Williams hopes title comes easier in 2000

Thursday, Nov. 30, 2000 | 12:13 p.m.

PRCA

Somewhere down the line, it's perfectly possible they'll name a new-wave National Finals Rodeo strategy after him.

They'll call it the Speed Williams, and by definition it'll amount to going out of the average race in the first round of the National Finals Rodeo, on purpose.

Oh, there will be variations based on such things as a lost rope, adapted from his 1998 Finals story, or a hickeyed horn, which put him and heeler Rich Skelton behind the eight ball straight out of the blocks in 1999. But the basic theme will remain the same.

Williams hopes not.

Just because he and Skelton three-peated their titles in '99 doesn't mean he cares to three-peat in the having-to-win-the-world-the-hard-way category.

"I'm still looking forward to coming here and not killing myself in the first round," said Williams.

Then again, if you can steal starts and sling your rope with eagle-eye accuracy before you cross the line like Williams can, maybe getting all average-title thoughts out of your system on opening night isn't such a bad idea after all.

It works for him.

Williams and Skelton went on to win six rounds of the '99 championship rodeo, starting with round two and ending with round 10. They placed in one other round, and even back-doored the pack for a fifth-place check in the average race. But the average isn't exactly what this guy named Speed (who obviously earned the name) has in mind.

"I'm not saying I don't want to win the average," said the Florida native who now lives in Llano, Texas, to facilitate daily practice sessions with his neighbor Skelton.

Williams and Skelton matched Doyle Gellerman and Britt Bockius' 3.8-second 1995 NFR record at NFR '98. But Williams wants sole ownership. And that's not all. Williams and Skelton demolished the NFR and season team roping earnings records in 1999, with $94,109 at the NFR (compared to their $65,962 mark in 1998) and $172,385 (their previous records were $128,472 and $127,646, respectively) for the year.

But roping, much less records, were out of Williams' reach right before the Finals started. Just 10 days before opening night, Williams made a big mistake: He defied his wife's better judgment and tried to play tough guy. Bad idea.

"I bought some water troughs in town, and needed to get them unloaded so I could go rope at Rich's," he said. "She told me not to lift them myself, because they were way too heavy, but I didn't listen. My right (as in roping) arm felt sore after we roped that day, and by that night, when I wanted to show a friend how to rope the dummy, I couldn't swing a rope around my head. It hurt bad."

He figured it'd be fine by morning, but the only thing that came up that day was the sun. His roping arm burned worse than the night before. Chiropractors and a massage therapist diagnosed the pain as torn shoulder muscles, and pushed and prodded on his entire right wing mercilessly. All Williams could say was "Ouch."

"Four days before we left to come to the Finals I was scared to use my arm. Finally, three days before we left, things started to come together."