Harris recounts his rags to riches story

By Brett Okamoto

Friday, 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."

McTaggart Watch: Colin McTaggart is the cowboy with the closest ties to Las Vegas in the competition. McTaggart was a student at UNLV last year and plans on returning next year to earn his degree in marketing. He entered this year’s finals, the second of his career, in eighth place in bull riding. Last year he finished 15th in the final world standings.

After placing in two of the first five rounds, McTaggart has hit a cold streak. The bull Dippin Dots bucked him off about four seconds into the ride, giving McTaggart his third consecutive no score. He's won $13,521 through eight rounds, and sits in 12th for the average.

Notes: Steven Dent missed a huge opportunity to reclaim his lead in the bareback event. Last year's World Champion Bobby Mote overtook Dent in the standings Wednesday night, but a no-score on Thursday pushed him back to ninth in the average. Unfortunately for Dent, his 77-point score wasn't enough to place and left him in second-place for the Gold Buckle.

Nice work by steer wrestler Trevor Knowles, who got a second consecutive first-place finish after splitting the honors with Curtis Cassidy Wednesday. It was one of the few things to cheer about in a round that saw five cowboys fail to post a score. Knowles said he was lucky in that the steer he drew acted just as he thought it would.

"I'm drawing really, really good," Knowles said. "I made an OK run. There were a couple of guys who made outstanding runs, but their steers weren't as good as mine. The steer was supposed to run and be really snappy and fast-handling on the ground. I got an OK head catch and was just trying to hang on."

Team ropers Travis Tryan and Cory Petska tied a NFR record for fastest time with a 3.5-second run in the eighth round. It was good for a $16,766 check for each of them and lifted the pair into fourth in the average.

"It's the coolest feeling I’ve ever had in my roping career," Tryan said. "I got emotional after the run. I threw my hat, I never do that. I had a feeling tonight that we were going to break the record, which I've never had before in my life, and can't explain why. "

Round Winners

Bareback Riding: Royce Ford; 87.5 points

Steer Wrestling: Trevor Knowles; 3.6 seconds

Team Roping: Travis Tryan, Cory Petska; 3.5 seconds

Saddle-bronc Riding: J.J. Elshere; 85.5 points

Tie-down Roping: Trevor Brazile; 7.00 seconds

Barrel Racing: Lindsay Sears; 13.57 seconds

Bull Riding: Steve Woolsey; 87 points