Every once in a while events take place right before your eyes that reassures your faith in fellow man or (women). I witnessed one such event this past month in Bristol, TN and I can’t begin to tell you how good it made me feel just being there watching it unfold! JX2 productions held its annual truck roping and as always it was nothing short of a shin-dig. Good food, good fun, and good friends always makes this a MUST attend roping for me.
As with most truck ropings, things got a little tight at the end with several guys battling it out for the top prize or I should say prizes! The roping was pretty tough and the final points standing proved it! With the exception of the Gold Plus ropings in Oklahoma I can only recall two other times that I have been to a truck roping where a rope off would determine the outcome of who would drive home
the highly sought after grand prize. I’m sure you have figured it out by now that this was the third one!
Short goes are always unpredictable and this short go proved this to be true! Several people had multiple call backs but it was heelers Caleb Anderson and Duane Yost who had multiple call backs in the first ten spots. Both of these guys roped an outstanding roping but as you know things can happen!
I’ve seen Caleb rope a few times and that day seemed to be his day! This young man was doing everything almost text book! During the short go you could tell that this young man had made his mind up that he was going to win that truck! His horsemanship was first-rate and it looked like he was in slow motion when he was roping feet. He hit a few bumps in the road during the short go but remained focused to still capture second place with his Dad Jeff! We all know how team roping is and we all know that both partners are trying to do there best sometimes misfortune just seems to come your way! In Caleb’s case misfortune didn’t totally wreck his train. He earned points for 2nd, 9th, and a few fast goes that he had collected during the day to put him in a tie with Mr. Duane Yost!
I’ve known Duane or (Skinner) for several years now and he is just one of those people that stand out! Duane and His wife Judy are two of the best hearted and hospitable people you will ever meet! Duane is a dynamic person who you just want to be around because he is always positive, joyful and upbeat! A lot of people don’t know this about Skinner because he would probably never come out and just tell you, but a few years ago when those miners in West Virginia were trapped in that mine it was him and his crew that brought the drill and bored the hole that made it possible to get those guys out of there! I remember talking to him about it a while after it had happened and he got choked up even then. I guess your wandering why I’m telling you all this? Because here is where the story gets good!
After the roping they called Duane and Caleb to the arena to tell them that they had tied for the truck and there needed to be a rope off! In true Skinner fashion he humbly forfeited and took the Harley Davidson which allowed Caleb to be the new proud owner of the Crew Cab Dodge truck! When he done that, I, along with several others, just stood there speechless! After the prizes were awarded I got to talk to Duane and I asked him to tell me why he done what he did? He kind of blushed and just smiled and said, “You never know what could happen in a rope off but that kid roped awesome all weekend! I just thought I would go ahead and do what was right! That kid deserved that truck, he earned it!”
What made it even better was when I went and talked to Caleb! You could see the amazement in his eyes and on his dad’s face! He wasn’t like a lot of kids now days, he was truly grateful! In between the yes sirs and the no sirs I asked him what he thought of the gesture and he replied, “That man is amazing! I can’t begin to thank him enough!”
Now I guess you see why I always say that the people in this sport are some of the greatest people you will ever meet!
Hope to see you somewhere soon!
God Bless,
JD