2013 World Champion J.B. Mauney spent all day Thursday in New York making various appearances in the media capital of the world.
By PBR
NEW YORK – It’s been 68 days since J.B. Mauney won his first world title.
Mauney begins his title defense tonight in earnest at the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden in snowy New York. The three-day event will take place at Madison Square Garden, but not before Mauney spent much of Thursday making appearances and taking part in a series of several interviews in what is widely known as the media capital of the world.
Mauney’s day started at 6 a.m. with an appearance on “The Couch,” which airs throughout New York on CBS affiliate WLNY, and his tour didn’t end until 6 p.m. when he and PBR Chairman and CEO Jim Haworth wrapped up a joint appearance on the nightly Bloomberg News program “Talking Stock.”
In between those appearances Mauney, 27, was interviewed and photographed by Sports Illustrated, TIME Magazine, Newsmax and the SiriusXM program “Freewheelin” that airs each afternoon on Road Dog 128.
Mauney talked about everything from winning the gold buckle and the $1 million bonus to the dangerous aspect of bull riding and the importance of bucking bulls. However, he may have been most comfortable talking about his wife, Lexie, and the calming influence she had, especially down the stretch last season as he made the greatest comeback in PBR history.
J.B. Mauney puts up 93 points on Wipe Out in the championship round of the 2013 Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas.
“I’m so glad marriage plays a big part in your success,” said Maggie Gray, the host of “SI Now.”
Gray said Mauney’s openness about his own marriage made an impact because she’s getting married this summer. As much as the talk of marriage impacted Gray, when the show was done taping “SI Now” senior producer Joseph Lynch was smiling when he looked at Mauney and said, “Put a helmet on man, please.”
Lynch’s comment, which initially drew a smile and a shrug of the shoulders from Mauney, was in reference to Gray mentioning that she was glad to see bull riders wearing helmets.
Mauney quickly had to say that while he used to wear a helmet, midway through his World Championship season he took his helmet off for good and now dons a traditional cowboy hat when competing.
“I don’t wear a helmet anymore,” Mauney said.
After listening to his explanation, Gray replied, “Why would you do that?”
The internet-based talk show, which is produced much like a cable network program with a crew of eight people, including producers, editors and a makeup person, will be broadcast Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET and can be found at www.si.com/sinow.
Interestingly enough, Belinda Luscombe uses the same studio to record her weekly interviews for TIME Magazine’s regular “10 Questions” column, which also airs a video recording online after the magazine is published.
Mauney took part in a quick and classic black-and-white photo shoot for the magazine in which he’s dressed with his chaps on sans his protective vest after editors unanimously agreed they liked the look of his sponsor-filled long sleeve shirt.
Much like with Gray, Luscombe asked a series of questions that eventually included another conversation about Lexie.
During the prep beforehand, Luscombe explained that although the weekly piece is called “10 Questions,” she’ll ask more than that and that some answers might be shortened in order to fit on the one-page layout.
Earlier in the day, Mauney had posed for several photos with the cast of “The Couch,” and the hosts of “Freewheelin” – Meredith Ochs and Chris T – not only knew who Mauney was, but also seemed well-versed and knowledgeable about the PBR.
They talked about what fans can expect from the new season to specifically having a conversation about two-time World Champion Bull Bushwacker, who despite having never bucked in New York is quite a famous animal athlete throughout the city.
Bushwacker bucks of Eduardo Aparecido in 4.57 seconds, earning a bull score of 47 points in the championship round of the 2013 Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas.
Bloomberg News host Pimm Fox even asked about bulls – specifically their value – during his conversation with Haworth and Mauney.
Fox turned to Mauney and said, “You must be a rock star.”
At the conclusion of the segment and Thursday’s media adventure, which also included several media appearances by Jory Markiss, Pistol Robinson and Matt Triplett, Fox shook Haworth’s hand and simply repeated, “Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating.”
The media exposure in New York, which received six inches of snow during the overnight hours according to The New York Times, will continue Friday and into the weekend.
Mauney will appear on the FOX Business program “Dagen and Connell Show” along with a Bloomberg Radio interview on “The Hays Advantage.” Haworth will join Mauney for the FOX Business interview before the two join Robson Palermo, other PBR executives and Monster Energy representatives to ring the NASDAQ closing bell.
There’s also a special running of the bulls arrival at Madison Square Garden at 3 p.m. ET with four-time Stock Contractor of the Year Jeff Robinson, Pistol Robinson and Matt Triplett.
Telemundo, The Wall Street Journal, “HBO Real Sports,” “VH1 Top 20,” “CBS 2 Morning News,” Bravo’s “Watch What Happens,” producers working with Martha Stewart and SinoVision, the leading Asian news site, will all be on hand, at some point, for the 500th Built Ford Tough Series event in the PBR’s 20-plus year history this weekend in New York.
