Gold Watch

Hello,
The best definition of luck that I have ever heard is when preparation meets opportunity. If you have ever read anything I have written or know anything about me, I believe that to be true. When I was young I listened to a cassette tape by Earl Nightingale and he said the secret to success is if person’s will to succeed is strong enough you will not be denied. As a young man with not a lot of success behind me I wanted to believe that statement but as I approach my mid 50’s, I now know that it is absolutely true. There is also another key ingredient that has to go with it and that is you have to be motivated. Someone else can’t want something for you. You have to want it for yourself and you have to do what ever it takes to achieve that goal. It has to be an obsession that you can’t stop thinking about what ever it is that you desire and you’re constantly doing something that will bring you one step closer to the thing that you desire the most. What you just read is true but most people don’t have that desire or are not willing to do the extra things that you must do to get to that top level.

I know all those things are true and this year but for some reason it wasn’t working. Maybe I burnt myself out last year trying to reach the goals I had set for myself. One morning last year it was raining like it only can rain in Texas and I came in from running and my Son said, Dad, your going to kill yourself. I said at least I’d die trying to achieve something great. That’s the attitude I had and I truly believe you can take someone with mediocre talent and work your heart out and great things will happen.
So with all that said I did not work like that this year. Have I practiced? Yes, every chance I had. Have I roped my sled and studied film, absolutely! But I wasn’t a fanatic this year and I think it hurt me. Was I tired, maybe, did I burn myself out, maybe or did I just walk around with my Gold Buckle on and think that would carry me through, probably.
This year I haven’t roped up to my ability and it has been hard on me. I’ve had my moments but we all know deep down inside when were not functioning up to our potential and if you have any pride in yourself, that’s hard on a person. The thing that’s the toughest about out sport is that when we don’t function up to your ability we hold your partner back and that’s what happened to me as well. I roped with Clay Tryan this year and he roped outstanding all year. And as I set and write this we are about 20th in the standings and we should be 1st. If I would have heeled 75% of the steers he turned me this year we would be right with the leaders. So after the Salinas Rodeo in late July I went to Clay and said you have got to move on. Any other header would have cut me by now and you are loyal to a fault but you have to move on. He said you are my partner and we started together and I want you to finish but I told him that you have to move on. He tried to talk me out of it but I told him that for some reason I can’t stay focused and I haven’t been able to pull this together. I told him that if he entered me at another rodeo I wouldn’t show up. It took that to get this guy to move on and I will always admire that. In professional sports the manger cuts you or you cut yourself and that’s what I had to do. It was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make in my roping life. Not only was I giving up one of the best partners in the PRCA but I felt like I was giving up ¾ of the way through the year. I hated the feeling but I have tried almost everything and Clay Tryan deserves to be at the NFR and I felt like if I bowed out then he still had time to make it. Do I want to go back and try to finish the last part of the goal I have written down in my wallet, Absolutely, but not at the expense of him and his family, so that’s why I made the decision. Three days after I told my partner I was going to retire we were at a rodeo in Salt Lake City and Travis Tryan walked up and said I hear you’ve retired. I said that’s true and he said that him and Michael Jones decided to end there partnership and ask If I would reconsider. I said no, I can’t, I just stopped roping with your brother. He said I just need a partner for the rest of the year. I’m in the lead for the World Championship and I need a good partner. What if we go talk to Clay and if he wanted to rope with you I will rope with his new partner or visa versa. We’ll leave it up to him what ever he wants. I said Ok, sounds good. After they talked, I’m back in the game. I went from one great partner to another great partner in three days. I know I’ve got to make some changes or I’ll keep getting the same results I’ve been getting. Clay is going to rope with the great Kory Koontz and that will be a dynamite team and hopefully we can battle it out at the NFR. I have already made some major changes and for some unknown reason I have been given a second chance and I’m not going to mess this up.
I seen Mike Beers at a rodeo a couple days after this all happened and he ask me that in the three days I was retired if I received a gold watch. I smiled and said that they didn’t have time to get it to me and besides I don’t want it anyway.

Until Next Month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard