By RON AGOSTINI
BEE SPORTS COLUMNIST

OAKDALE — The 54th Oakdale Saddle Club Rodeo supplied proof that laundry bills nearly will exceed gas prices at the Cowboy Capital of the World.

There is mud, and then there is arena mud. Saturday gave us the trifecta — mud, standing water and, well, more mud. The best of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) virtually bathed in the stuff Saturday and wore most of it home for dinner.

They were tossed into it by high-kicking broncs, slid sideways through it by steers and nearly drowned in it by the always victorious bulls. The day produced Reason No. 543 why boys grow up to be cowboys — they can roll around in the mud and not have to answer to Mom and Dad.

It follows that Saturday's hero, the day's second bareback rider, was one Paul Jones of Elko, Nev. He didn't win (a 78, tied for third place so far) and he didn't dazzle. He merely drew the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Because after his muddy dismount, he inspected his chocolate-colored gear and took full advantage of a huge soggy bog at his feet … by doing a Greg Louganis full-gainer into it. As tone-setters go, it was perfect theater.

Parents, please let your children grow up to be cowboys.

"I was already muddy. It's a long year and a hard sport. You go through some bad times," said Jones, who proved he could give an interview while cleaning a portion of the arena floor from his left ear. "Might as well try and have fun with it."

Jones prefers to attract attention in more conventional ways. He won the bareback title at the Dodge National Circuit Finals last month in Pocatello, Idaho, and pocketed nearly $4,000. It's just that he saw an opportunity in Oakdale, doused with an inch of rain the previous 36 hours: "Sun, mud and a crowd waiting to be entertained. Why not?"

Put it another way: Will Tiger Woods slip-and-slide down the 15th fairway today at Augusta National?

"Things like that keep you going longer and you keep a better attitude about it," Jones said. "You're just trying to please the crowd a little bit."

The Oakdale Rodeo caters to that kind of spirit. Twelve years ago, one cowboy from Texas arrived early in the week and, sufficiently bored, volunteered to help as a pick-up man in the arena. He alternated all week between riding broncs and bulls and lending a hand.

His name was Ty Murray, the four-time defending all-around world champion at the time, with three more gold buckles to be claimed later in the 1990s. You may have heard of him.

This is Oakdale's charm. It's been lapped in recent years by rodeos that have bought their way onto TV via rich sponsors and hefty wallets. Several famous regulars such as Trevor Brazile and Fred Whitfield opted out of Oakdale this year, and the saddle club again was forced to defend its agreement with U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., the maker of Copenhagen and Skoal.

"A long week," admitted Mike Wagner, saddle club board member.

Funny, but no tobacco ad sign ever has killed a child. Reasonable people are aware of the danger of long-term tobacco use and act accordingly. Unreasonable people see it as an excuse to dump on rodeos, a part of the Western heritage that needs preserving. Besides, when exactly did we arrive at the time when being politically correct was more important than being real?

Oakdale, the keynote PRCA rodeo of the spring run, seems to be attacked from all angles. Next year, it will compete during the same weekend with the Grand National, for decades the glossy November finale to the PRCA regular season, at San Francisco's Cow Palace.

But here's the good news for rodeo fans: The Grand National's close proximity actually will work in Oakdale's favor. The sport's big names can appear at both with ease.

Face it, critics: The Oakdale Rodeo is about as stubborn as bermuda grass and nearly as tough to remove. It can whip anything — animal rights protesters, real estate developers, even Mother Nature and its industrial-sized water hose.

Dan Mortensen, the seven-time world saddle bronc champion, still kept his appointment with Oakdale despite a still-mending broken ankle. He wouldn't commute between Oakdale and the Logandale, Nev., rodeo just to waste a weekend.

"You have a good committee, and the crowd always supports the rodeo here, which is great," Mortensen said. "If they still support the rodeo, we'll keep coming back."

Mortensen then surveyed the fluffy white clouds above and the brisk wind from the north. It was Oakdale in April. Rodeo time.

"At least the sun is shining today. The horses aren't slipping out there," he said. "A little slop does make it more interesting."

Bee sports columnist Ron Agostini can be reached at 578-2302 or ragostini@modbee.com.