Intimidation plays into competition in several ways. A lot of people have self-esteem issues, which is a form of self-intimidation. When we get into competition mode, there are several intimidating factors that can come into play. You might question whether or not your skills are as good as the next guy’s. You might think your partner is way better than you. These are just examples of thoughts that can be in your head and impact your performance.
When I first turned pro, the general competition was intimidating. My perception of that era was that it was pretty clicky, and there were people who used intimidation against their opponents. I viewed it as an unfriendly part of competition, and was uncomfortable with it.
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As time went on and my era of 1980s guys—Al Bach, Rickey Green, Dennis Watkins, Bobby Harris and Mike Beers, to name a few—came in, we didn’t play that game. I had some people try to intimidate me when I was amateuring and just getting into pro rodeo. I just kind of flipped it the other direction, and decided to not play that game. I instead tried to be friendly, go up and have conversation with people, and compliment guys on how great they roped.
The way I looked at it, it wasn’t me competing against them. It was me competing against me. All I cared about was doing my job, so I congratulated whoever did best that day before going on to the next competition. My generation flipped that clicky, intimidating atmosphere.
As I rodeoed over the years, the atmosphere we created carried on. Most guys still congratulate you, and when you see a good run, you hear guys whistling and yelling, “Yeah!”
The guys of my generation were just good-hearted people. I think most people are that way. But if you let that dark side creep in and let it take over in how you compete, intimidation can work its way in there. Thankfully, it’s been a different dynamic for about the last 30 years.
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You can sense intimidation in competition, and you can see it. It’s seemed like the calf ropers all the way through, including now, have that clicky intimidation and machoism kind of thing as a factor. Trevor (Brazile), Stran (Smith) and many others then and now were never that way. But other guys were and still are. You can see it and feel it.
The bulldogging had an intimidation factor early on. But in our era, the bulldoggers turned the tide, like we did. There were a good group of guys in the ’80s who didn’t mind seeing their competitors win. I never sense that intimidation factor in the bulldogging. You can watch the NFR every night, and when a guy makes a good run there are a line of guys waiting to high-five him.
There was one guy who really tried to intimidate me when we were amateur rodeoing. He was super talented, so I don’t know why he had to be that way. He was the first guy I tried my method on. I congratulated him every time I walked by him. Over the years, it diffused his game. And over time, he and I became great friends. He saw his way didn’t work, and that it was all about putting your run out there in the arena.
I showed him that mentally intimidating me wouldn’t work as a weapon. If you want to be the best and present yourself as a bully, go ahead. You can be the man. I don’t need to be the man. It diffused the intimidation and we became buddies, because he knew my heart. When I congratulated him and built him up, it was sincere, genuine praise because he roped great.
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Good overcomes evil. It just does. But you have to choose it. I needed the grit and determination to go put my best run out there. And I think divine intervention put some staples like this in me that helped me. Everyone has thoughts that want to mess with us. The battle is in the thought realm, and that’s when you squash the negative ones so they don’t take over.
Whether it’s somebody trying to mess with your head or you’re messing with your own head, intimidating thoughts must be overcome, so you thwart the enemy’s plan. You can back in there with a ferocious feeling, then go have dinner with your competitors and just enjoy one another. That last run is gone.
—TRJ—
