Steiner enjoys the ride

Monday, Dec. 4, 2000 | 10:50 a.m.

Before Sunday night, Sid Steiner's largest paycheck this season came at a rodeo in Puyallup, Wash., where the flamboyant 25-year-old steer wrestler earned $6,712.

In 3.6 seconds during the third night of the $4.5 million National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack, Steiner nearly doubled his best outing by winning the steer wrestling go-round and a $13,133.46 check.

And that left the normally talkative Steiner nearly speechless.

"I don't know how to describe (how this win feels)," he said. "The only way I can describe it is to take one of your dreams and stick it right into reality, that's what it is."

If he doesn't earn another dollar at this week's finals, the third-generation steer wrestler said he would consider his first trip to the NFR an unqualified success.

"Lord, if I go home right now, I've had an $18,000 week," Steiner said. "I mean -- wow -- I can remodel my home now or buy my girlfriend a new pair of shoes."

Or, perhaps, this unconventional cowboy will treat himself to another earring to match the one he has in his left ear.

From his multiple piercings to his shoulder-length hair and flashy clothing, Steiner is not his father's cowboy -- or his grandfather's, for that matter; both were world champions.

Steiner, who wore his hair in cornrows for Sunday's go-round, originally had set out to be a professional wake boarder before he decided to take up his father's and grandfather's trade.

And, above all, he likes to express himself in the arena.

"It is fun ... I'm having fun," Steiner said. "It's a living but if you don't enjoy what you're doing, then it gets monotonous -- and I don't want to be a monotonous person.

"Every rodeo I go to, I'll take my Harley out and go ride it around; I'm not going to sit around and play dominos. I'm trying to have fun doing it and the more fun you have, the better I think you'll do."

As late as this summer, however, Steiner said he toyed with the idea of quitting before he put together a strong finish and qualified for his first NFR.

"That would have been stupid, wouldn't it?" Steiner said.

Steiner came to Las Vegas ranked ninth in the steer wrestling world standings. After cashing in Friday's first go-round and winning Sunday, the Austin, Texas, resident stands seventh in the world and sixth in the NFR average with seven go-rounds remaining.

Not that he's counting.

"I don't even know where I stand ... and I don't even care," he said. "They'll tell me Sunday where I finished and other than that, I think if I think about it too much, that's just added pressure.

"I just want to try to make some money ... and I'd love to be first."

And that was one of his goals coming into the NFR.

"First of all, I wanted to win a round," he said. "My second goal was to finish high or win the average -- that is my (next) goal. My third goal was to win the world. It's all steps and my first step is done. Now, let's see if I can get my second step.

"Winning tonight sure takes weight off my shoulders."