the magazine, so I won't dwell on them here. Instead, I'd like to focus on some of the things that drive this Show to new heights each year. Just when we think we've reached the top, something new and exciting happens that shows us exactly how much more potential we really have.

It's hard for me to find the right words to describe what happened in less than one week's time in the Sales Pavilion at this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The stage was set on the first day of the junior market auctions when the Grand Champion Pen of Broilers sold for a world record $100,000. Four days and millions of dollars later, world records had been set for the grand champion and reserve grand champion in every junior auction, something that has never happened at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It's a record that may stand for a very long time.

On the final day of the Show, the School Art Auction, in only its third year, continued the momentum with two more records. And speaking of momentum, it was great to see Ty Murray return to win the All-Around Cowboy award at the Houston Rodeo after battling injuries the past two years. He clinched that title in true championship fashion, reclaiming the Astrodome record in bull riding with an unbelievable score of 90 during his final ride. Ty took home more than $39,000 for his efforts, while electrifying the Astrodome crowd and a national pay-per-view audience during the rodeo finals. What a way to close out the 1998 Show!

Many of the additions made to our event in 1998 proved to be popular and well received. Changing the "footprint" of the Show, which included repositioning the carnival and AGVENTURE Plaza, really helped traffic flow throughout the Astrodome complex. The limited on-site parking situation is still a concern, but improvements to the Rodeo METRO Express shuttles made it even easier to get to and from the Dome.

Special thanks to Houston Industries for the introduction of PowerVision, which greatly enhanced the rodeo, as well as the livestock and horse shows. The close-up shots of the cowboys and cowgirls in competition, especially those in the chutes, were absolutely spectacular.

We've also received a lot of positive feedback on the "Stepping Proudly Toward The Future" laser and light show extravaganza, which made me feel proud to be part of this organization every time I saw it. Though the fireworks and lasers were impressive, the theme and message presented really hit home, letting people know exactly what we're all about.

In spite of the great ticket sales and huge general attendance, we must address the ever-increasing problem of "no-shows" at the rodeo. In 1998, 23 percent of those who held tickets either were unable to or chose not to come to the Show.

This is a concern to all of us. Obviously, we'd love to have a packed house for each rodeo and concert performance, and we're going to work very hard during the coming year to achieve this goal. It is important to our cowboys and cowgirls, our sponsors and our pay-per-view audience throughout the country.

Many times, it is not possible for you as a season ticket holder to attend every performance. In that situation, we encourage you to share your tickets with friends and colleagues who haven't been exposed to our Show.

We also encourage you to participate in our ticket resale program. Any unused tickets turned in prior to a performance can be resold with all proceeds going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We're looking at ways to make this program better and more efficient.

As we all start planning for 1999, my heartfelt thanks go out to all of the people who make this Show a success. To the volunteers, competitors, ticket buyers and corporate supporters - we thank you!

It's great to be able to boast about world records and the world's biggest "this and that," but our true bottom line is one that isn't measured in dollars and cents. Our bottom line is the young people of Texas that are given an opportunity each and every year. This year our Show will award a total of 414 new scholarships to the youth of Texas.

And that's what the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is all about.

Jim Bloodworth, President