In what was originally slated to be a series of individual interviews with the top contenders for the world title, a scheduling conflict the day before the start of the World Finals resulted in all five of riders meeting with the TV broadcasters at once.
A confident J.B. Mauney spoke openly and honestly, while two-time defending World Champion Silvano Alves sat mostly quiet and listened. He laughed and joked a few times, especially when fellow Brazilian Guilherme Marchi entertained the room with his always gracious personality.
Marco Eguchi, who Marchi described as shy, and Joao Ricardo Vieira spoke sparingly and often deflected their answers to Marchi, who like Mauney was comfortable in the situation.
In a series of “throwback” stories being posted each Thursday between now and the end of the calendar year, PBR.com will look back at some of the key moments from throughout the historical season.
The latest in the series is a look back at the roundtable discussion led by nine-time World Champion Ty Murray, whose pointed questions that had everything to do with confidence and a winning attitude, Craig Hummer and Leah Garcia just before the start of this year’s World Finals.
Here is that story as it appeared on the website October 23, 2013:
LAS VEGAS – On Tuesday morning, the Top 5 contenders in the PBR world standings took part in a roundtable discussion with a few of the CBS Sports Network broadcasters for this week's World Finals telecast.
Prior to the arrival of the four Brazilian riders, including the defending two-time World Champion and the current No. 1 ranked rider Silvano Alves, nine-time World Champion Ty Murray, who will be in the booth with Craig Hummer, engaged J.B. Mauney in a back-and-forth conversation that was both insightful and educational.
It could have easily been a professor lecturing one of their graduate level students, but, for a moment anyway, the question and answer session turned into a conversation in which two professionals ― an iconic figure in the history of the sport along with arguably the most popular figure in the sport today ― with a mutual respect for each other casually discussed the sometimes hard-luck lessons of competing with the best riders in the world on the Built Ford Tough Series on the rankest bulls in the world.
"Why do you think bull riding teaches you the same lessons over and over and over?" Murray asked. "I know, for me, and I see with you and I see it with a lot of guys, it's like, you'll learn a lesson and then next week you make that same mistake. Then three weeks later you learn that same lesson and you'll feel like you have it so concrete ― and I've watch this with you a lot and it happened with me a lot. You think, just have fun."
"And you're not having fun," Mauney jumped in and finished.
Murray added, "Yeah, you lost that train of thought. To me, your relative inconsistency is the only thing that's kept you from winning a world title, so five days can feel like a long time out here."
The founding father then asked Mauney how he plans to keep this thought process on track this week at World Finals.
"One bull at a time," Mauney stoically said.
By this time, Alves and the others ― Joao Ricardo Vieira, Marco Eguchi and Guilherme Marchi ― had all entered the room and began gathering around the table.
Alves sat quietly listening to his closest competitor.
After beginning the stretch run down by nearly 3,000 points, Mauney now trails by only 538.5 points with five days and six rounds separating them between now and a world title.
"I look at it like five different bull ridings," Mauney continued. "Don't look ahead to the next round. Look at the bull you have that day and that's it ― forget about the rest. You (have) a job to do and you go there and do that and don't worry about the next one until the next day.
"See, (in the past), I left how I did the day before reflect on how I rode the next day or I was thinking about it or I'd take it back. Now I got to where, if I get thrown off, yeah, I get mad at myself, but I leave it at the arena. When I leave tomorrow's a new day."
Even with his top competitors present, Mauney was absolutely forthright and honest with his responses, even when asked if what he was admitting to was having let weekends get away from him in the past.
"Oh yeah, plenty of them," Mauney said. "Too many that I won't mention."
Mauney's confident.
In the past, he said he might not have articulated it as well as he can now, and so, perhaps, it was misconstrued as being cocky.
He's knows he can ride bulls.
He knows he has an opportunity.
"I think it's why I used to get so mad at myself. Just like he said," replied Mauney, looking back over at Murray. "You learn the lesson, but two weeks later you make the same mistake."
He's been darn near mistake-free for nine weeks.
In what is being called the most prolific nine-week stretch in the 20-year history of the PBR, Mauney won five of the last nine regular-season BFTS events.
Meanwhile, Alves was also undaunted and unfazed by whatever was asked of him-though much more reserved, giving only short and to-the-point answers.
Is he nervous? No. Has he changed his routine? No.
Even though Murray doesn't believe Alves' first answer, he knows it's the right answer and actually, in some ways, admires Alves' calm demeanor.
Murray likened the 25-year-old to a politician.
With Marchi helping to translate, Alves often shrugged his shoulders and simply nodded no in never once allowing himself to be perceived as worrisome. In fact, at times, he probably came off as uninterested.
Despite having gone through an intense English course at the University of North Texas, in Denton, earlier this year, Alves relied on Marchi and spoke only in Portuguese, but afterward said he understands in upwards of 60 percent of the English conversations that take place around him.
Asked if he felt it was an advantage not having to participate in as much media interviews or the lack of expectation to speak with the media, unlike Mauney, Alves smiled and laughed.
When Mauney was asked about it, he said," Tater Porter told me a long time ago if you don't want to do interviews, then don't ride so good. I got tired of them wanting to do interviews and I said, 'Gosh, this sucks.' He said, 'There's a way you can get out of it.' I said, 'How's that?' And he told me to quit riding so good. He said, 'It's true. It's all part of it.'
"If somebody asks me a question, I answer it and then I forget about it after I'm done," Mauney continued.
Mauney has grown so responsible that he was the first to arrive for the discussion. Not only did he get to the meeting room before the other riders, but he also arrived well in advance of Hummer, Garcia and Murray, who along with co-founder Cody Lambert are regarded for never being late.
Alves and Mauney said they did not get on any practice bulls since the conclusion of the Hollywood, Fla., event. Both said they feel 100 percent healthy and have done their best to ignore thinking about what lies ahead the next five days.
There's no more ignoring it now.
For the next 96 hours the pressure will only intensify.
For Mauney, he's hopes to have learned his lessons wisely.
"Bull riding is the easiest thing in the world," he said, "if you do it right."