I got a chance to visit with Joe Beaver at the Wildfire Open Roping held in February 2001 in Salado, Texas.
Interviews are always enjoyable to do. Not only are you going to ask (and hopefully be answered) questions you think people might be curious about, but you also get an insight as to what that person is really like because most cowboys are pretty candid, like it or not.
Joe left a good impression on me. Sure, his accomplishments are the hopes and dreams of many and no small achievement. But what I most liked about Joe was his down to earth attitude. He's smart to be taking advantage of the opportunities offered him because of his accomplishments, but he is still very much in touch with the daily grind and the "chicken today, feather tomorrow," life that goes with rodeo. He wants, likes and expects to win and knows it does not come easy. That's an attitude - one that is common in many champions. - Teri Fanning.
 
What is the difference between winning the All Around Championship versus a championship in one event?
I think the major thing in winning the All Around is that everybody knows. Everybody wants to know who won the All Around. When I won the calf roping and would tell someone, they would say, "O.K., Who won the All Around?" That's the only thing that the public really knows about rodeo - is the All Around cowboy. That's who is promoted.
I think we need to promote our event champions more. An event championship is just as important but it's not promoted as much as the All Around. When you come into town they want you to go here and there, do signings and interviews. Let's give the event champions the same thing. I think winning the All Around means more in that way because you get more publicity and benefits. But to me, one event is just as important as the All Around.

How hard is it to work two events?
It's hard as hell, to tell you the truth, and anybody that's tried it knows. Especially the two-headers in the dead of winter and also in the summer. I make a lot of trips back and forth that other people don't make. I trade a lot and take runs I really don't want to take in the calf roping to get my team roping runs right with less numbers. There are more entries in the calf roping and a lot of times I really need to go later, but I can't because of the two events and the numbers in the team roping. I'm getting used to it but I've had to learn that there's certain rodoes that you have to give and take at to make them both work.

What kind of difference does it make with your horses?
A lot. All of the sudden you've got another set of horses you've got to have. You've got two or three good calf horses and you need two or three good head horses. You've got two rigs going and you've got to make sure you send the right horses to the right place. I used to be able to put a couple of calf horses in there and not worry about it. But now with a partner and the two events it makes you pick your places better.

What do you do for relaxation?
I don't have much time anymore to relax to tell you the truth. Like right now I'm just about peaked out, I need to go home. I've got one more week out here. My winter rodeoing has been so-so. I've got a real good partner. Tom Bourne is back roping with me and we have a good time. We get along real good and he ropes good. I've got really good calf horses and some good head horses and it just hasn't gone that good this winter. But I look back on my winters and they never really do. I just can't get it going in the wintertime. So I'm about ready for a break and go home.
I guess relaxing to me is being at home. I have time to hang out with my boy. He's got things going on in all different directions.
But, really as far as relaxation and rest, I don't have time for it right now between the rodeos, schools and practicing. I'm getting a little older and I have to work out more and stay in shape better. At home my son gets more activities the older he gets and I like to spend time with my wife. I just don't have much time to myself anymore.

Alright, but if you were home one day and woke up and there were no rodeos or ball games - anything you had to do at all - what would you do?
I'd probably sit right in my chair and not get up for a day or two and kind of get things back. I don't miss having time to myself but it takes a different perspective on what you do when you do it. I can't go home anymore and flop down like that and sleep all day. It's not fair to my wife and not fair to Brody because I'm gone from them so much. I'm glad I've got them so I need to show them. But the day that I don't have anything to do may be the day I just sit back and wonder where it's all going.

When do you think you'll slow down?
I said a couple of years ago I thought it was coming. Because I really wasn't as competitive as I should have been or had been. I don't want to be out here for no reason. I don't think that my personality or the way I go would let me be out here for no reason. I don't want to be a guy that's entered and they say, "That guy really used to be able to rope." I would rather be doing something else. I'd rather be doing something like my ESPN thing and commentating.

You were really good at that.
Thanks, I enjoyed it. It was fun and different and a challenge. It was something I didn't know a lot about so I had to do a little research and learning. I think the more you learn the sharper your brain stays.
Right now, I'll say I'll slow down in a couple more years. I feel pretty good physically. I was down a couple of years ago to where it wasn't any fun because I hurt all the time. My back was bad and I had an abdominal muscle torn. That's when I took off six or seven months in 1999 and it really kind of rejuvenated me.
Just guessing, I'll say two or three more years. But, if you see me not winning before that, call me up and tell me to go home. And it's no big deal when I have to go home. It's not going to be the end of the world and feeling like, "Oh, you're done." It's another life and I've got a good family and a lot of things to look forward to. You know those guys that live and breath and eat and sleep roping and don't have anything else, I feel sorry for them.

Do you want your son to be a cowboy?
No, I want him to be whatever he wants to be. For one thing, I think it would be awfully hard to follow my deal in roping, good or bad. Not saying hard to follow me because I rope so good. I'm saying that I live different and I'm a different person than a lot of people. I don't let things go by. I don't want you to think I'm stupid when you try to pull something on me. I don't let producers get away with stuff. I don't let directors get away with stuff. I don't let judges get away with it. I'm an opinionated person and stand for what I believe in, right or wrong, and then I rope good on top of that. He'd have a hard time coming in behind all that. I've seen a lot of that with Blair (Burk). You know Blair has some big steps to fill, both ways. Barry's smart about rodeoing and won a lot and they always compare them.
Secondly, I want him to do what he wants to do. And if it is to rope, then we'll rope. But right now it hasn't been and we don't rope and that's okay with me. You know, just because I like green doesn't mean he has to like green.

What do you say about the times becoming so fast in the calf roping?
Two years ago when I was commentating I said we wouldn't see calf roping get any tougher. I don't think it can go anywhere else - no faster, no better. But it's not losing any ground. I thought it was at a peak, but instead of being peaked out, I think it's riding really high.
When I first got in the pro ranks I can remember the guys talking about me because I would reach, and I'd put a wrap and a hooey, I'd jerk them down and spin them around when I shouldn't. But I'd always learn to win because I had to win to go. I didn't have a bank account behind me. So I think you see a lot of that now, a lot of younger guys coming in and maybe not really ready, but they're ready to go and want to try it. They try to win first and they tie them faster. I think the horses are better. I think the guys rope better because there are so many youth rodeos, amateur rodeos and jackpots. I don't think the calves are that much different. Honestly, there's some places that rope smaller calves, but there's still a lot of places where they rope calves that are just as big as when I got in it sixteen years ago and now they tie them a whole lot faster.
I really think Las Vegas helped rodeo more than anything. The small arena and faster times boosted us to a level that we would not have gotten to that fast. Everybody tells me I like it because it's little, but really I don't care because I win at Cheyenne, so it doesn't matter. I think the faster times get the fans more involved. They get pumped up because it happens quick. You don't see everything and you hear a time you're like, "Oh, wow." So I think the calf roping and team roping has really prospered because of Vegas and the set up there.

When you were growing up roping, who were your idols?
It's funny I didn't really have many idols. I had people that I copied styles after. There was a guy named Mark Dearman and from the post, flanking and tying, he was like a god to me. He was amazing. A big, strong guy who tied real good. I tried to pattern my tying after him. There was a guy named Bubba Kendricks and he could reach farther than anybody, still can that I know of, and I copied my reaching throws after him. He always had a lot of rope and could really reach. Then there were guys that roped the necks real sharp. I'd go to the buildings and watch Barry Burk because he roped them around the neck real sharp. There were a lot of guys that I watched and learned from.
But other than my Dad and me, I didn't see a lot of guys rope. I'd go to jackpots and the slack at San Antonio and I had to kind of build my own deal. We'd see something and try it. It was trial and error and then we'd work it out. We came up with a style that, lo and behold, the kids have copied.

When things don't go well, how do you keep a good mental attitude?
It's just something you have to do, it's a job. It is a job to me. It's just like today, I would have loved to be home today. I could have gone home from Houston last night and had a day or two and then gone to Tucson. But every day that I'm not roping and not trying to win, I'm not trying to make a living. I rope, that's what I do.
There's days at home where they have a little jackpot or amateur rodeo down the road or something that doesn't pay much and people say, "I can't believe you're going to that." Well, to keep me mentally sharp and to keep me happy with what I do, I have to do it. My dad told me, "If you want to sweep the streets, enjoy it. But sweep them good."
So I remind myself and tell myself, "You rope for a living. That's what you do. If you don't like it, do something else. If you're not happy, do something else." I love to rope. I think I'm good at what I do and I have a good time at my job. I'm lucky to be able to have a life like I have and make the money I do. I could be working at Walmart and not have a choice. So the days that I'm kind of down or mad or things just aren't going that good, I just stop and think, "What would you rather be doing?" And if I can't answer that, then I'll keep roping and keep smiling.

What do you say to the young kids that tell you they want to rope and want to be good?
The first thing I tell them is to check and double check and make sure you want to give what you have to, to do it. Somebody spent some hard earned money to get them to one of my schools or to somebody else's school or to get them started. I tell them to look at themselves and make sure it's what they want to do. Don't half way do anything. If your Mom and Dad care enough to pay your fees and buy practice cattle and turn them out for you or whatever - don't give them a half attempt. If you're really gonna rope and you really think it's what you want to do, you go a hundred percent at it and give all you can and see how good you are. If you're good enough or have a little more room to improve, then you've got a chance. When you give it all you've got and you're not happy and you're not good, then quit and do something else. Don't do it just because somebody thinks you ought to. Make sure deep down in your heart that it's what you want to do.

How old were you when you knew it was what you wanted to do?
I can remember I was ten years old the first time I won a championship, I won the junior breakaway in that association down in Texas, the TYRA. That summer I ran sixty calves and missed two I think. I didn't realize at the time what it was. After a while I realized how good it was and what I had done and it really built up. Then I got in here the first year and the same thing happened, I win it the first time. So I kind of lose perspective again and don't realize what a win it was. So I had to fall back on my youth and realized that when I was 9, 10 or 11 years-old, I ate and slept roping and won. That's how I build myself back up, I remember my youth and how hard it was to win and how challenging it was to get better. That keeps me going now.
 When you decide not to rodeo anymore, what do you think you'll do?
I don't really know. I really enjoyed the commentating and I've got a window there with ESPN and the PRCA and I don't want to shut that window. I want to leave it open. I've also got some rental property and keep them full because it's a college town. My schools are good. I really don't know, I think for a year or so I'd really like to sit back and look and see.
It's crazy but I think if I wasn't doing what I do now and could do anything, I'd be a lawyer. You deal with the pros and the cons, the liars and the good guys, the win and lose, the rain and dry. I think that's what I'd like to do.
Rodeo has come a long way during your career. How do you see it progressing?
Sponsors make a big difference and I really appreciate mine. Cowboys have to have the outside help because rodeo is not where it should be. I really feel like the top 50 guys should go to the top 50 rodeos and they should add plenty of money. I think having to go to 90 and 100 rodeos is total hogwash. I don't think we should have to do it. I think once you have won so many championships, or so many dollars, or made the finals so many times, or the top 30 guys or so for that year, you should be the chosen few and taken care of.

Isn't that what Wrangler is kind of doing with their winter and summer tours?
Well, sort of but here's the deal - you still have to beat a hundred guys to make the short go in order to get the points to go to the finale. I think the big rodeos like Houston and San Antonio should have to add $50,000. They can do it. Little towns like Sisters, Oregon, with only 3,000 people add $10,000. I think the rodeos should add the big money. They want us, so-called "stars", in the performances. We can't do that with a hundred entries. But with fifty they can have two or three go-rounds and sell it. You can't sell a guy when he's up in the slack and to make a living, you have to go in the slack. That's where I think we need to be...Fifty or sixty guys, $50,000 added, two or three head and pick the fifty rodeos and that's where you have to go. I think that would benefit us as well as the sponsors more than anything.
I know my sponsors would love to see me at certain times at different places. I try to enter the performance when I'm in the vicinity of any of my sponsors. They don't think anything of it if we're not in the perf, but we really give up the good run a lot of the time. But right now it's all we can do with the way the rodeos are set up.

How do you think it could be done?
I think you can go with the top thirty and seat the top twenty or fifteen, however you want to do it. Maybe the past world champions or guys that have qualified for the finals. You know they'll sell tickets. Do the top fifty and seat them in tournaments. The top fifty rodeos, you've got a chance to go or you don't have to. If you don't, the next kid ought to get a chance to enter. Then have the National Finals off of what you win right there and let the other guys go to all the rodoes they want to go to. Let the beginners go.
The first year I won a championship they had a pro tour and I didn't get to go. They were all telling me how unfair it was, how is it unfair? They had pro tours at four rodeos and I got to go to three or four rodeos a week with those top fifteen not there and I was a first year member. I killed them at those rodeos. No Roy Cooper, no Dave Brock, no Paul Tierney, no Jimmy Cooper or Dee Pickett, well, that was wonderful for me. I think there's a chance to do it right now if they would do it.

Who is "they"?
Well, somebody has to step up and take the first move. We, as cowboys, can't do it. We can't tell the sponsors, "Here's what we're going to do." It's set up too much as a system. The directors have to say yes, our event directors, our representation of membership, right on down to commissioner Hatchell. Somebody has to take the initiative to make the step to try it and if it works you're a hero and if it doesn't you're a zero. But you can't be afraid of failure in this time and age.