{"id":3882,"date":"2015-04-21T12:02:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T18:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:02","slug":"hello-this-is-neal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/hello-this-is-neal\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello, This Is Neal"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you going to do today?\u201d Linda yells from downstairs..barely audible over the din of the treadmill she fires up 4 mornings a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch for the blog.\u201d I yell back from my leather recliner in front of the Vizio HD with a HP notebook \u00a0in my lap and a distilled beverage close at hand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true, I do get a lot of\u00a0 blog ideas surfing the web but more often than not, I get distracted chasing link after link and end up miles away from the original starting line.<\/p>\n

This past week, though, I did come up with what journalists might call an honest to goodness \u201cScoop.\u201d At least I don\u2019t think anybody else has this one. Maybe nobody cares..but here goes.<\/p>\n

How many remember Neal Wanless?<\/p>\n

Think back six years to June when a rail-thin down on his luck 23 year old cowboy from Todd County, South Dakota\u00a0 stepped forward to claim the Powerball Jackpot worth 232 million dollars and rode off into the sunset never to be heard from again. Well, that\u2019s not entirely true. First, he took the one-time payment which, after taxes, came all the way down to 88 and a half million dollars. He and his family then used a big chunk of that to buy land out West near Vale. He became South Dakota\u2019s version of the recluse billionaire, Howard Hughes. (If that name doesn\u2019t ring a bell.. I\u2019m sorry..try Google)\"wanless<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019ve not only seen Mr. Wanless, I\u2019ve talked to him.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the \u201cScoop\u201d..the \u201cExclusive\u201d..the..aw, shut up, Doug.<\/p>\n

Even though I was able to go to the Barrett\/Jackson Classic Car auction in person when we were in Phoenix last January, I wasn\u2019t there for the biggest day of the sale; So I was anxious to watch a replay on television last week when most of the expensive cars cross the block; some bringing millions of dollars. The bidders themselves are fun to watch as they agonize under the constant pressure to keep going higher and higher in an expensive game of chicken over a vehicle two or more people want.<\/p>\n

This was one of those cars.<\/p>\n

\"wanless<\/a><\/p>\n

A 1967 Shelby Mustang race ready GT 500 big block in Midnight Blue. It was a gift from the late Carroll Shelby himself to his son Michael and considered one of the most collectible cars in Shelby history.<\/p>\n

Suddenly on TV up popped the bidder in the balcony who seemed determined not to lose out. Immediately, I thought to myself..I\u2019ve seen that skinny guy in the black hat before. You don\u2019t suppose it\u2019s Powerball winner Neal Wanless do you? The bidding went on for some time and the cameras kept going back and forth from car to bidder and then I realized\u2026crap..I\u2019m not recording this. Just then, the gavel came down, \u201cSold, Sold, Sold..400 thousand dollars.\u201d There\u2019s my guy with a smile as big as his hat getting congratulated by the Barrett\/Jackson assistant and I didn\u2019t record it.<\/p>\n

Wait a sec. I have DVR..I\u2019m always recording live television. Just hit the reverse button, get your camera out and….voila.<\/p>\n

\"neil<\/a><\/p>\n

Barrett\/Jackson doesn\u2019t disclose buyer\u2019s names but I was convinced in my mind that the young fella who was last seen by most of us picking up that big check in 2009 was, indeed, the same guy picking up a Shelby in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n

I was just going to post the pictures and let you decide but then figured..what the heck..maybe I can find out myself so I called some folks I know in Winner where the winning Powerball Ticket was purchased by Wanless. I don\u2019t know if my intention was to dig up some dirt on the young man who left Todd County shortly after he won the money\u2026but I didn\u2019t find any.<\/p>\n

So I called a pal in Belle Fourche which is near the ranch Wanless bought with 10 million of his winnings. \u201cHe keeps a real low profile.\u201d My friend told me. \u201cHe loves horses and rodeo and is very active in both. Around here, most people treat him just like another rancher and I\u2019m pretty sure that how he prefers it. I’m also pretty sure\u00a0you can\u2019t just drive right out to his place..but he\u2019s certainly not in hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

My friend did give me a number he thought I might try.<\/p>\n

I was kind of shocked when a man\u2019s voice answered on the second ring. So surprised that I asked who it was. \u201cThis is Neal,\u201d the voice came back. I nervously rattled off that I was Doug Lund with Keloland TV..which was appropriate, of course, to identify myself as a reporter, but I\u2019d hoped to put him at ease first with a little relaxing small talk.\u00a0 So I quickly tried to recover, \u201cNeal \u00a0that was you I saw on TV getting the Shelby at Barrett\/Jackson wasn\u2019t it?\u201d \u00a0\u201cYeah. It was\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s quite a car.\u201d \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Short one word answers..he hates this. Come, on..think, man, think.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeal, it\u2019s been quite a while since the lottery, just wondering what\u2019s been going on in your life. Have you gotten married or any plans to?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo\u201d\u00a0 \u201c Would you be open to Kevin Woster coming out to\u2026..CLICK.\u2019<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s what I get for acting like some TMZ or ET reporter.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been cut out for ambush interviews or trying to squeeze answers out of people who just want to be left alone.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s it; my big scoop; three short answers in a phone call Neal Wanless wanted no part of and a screen grab from a TV car auction..all from the comfort of my man cave.<\/p>\n

Linda\u2019s right I do need to get out more.<\/p>\n

As for Neal Wanless. I\u2019m sorry I bothered you, Bud. I won\u2019t be calling again and I hope others respect your privacy too. I also hope you can understand that not everyone wants something from you..it\u2019s just that you\u2019re living the dream so many have envisioned for themselves and are simply curious.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0 enjoy your fortune your way. Keep respecting God, your parents and hard work.<\/p>\n

Oh, and have fun with that special new Mustang named \u201cShelby\u201d now in your stable with those other prized Ponies.<\/p>\n

\"neil<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u201cWhat are you going to do today?\u201d Linda yells from downstairs..barely audible over the din of the treadmill she fires up 4 mornings a week. \u201cResearch for the blog.\u201d I yell back from my leather recliner in front of the Vizio HD with a HP notebook \u00a0in my lap and a distilled beverage close…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lund-at-large","category-60","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11573,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions\/11573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}