Texas cowboy sits in first place in the NFR average after eight rounds
By Brett Okamoto, Fri, Dec 12, 2008 (2 a.m.)
Whenever bull rider J.W. Harris pretended he was riding bulls as a little kid, he always imagined himself doing it at the Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyo. Very fitting then, that Cheyenne ended up being the rodeo that saved his career.
After a slow start to his 2005 rookie year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Harris had come down with a very serious problem. He was broke.
"I was at a rodeo in Idaho, missed making the short round, and I went to use my debit card and I didn't have no money," Harris said with a laugh. "My uncle was with me and paid for the gas from Idaho to Cheyenne. I was scraping the bottom of every barrel just trying to get there."
Harris ended up winning the short round at Cheyenne and placing second in the average for a $10,000 payday that allowed him to keep traveling to rodeos. Three years later, Harris is sitting in first place in the 50th Anniversary National Finals Rodeo average. He has ridden six bulls through eight rounds, two more than any other rider, and won $53,365, moving him into second-place in the World standings.
What's the secret to his success this year? Harris says it's not getting caught up in the numbers.
"I couldn't tell you how many bulls I'm ahead right now," Harris said. "I don't pay attention to the average or even to the World standings. I don't even know how much money I've won here. I'll just let that take care of itself and let them tell me who wins it. And I think that's why I've stayed focused so well."
After spending time at both the bottom and top of his sport, Harris can comfortably say he was happy in either situation. Even during the slow start to his career, the 22-year-old from May, Texas says he has enjoyed every minute of the journey because being a cowboy is what he loves to do.
"The best part is just getting to do what I want to," Harris said. "Being my own boss. It's just neat, you get to travel the country and do what you love. It's never a strain on you, you know most people it can get to be a strain on you. This is just always fun to me."
Recapping his own career — the son of a former PRCA bull rider turns pro in 2005, nearly goes broke, gets a career-saving win and ends up sitting on top of the 50th Anniversary NFR average after eight rounds — Harris can't think of a thing he'd change.
"I couldn't have scripted it any better than this," he said. "After winning $36,000 in my rookie year I never thought I'd make that much money, I never thought I'd see another poor day. Now each year I make more money and that's always been my goal - get better every year, not stay the same or drop off but to get better. It doesn't get any better than this."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment