FORT WORTH, Texas - He's been described as stoic and classy.Others call him boring and mundane.
Whatever you think of him, the record books now indicateSilvano Alves is the first rider in PBR history towin back-to-back world titles and only the fourth rider - followingAdriano Moraes (3), Chris Shivers(2) and Justin McBride (2) - to win the worldtitle more than once.
Alves also set the mark for surpassing $3 million in careerearnings quicker than anyone else. He did so in 28 months.
"I'm still getting ahold of that," said a humbled Alves, whospoke with the help of his translator, Tab Barker.
"No one's ever done this before and I didn't think I could everdo it. From when I was little I never would have dreamed I could dothis."
Regardless of whatever adjectives are used to describe the24-year-old, his popularity is at an all-time high as well -evident by the fact that alternate plans had to be made in order toescort the reigning the two-time World Champion from the shark cageto the media room.
Customarily, the Champion steps down from the cage into Arena Awith a pair of security personnel and is quickly escorted throughthe throng of onlookers to an alleyway leading to the back bullpen.However, with upwards of a thousand fans still on the arena dirtchanting his name, he was instead taken through the front-of-houseproduction area and then led through a series of back hallways andup an elevator to the media area.
Alves and World Finals event winner RobsonPalermo then addressed the press, which was largely madeup of various media members that had traveled to the Finals fromBrazil.
"All these people are coming to root for the country and notnecessarily the guy," said Alves, as he made his way from the arenato the media room at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday afternoonin Las Vegas.
He said after falling off his first bull, he was happy to ridethe next four to get into the championship round.
Alves also admitted that he kept a close eye on the Top 10 inthe world standings and knew after Round 1 his title was at risk.All five of the Top 5 contenders advanced to the final round of theseason.
He wound up beating Guilherme Marchi by 659.75points.
"I knew I needed to ride (in Round 5) becauseeverything was at play and I might lose if I didn't," said SilvanoAlves.
"I knew I needed to ride (in Round 5) because everything was atplay and I might lose if I didn't," he said. "It was emotional tostay on that bull."
He later explained that this year's World Finals were differentthan 2011, "because I got to the Finals and it was really close -500 points is nothing. It's one bull, so I knew I needed to ridewell."
Alves, who all season was less concerned with his scores than hewas with making the whistle, wasn't without his detractors.
In 2012, he still rode nine more bulls than anyone else, butranked last in average scores among all riders with at least 15qualified rides. He was less than 1 percent below Valdironde Oliveira from having the highest riding percentage, butwas nearly 10 percent below his average from a year ago.
His total of 12,201.25 points is 3,500 points less than 2011, inspite of making three attempts.
However, his $1.4 million in earnings this year is right on parwith what he made in 2011.
As for those who doubted his ability to win back-to-back titles,Alves simply said, "Everybody has their detractors and theirfans.
"Every fan can root for whoever they want."
Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.