WHEN THE TOUGHEST OF TIMES BRING OUT THE BEST IN COWBOYS
Cowboys cried when living legend Jake Barnes lost the thumb on his roping hand in the heat of world championship battle at the 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. In the aftermath of that horrific Round 5 happening, the way the roping and rodeo world rallied around Jake’s heeler, Kory Koontz, to help him salvage the second half of Rodeo’s Super Bowl was nothing short of remarkable. Unselfish offers, decisions and sacrifices were made. If Kory was going to leave Las Vegas without that year’s gold buckle, it was not going to be because he didn’t have the best possible replacement partner, replacement head horse and best-ever, go-fast heel horse in his corner.
Jake and Kory entered that year’s Super Bowl of Rodeo ranked second only to regular-season champs Clay Tryan and Patrick Smith, and got their NFR roll on straight out of the blocks. Barnes and Koontz were going gangbusters with a 5.1-second run to split fourth and fifth in Round 1; 4.6 for third in Round 2; and another 5.1 to split fifth and sixth in Round 3. They were 5.7 in Round 4, which didn’t place. But it did put them in the driver’s seat of the world championship race with the average lead. Clay and Patrick hadn’t stopped the clock in Rounds 1 or 2. But they did rebound and keep it interesting by rallying back with victory laps in Rounds 3 and 4.
