A Pinch of Rodeo

By Joe R. Nichols

Las Vegas Moment 

It was Sunday before the last performance of the National Finals Rodeo. I won’t pretend to remember what year. I have a terrible memory.

We were there early and it was a nice warm day. Sunshine, music, and friends, kept us outside the Thomas and Mack until performance time. I happened to start up a conversation with a fellow from Los Angeles. I think he was about my age, and I believe he was a dentist. He showed me an autographed picture of Billy Etbauer. It was a great shot of Billy from the previous NFR on a paint horse called Rio Bravo, which set the arena record score. He held that picture like it was an ancient heirloom worth millions of dollars.

The story he told about getting it autographed is worth repeating. Billy and a few other cowboys were at the autograph table in the trade show. This man stood in line for 45 minutes, but ran out of time because of previous plans for dinner with friends. He was so disappointed. This was a planned goal of his before he left home, not something he decided to do after he got there.

He knew that sometimes the cowboys would come up to a certain section of the corridor after their event. He brought the picture with him to the rodeo. Sure enough, there was Billy, but there were friends all around him and he looked to be busy visiting. Not wanting to impose or interrupt, the dentist stood back, and held the picture up facing Billy. It took a while, but Billy happened to see the picture and recognized it. He immediately walked over to him. “Would you like me to sign that?” he asked.

I can’t tell you how much that meant to this guy. He was so impressed that Billy would leave his friends to sign a picture for a complete stranger, and take time to visit with him.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised, I just wish I could remember to tell Billy this story.