rodeo's can be thrown forwards... charles throws very nice rodeo criticals forwards... dave pauls throws rodeo's forwards too... actually - almost everyone at blue throws their rodeo's forwards... I throw mine back, but mine arn't really the nicest looking rodeo's in the world.
rodeos and flat spins are pretty much the same exact rotation axis. the only difference seems to be wether or not you throw it back or fowards. i learned that rodeos were always back, and the flatspins foward. if you call a flatspin a rodeo, you arent totally wrong, because its basically the same trick.