Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but sometimes things happen that just drive me crazy. For our Wrangler NFR preview issue, the December issue, I write previews and make predictions for each event. It’s not easy—especially because our deadline for printing that is about a month prior to the issue date (first of Nov.). At that point I don’t even know who’s in for sure, there’s still the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship yet to be played in Dallas.

Regardless, I soldier on and do my best.

But because of that, and because of events in Dallas, I’m going to amend the predictions I made over a month ago to reflect some things I saw in Dallas.

In the team roping, I picked Travis Tryan to win the heading and Michael Jones to take the heeling title, I was assuming Travis would be roping with Walt Woodard. Last week I found out that Travis has switched partners and will rope with Cory Petska. I’m going to stick with my prediction, with this one caveat: Colter Todd (who will take ’09 off) and Cesar de la Cruz are gunning for a title and roping good in the small setups.

All-Around:
Trevor Brazile is still the man.

Bareback Riding:
Kelly Timberman looked real strong in Dallas. Despite world standings leader Steven Dent winning, I’m sticking with Kelly. I’m also going to remind everyone that I think Chris Harris will have a great Finals.

Steer Wrestling:
I’m gonna have to stay with Luke Branquinho.

Bronc Riding:
My pick, J.J. Elshere got bucked off in the semifinal round and Billy Etbauer won it. Call me crazy, but I’m sticking with J.J.  Chad Ferley broke his toe there. I don’t know how much it will affect him.

Calf Roping:
OK. Here’s the first one I’m seriously second-guessing. Trevor, my pick in the magazine, looked great. Hunter Herrin won it all. But Josh Peek looked so solid. If his mental game stays as strong as it is right now, he’ll be a bigger factor than I originally gave him credit for.

Barrel Racing:
Lindsay Sears.

Bull Riding:
Here’s the next one I’m reconsidering. Chance Smart, my pick, didn’t ride a bull there. B.J. Schumacher rode incredibly and closed the gap on him. Anything can happen in Vegas with this event, but B.J. had a confident bounce in his step I hadn’t seen from him for a while and Chance didn’t.

What do YOU think?

The US Finals wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and while I wasn’t able to attend, I called Clay Tryan and Kory Koontz last week to interview them for a story in the January issue of Spin to Win Rodeo Magazine. As we talked, it struck me what a big deal it was that neither of them made the NFR. Kory hasn’t missed it since George Bush Sr. was president. Clay hasn’t since his first trip there in 2001. It just goes to show how tough team roping is. But rest assured, those guys will be back in a big way next year.

Clay and I got off topic and were visiting about his future (he’s got two young boys at home), the economy, our country and all kinds of stuff. It was fun to have a conversation with him about something other than roping. In the course of our visit, he mentioned that he was going to diversify a little bit and give more schools than usual. I think he’d be a great teacher. He’s well-spoken and keenly aware of the mechanics of roping, so I asked him how people could get ahold of him to book them. He gave me his email address. So if you’re interested in attending or hosting a Clay Tryan team roping clinic, drop him a line at: claytryan@hotmail.com.

On another note, the National Finals of Steer Roping happened this weekend and Scott Snedecor took his second world title back home to Uvalde, Texas.

Trevor Brazile had a chance to win it—if he had won the final go-round and the average, and Snedecor had stayed sixth in the average—Brazile would have won by $65. Trevor would have to have roped and tied his steer in 9.2 seconds, the fastest of the rodeo. But instead he missed and the title was safely in Snedecor’s hands.

Still, Brazile came out of there with over $40,000—extending his lead on Josh Peek, Steven Dent and Cash Myers. Those guys have a chance, sure, but the all-around is Trevor’s to lose.

Finally, on a personal note, I was lucky enough to get to go to the Working Ranch Cowboys Association Finals in Amarillo, Texas, this weekend. That is such a cool event and the trade show is unbelievable. The best cowboy gear in the world is for sale there, and it was all I could do to resist buying an armful of collectible bits and leather goods.

The best part of that event is all the people you see. If it weren’t for all the old friends and neighbors you run into down there, I think I would have spent all kinds of money. You end up not shopping much because you’re too busy visiting. About every 15 feet you see somebody you know.

The rodeo action was great, too. The ranch my father and brother work for, the Spade Ranches, wound up second, within a hair’s breath of the win. They won the ranch branding event.

I was able to meet and visit some folks I’ve always wanted to and missed some opportunities to see others. One guy I got to visit with was pickup man Billy Ward. Ward’s got a neat program in that he starts his colts on the ranch, seasons them by picking up and then, when they’re eight or 10, sells them as team roping horses. Look for a full story in the January issue of Spin to Win.

Finally, happy birthday, Mom.

No. 1: Colter Todd told me that he’s going to take next year off. He said this year was just too much mental stress on him. He’s got a young family and wants to spend time with them. I respect him deeply for this decision. Especially considering that he’s got a great short-score horse and a great partner in Cesar de la Cruz. To walk away from that takes some fortitude. After making that decision, he won the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship presented by Dodge at the Texas Stampede, (I will refer to this as ‘Dallas’ going forward). Not only that, he tied the world record of 3.5 in the semifinal round. Awesome performance from true class acts. I’ve predicted them to be among the mix in Vegas, maybe they’ll be a bigger threat than I thought.

No. 2: Billy Etbauer gave us another classic Billy moment. In the short round he drew Powder River’s Touch of Silver. This horse is notorious for being hard to get out on, but once you’re out, she’ll give you a great ride. She was stalling in the chute and after a couple tries, she wouldn’t leave the gate. They rolled her forward two times and offered Billy another horse. He said he'd like to take on more chance on her and they rolled her to the last chute they could. Billy settled in and nodded. She froze. He spurred her in the side like you would a saddle horse—assuming the judges would wave the mark-out rule. I thought, “No way this will work. He’ll be too far behind once she does explode out of there.” Well, he didn’t mark her out, but they waived that. Everything but his feet was behind. It was another, “I don’t know how he just didn’t get bucked off” moment at every jump. Every time the big white bucking horse leapt in the air Billy meeting the ground looked imminent. But each time the horse came down, his spurs were right where they should have been. Amazing! For those two moments alone, I recommend you watch it.

I still think J.J. Elshere will win the world in the bronc riding.

The CBS telecast is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET, Sunday, Nov. 23, following the NFL on CBS.

There were other great moments as well. Lindsay Sears and Martha just keep kicking butt. I don’t think there’s any stopping them.

Hunter Herrin tied his final-round calf in 7.0 to win it all. Trevor is still my pick for the tie-down roping, but Josh Peek looked dang good, too. He might be more of a threat than I gave him credit for. Dean Gorsuch won his second Dallas title (2006—the same year he won the world), and Luke Branquinho remains my pick. But Dean is hitting his stride at a perfect time. Steven Dent extended his lead in the bareback riding, if he can stay strong for 10 round, he’ll be tough, too. Finally bull rider B.J. Schumacher rode the dangerous Cowboy for 91 points. My pick, Chance Smart, didn’t cover one in three. I hope is hips aren’t bothering him more than I thought. B.J. looked pretty impressive.

It was a great rodeo and I fully expect a great show on CBS or FSN and encourage you to watch. For the best way to find out when it airs in your local area, visit www.prorodeotour.com.

Within each month, I only have about two weekends at home. Rodeos always end on the weekend, so to cover them best, you have to be there when the champs are crowned. I love my job, but it makes for a lot of weekends on a plane or at a rodeo arena. During the week, I always feel like I ought to be working, so it’s hard to take time to slow down.

This past weekend, I did, though. For once, other than church, I had no plans for an entire weekend. On Saturday, I helped a neighbor I had owed some labor to for a long time and finally had dinner we’d been planning with friends for what seemed like months.

Then, on Sunday, after church, I went for a walk. Now, I must admit it wasn’t a walk just for the walk’s sake. I had a hidden agenda. While hunting on the cow lease I have I must have hit a rock or something the center pin from my leaf springs to axle sheared and the spacer between my leaf springs and axle fell out. I knew it was a slim chance, but I thought I might find it and save myself some time and money. Turns out, I did. But that wasn’t the best part.

The whole family went on this walk and it was such a beautiful day. The pasture was quiet, there was a slight breeze blowing and my kids were in great moods. We walked to the windmill, about two miles in, and sat by a little trickle of a stream. We just sat in the grass and talked while the kids threw sticks into the water.

Didn’t have a thing to do with horses or rodeo, but it was the nicest day I’ve spent in a long time.

I wish I had more days like that.

When I tell folks what I do for a living, they often reply with envy. Well, to that I say, the grass is always greener on the other side.