I want to apologize for not getting my last few articles done; I had a lot going on and did not take the time to get it done.

 We’ll start with practicing for the finals. With me living in Amarillo and Rich in Llano we didn’t practice as much as we have in the past, though it was enough. Rich has Will Yokum, who’s been there a long time, to turn steers for him. Most important is having your horses prepared when you get to the finals. For the last several years Viper seems to have some minor injury when we’re leaving for the finals so I didn’t get to practice on him much. Not that I ever do, but if he’s sound I might make two or three runs on him a day.

 I took two new horses to Richs’ to practice on. The first horse I rode was too free and on older practice cattle I had trouble giving Rich a good corner. We couldn’t put good runs together and I wouldn’t call it a confidence builder. The next day I rode Taz, a really nice horse, but he’s just got a little hesitation in the box but then works real good in the arena. I’ve never hauled him anywhere but he’s sure good for Rich to heel behind. We made twenty-five or thirty really good runs all in the 5-second range.

 Carmine Nastri, Pedro and Paul were there and couldn’t believe the difference in the first day and the second day. It all comes from how the steers are handled and set up and the runs finish. The dramatic difference in our practice sessions was all due to the horse taking another step down the arena where changing up the corner messes everything up.

 Going into the finals I had a lot of nerves and anxiety due to our big lead. We trailed all year and then took the lead at the finale in Omaha. Going in with a good lead gives you a chance to win a world title whether you have a great finals or not. And it’s much better to go in ahead than behind, but coming from behind you rope differently because it’s not yours to lose. Anytime you have something in your hand and someone takes it away from you – it’s a lot harder to live with. So going in with the lead gives you the mentality that the lead is yours and everyone else is trying to take it away from you. We’ve gone to the finals in the lead three times and gone in behind four times and it’s a lot less pressure going in behind. Never the less, I’d much rather have the cushion of the lead.

 The first round at the finals was one of the easier rounds with the last few teams being a little fast. Trevor and Wayne made a good run and then Rich and I tied Travis and Zanc for the round. It was a good feeling to start off on a good step. Travis and Zanc roped well all year and then come to the finals and split the first round with them. It had been kind of a battle between Tee and Travis all year and we knew it was going to be interesting.

 We made a lot of good runs at the finals: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and never won another round. We won second a few times, third and fourth one time. Overall some rounds were real tough and some weren’t and it depended whether you roped at the end of those easy rounds. There was one round where everyone was “snake-bit” and roped a leg, missed or something happened to them.

 Jake and Allen had a great finals. Had we not had the big lead coming in, it would have been more of a dogfight and would have changed a lot of things that happened. David Key and Clay had the kind of finals that anyone can have. When they made good runs the round was real tough and they experienced some of those “little things” I always talk about. The last few rounds got better for them.

 On Saturday night, the ninth round, we made a decent run and Jake and Al won the round giving them a mathematical chance at the title. I have to say that Jake and Allen challenging us for the world title and being the closest competitors is kind of like playing basketball against Michael Jordan; or playing football opposite Joe Montana. Jake being a major contender eighteen years after winning his first world title gives me a lot of hope. Mike Johnson roped really well in the calf roping and with all the years he’s made the finals, it shows that youth isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

 That night I got the call that my wife had gone into labor. Jennifer’s Mom was in Amarillo with her and my Mom was with me. Kelli Jo is in Las Vegas taking care of the horses and Johnna had flown out for the last couple of days.

 Back at the hotel that night we’ve got about four phones talking to everyone at the hospital. Around 10 p.m. I was talking to Jennifer and it’s two hours before my birthday on Sunday. I teased her and said it would be a neat birthday present if she had the baby on my birthday and at least I wouldn’t ever forget her birthday.

 I guess she took it to heart because our little girl was born a little after 1 a.m. Though I wasn’t physically there, I recorded Hali’s first “vocal opinion” on my phone. While Jennifer was having her, I was talking to Linda and got to be there via the airways. As soon as they had pictures they emailed them to us that night. So Mom, Kelli Jo, Johnna and I gathered around the computer and looked at the pictures and I would play the recording on my phone and listen to her yell and scream and it was almost like we were there.  It was a real neat deal.

 Jennifer really wanted to be at the finals but we were afraid she would go into labor a little early and it wouldn’t be good to be in Las Vegas where she would end up with a doctor she’d never met. I’m glad she stayed home since it happened this way.

 I really felt guilty for not being there. My wife and I have done a lot of things as a team. I had come down with the flu and was real sick with chills, sweats, fever, and cramps and couldn’t get far from the bathroom. I wasn’t doing very good and had trouble getting down to the restaurant to eat. I didn’t get to sign autographs at Cowboy Christmas or go to the dummy roping. I went over one day and only stayed thirty minutes.

 There were some people that had offered to fly me home and then fly me back for Sunday’s performance, but I didn’t think I was strong enough. Believe me, I wanted to be there but in a sense we have a chance for our seventh world title, plus financially I have to do what I think is best for my family.

 There was a lot of pressure Sunday. My wife’s home with our new baby, it’s my birthday, we have a chance to win our seventh world title and we’ve got two seasoned veterans with a chance at the world title.

 In the last round it worked out where Matt and Patrick played a big part in who won the world title. On the heading side Jake and Allen could catch us if they won the round and second in the average and we didn’t place. On the heeling side, they could win second or third in the round and second in the average. But for the championship, Jake has to win the round. Now if Matt and Patrick don’t catch, falling out of the average, then all Jake and Allen would have to do is place in the round and then we would have to catch.

 With that much of a lead, if we can’t catch that steer in twenty seconds we don’t deserve to win a seventh world title anyway. I don’t care how experienced you are, when it comes down to “have to do it” there’s still a pressure inside that causes butterflies, sweaty palms and shortness of breath. Making it part of your practice sessions and practicing that very situation is how you learn to deal with it. There have been many years where the world title has come down to the last steer.

 As it turned out Matt and Patrick caught which put a lot more pressure on Jake and Al. Jake and Al made a good run but not fast enough to put us in a situation where all we had to do was catch to win. I take my hat off them. They roped great and made some really good runs on some steers that weren’t very good.

 It was pretty awesome having the only header in the world with seven world titles there trying to stop me from getting mine. I know if I’d been in Jake’s shoes it would have been a great deal to stop me from getting the seventh title. Also, he started in the middle of last year. He probably went to as many rodeos, but he didn’t get to go to as many good rodeos.

 What a relief. My wife’s at home with my new baby girl, Hali Wren. We changed the spelling of her name from Halli to Hali because everyone kept pronouncing it with a short ‘a’ and my wife didn’t like that. So now it’s Hali Wren Williams. If you’re wondering where the Wren came from, I wanted to name her Hali Jenn after my wife and Jennifer wouldn’t hear of it. This was the closest I could get to it.

 If I hadn’t been so sick and felt so bad, winning the seventh world title would have been a lot more exciting. But to be honest, once it was over with all I could think about was getting home to be my wife and my child. I’m not taking anything away from winning the seventh title, but having your first child does re-prioritize things.

 We finished our interviews and I had reserved a limo to take us back to the motel. Our flight got in Amarillo around 11:50 p.m. so we made it over to see our little Hali Wren voicing her opinion. A lot of our friends from Amarillo were on the same flight and we were all pretty excited. We got to Amarillo and it’s cold (who would have guessed).

 It was quite a feeling to hold something that little, that could voice her opinion that loud and is not even 24 hours old. We all took turns holding her and taking pictures. I’ve never held many babies that small. I’ve played with lots of kids but usually they’re walking and can talk a little. So this was a whole new experience for me. All the doctors and nurses were talking about how cute she was. I’m not sure what they’re supposed to look like when they’re that size.

 My wife gained a new appreciation for her mother while stayed with us after Hali was born. Babies do not come with instruction manuals and having a lady there who’s had five of them and watching her handle things was pretty nice. It was great that it happened like it did, having the baby at the end of the finals and getting to go home and stay home for the next two or three weeks. I’ve rodeoed for a lot of years and even with my mother-in-law and wife taking care of the baby, there wasn’t a lot sleep going on in the first few weeks. I’m ready for her to walk and talk tomorrow but it’s not going to happen.

 While I was home I told Mom to bring her horses out and we’d rope a little. We actually had pretty good weather and I probably practiced as much as I do before the finals. Mom and Johnna really wanted to rope. I took turns turning cows for them in my little building and roping the Heel-O-Matic. I tried to wear my mom out and it was fun because I got to take some frustration out on her after all the years of her getting on my butt. I told her when she walked in that barn that she belonged to me and I was allowed to holler and tell her to kick her horse, ride her horse, and get in position. And believe me, I did try to take advantage of those rules. That’s not saying that I didn’t get the “look”, the rolling eyes and the smirk that I would later pay for. She did a good job taking all that abuse and I hope the next time you see her she’s roping good and her horse doesn’t cheat and get inside and take her throw away from her.

 She was plenty tired when she left and I have to thank Shawn Gammill for driving out with her and then flying back out to help her drive home. We both had a lot of fun and when she comes back I’ll have to recruit two or three headers to turn cows for her. It’s amazing how many steers that woman can run.

 Johnna and Mom were comical and it seemed almost like a competition. They were both heeling and we’d rope the Heel-O-Matic awhile, then I’d spin steers for them and go through all my head horses and then we’d rope the Heel-O-Matic some more. It was cold but neither one would say they were tired and wanted to quit when actually they were both pretty exhausted. I finally suggested we call it a day and there was no hesitation from either one.

 Afterwards I picked on them because neither was going to be the first to weaken. I like the determination I saw in my mom. Her roping improved a lot but we really worked on making her horse work right and not letting him cheat her. She had a lot of fun and was really tired when she left.

 We're off to Odessa for a couple of days. We take Linda, Johnna and make our first road trip with the little woman, Hali Wren. We got a room so it would be so cramped. It wasn’t too bad, she woke from about midnight to 2 a.m. and then from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. The second night was better. She stayed up during the slack and after watching everything and being handled so much she slept better. I wish I could say my roping went better.

 Our first steer looked like he would run. He was on the stronger end and slick with small horns. The gates banged and then he didn’t go anywhere. Everyone that reads this article knows what happened next. I came kicking and not even pulling at the barrier because I thought I’d seen him far enough, but I broke it. He turned out to be pretty good but without a rerun I didn’t know what he was.

 At Odessa they really try hard to have a nice rodeo. They have a roping on the steers ahead of time and sort them to get an even set. But in that long, narrow building the steers tend to change a little anyway.

 Our second steer wasn’t bad; he just wasn’t one to win the day money on. He didn’t start well and then ran on and stepped to the left. I broke the barrier on him too. So that was my first two steers of the new year. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won the world seven times or not, you have to perform every time you nod your head. They don’t give you anything – you have to earn everything you get.

 Travis Tryan and Matt Zancanella started this year almost like they did last. They won almost $6,000 at Odessa where they won the first round, placed in the second round and won the average. Tee and Kyle Lockett also did really good. So here goes another race and we not even in it, we don’t even have our car out of the garage yet. One rodeo down.

 At Denver we didn’t get up when we wanted to. Our first steer looked okay but had real small horns that barely came out of the horn wrap. I’m not sure they were the legal length but he still looked pretty good for the smaller end. The steer broke and ran and stepped to the left. When I roped him he laid his head back and I waved it off. I didn’t really have a very good chance. I did everything I was supposed to; Scored, rode across the line, roped him and he laid his head back and moved to the left. There’s not much I could do different except a neck catch. But a lot of times if you rope a neck when their head’s low they’re coming left, you rope a front leg.

 Our second steer I definitely didn’t want. He lowered his head and went to the right. I got a good start and roped the right horn trying for a half-head and it fell off the right horn. Two rodeos and four steers down and I haven’t had a qualified time yet.

 We have a couple of weeks between rodeos and I go to Priefert and do a photo shoot and rope with Nate, Eddie and Travis, the Priefert boys. It’s an amazing facility and it’s really grown since I was there four years ago. It gets bigger and better all the time. It’s a family owned and operated business and I was impressed. I met with Eric Dunn and David Bynum that night we all went out to dinner.

 I have to tell a story on the Priefert boys. In Florida there’s a lot of hunting and I use to hog hunt, deer hunt and cow hunt with my father. At Prieferts we went to catch a cow and it was just like hog hunting back east. Go out with the dogs, catch and tie him up and then load him in the trailer and haul him off. No ropes involved, just like hog hunting. It was pretty exciting but after roping the kangaroo in Australia, I’ve calmed down about hunting.

 Next we go to the Rope America finals where I ride the horse I got from Tommy Crowson. We made a couple of decent runs and then on the third steer my horse gave me a little hop in the box causing me to be a little late on a runner and it was wild. We ran him down a long way and Richie went off on him. We were 7 and it was pretty western.

 Our fourth steer was a big black steer with high horns. I roped him around the neck and kind of left my man out there to dry. We ended up being a long 7 and came back fifth high team. We drew a steer with small horns that came out and went left. I reached a long ways on small horns and got him roped. Rich came around and roped him on the second hop and we were 6.1. We had been 5/10 of a second off of fourth place – then the first through fourth high teams were all within a couple tenths of each other. We were just fast enough and the next four steers tried enough we ended up winning the roping and $4,300.

 In the short round you like to come back either high team or just close enough that if you make a good run it puts pressure on the other teams. The steers just happened to fall to our benefit that day.

 Tony Brackens, defensive end for the Jaguars, flew out for the Rope America finals. I roped with him in the #105 and made him heel because I didn’t have a heel horse there and Gerald had been bragging about good he’d been heeling. We had a decent steer and Tony came in and roped him on the second hop. He threw a real good loop and roped two feet but his horse stepped on his loop.

 The next place we rope is San Antonio slack. There were a lot of good steers and a lot of chances to win. Our steer wasn’t really a good one to have which has pretty much been our year so far. I’ve only had four steers and haven’t really liked any of them. When the gates banged this steer looked like he was shot from a cannon. He beat me off the gate and I missed the barrier a little. I ran down and roped him and when he came around the corner he was wild and jumped and slid down on his belly. I drug him a couple of jumps and then he got up and Rich roped him by two feet and we were 8.1. We have a slim chance of making the short round if we’re real fast on our second steer. But we have a qualified time, just three or four seconds off the pace, but a qualified time nonetheless. That’s a start.

 Next is the open roping at Wildfire Ranch in Salado. Billy Pipes adds $50,000 to the roping – all to the winners of the roping. Billy does a lot to make the open roping special and it just gets better every year. It’s amazing how much he has done to the facility in four or five years since he started and had just built the arena. I can’t even begin to describe the improvements. It just keeps getting bigger and better all the time.

When you rope at Billy’s the steers are going to run so you’d better come prepared. Rich and I had a good roping. We made some clean runs on some steers that tried. He lost a leg on our third one. Cory Petska and I were in the middle of being a high team and he lost a leg on our fourth steer and the roping went downhill from there. I broke the barrier in the next round for Cory and Rich broke the heeling barrier on the fifth for me.

 In the short round I rode a new horse I’ve been heading on named Flint. He’s been doing well and I wanted to see how he’d do on these two one-headers. Rich and my steer ran, was wild and we were 8. My second steer ran and my little horse worked good and I reached a long way. Cory roped him and we were 5.4.

 For the third year in a row Matt Tyler and Kory Koontz won the roping. They’ve roped outstanding there. They came back high team and made a real good run.

 On the morning of the Open roping Billy always has an all girl roping. It’s one of the few open girl ropings I know of and there were some girls there that could really heel. It was a pretty tough roping. Billy also has a Sponsors Roping where the sponsors of his roping get to rope. Then he has a “Business Man’s” roping that pays $100,000. Billy goes beyond the call of duty and when he puts on a roping it’s a first class act.

 I’m going to do something I’ve been asked about for a long time. I’m working on it now and hopefully we’ll have it out by this summer. I’ve never made a video before and a lot of my theories aren’t the traditional teachings. But through the years and the success that I’ve had, it gives me a little confidence to go ahead and do this. Some of the things I’ll be working on is how to train your horses, how to practice and how to fix your problems. We’re not going to try and fit it all on one tape. There will be several videos and that way they can be more in depth. I’ll talk more about that next month.