Patrick Has Try
Hello,
I like Jerry Sienfield. When the show was on TV I watched it religiously, and I think I’ve seen every episode. In his standup routine he asks the question that women are always wondering, what men are thinking about? The answer is nothing, were not thinking about anything, were just walking around, looking around, with not a thought in our heads. I thought that was funny because it reminded me of myself.
I did an interview one time and the guy that was interviewing me said I seemed like an intellectual guy and I looked over my shoulder, I thought he was talking to someone standing behind me. I knew he wasn’t talking to me. I said heck no, I’m just walking around and looking around and trying to make since of it all.
That’s how I write this article every month because I’ll talk to someone or see something as I travel around and I’ll think that’s right! That’s what happened this month. Some of the things I write about you probably get tired of but, there are some things that you just can’t say enough, so here goes.
The rodeo business is set up so you can only count 60 rodeos a year as official rodeos. You can go to as many rodeos as you want to, but if you don’t designate it as unofficial then the first 60 you go to are the ones that count for the World Championship. So I had it planned to go to 20 rodeos from January to Mid May, then because there isn’t any Major rodeos until Reno in Late June I decided to take a break. I put on 6 roping schools in a row. The Break was about 5 weeks and it started for me after the Redding, CA. rodeo. It was like the last day of school and you are asking everyone what they had planned during summer vacation. Some guys said that they weren’t going to go on break at all. They were going to small prorodeos, amateur rodeos, and jackpots so they can stay sharp. Both of my horses were sore from the 5 months of constant competing so the break came at a perfect time for me. One of the guys I visited with was Patrick Smith. If you’ve never met him you should, he’s a classy guy. He’s always positive, never negative, and always has a smile on his face. Maybe he’s positive and happy because he’s the current World Champion but then maybe he’s the current World Champion because he’s always positive and happy. Now before I go on I had heard that Patrick didn’t start roping until he was 15 or 16 years old. Have you heard that as well? I tell you right now I never believed that story, Patrick never told me that but I’ve heard that from several people and I’ve never told them, but I’ve always thought to myself, yea sure he did. He started roping at 16 and 10 years later he’s the best roper in the world, no way. Someday I’ll ask Patrick about it but I never have. Before Redding there wasn’t anyway I would ever believe that story.
Anyway I ask him what he had planed during the break and he said that he wasn’t very pleased with the way he had roped this year and he was going to get back to basics, now keep in mind that he was 4th or 5th in the world standings and every time that I had seen him he had roped both feet but he felt like he could rope better and he was going to go back to doing the things that it takes for him to improve. Once in a while I’ll do the right thing and I felt like I had a chance right here, keep quite and listen and maybe I can learn something and I did. What he said wasn’t something I didn’t already know it just reinforced something I already believed in.
Patrick said that he was going to go back home and get his donkey out and start roping him again. He said that he has a donkey that he can wear 5 horses out on and that’s exactly what he was going to do. He also said that he was going to get a goat again and start roping a goat. Patrick said that he learned how to rope by roping a goat and sometimes he would chase that goat until 3 AM. He also said that he was going to start eating right and get back in the gym because he felt like he wasn’t in very good shape. This guy doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him anywhere and no one can beat him at a arm wrestling match. I’ve never tried him at arm wrestling because I don’t think he can beat me. I’m talking about normal men. I’ve seen several try and they all lose.
So you’ve got the reining World Champion roping donkeys on 4 or 5 different horses, chasing a goat around until after midnight roping steers on his good horses, eating good food, and going to the gym because he feels like he needs to get stronger. People say they want to win and they say there working at winning but there not. If you put your heart and soul in something you will win. If you get up in the morning at daylight, run, eat a good breakfast, rope the donkey, or the sled, or a mechanical steer or a lead steer, on all your horses, then rope steers and video your practice. You will get better! You will win. Before you go to sleep watch your practice sessions and study your trade and then pray that God will keep you strong so that with every fiber in your body can be devoted to improving. Like it says in the “Greatest Salesman in the World”, “Try, try, try until your muscles cry for relief then try harder”.
As we start the summer rodeo run I am prepared but a guy like Patrick Smith reminds me what it’s going to take to reach the Goals I’ve set for myself. I know I have the ability, all of us do, but the question is do we have the heart? After talking to Patrick Smith at Redding maybe I do believe that story about him not starting until he was 15 years old, but I’ve got a little surprise for Mr. Smith He’s not going to out try me. I’ve got to stop writing now because I’ve got to go practice.
Until next month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard
