LAS VEGAS – Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney was sitting at a blackjack table at the Park MGM on Thursday when a fan struck up a conversation with him.
“You are J.B., right?”
Mauney replied, “Yes, sir.”
The man responded, “I’ve been here every year since you’ve been riding. It’s about time for you to retire, isn’t it?”
Mauney then had to pause for a moment.
Unintentionally or not, the fan said one the main things that can get Mauney’s blood boiling.
Retirement.
Mauney responded, “Well, everybody’s got an opinion.”
The man continued to bring the subject up, however, and finally Mauney had enough.
“Look, I do stuff on my terms,” Mauney explained. “And when I want to do it. I am not finished riding bulls yet.”
Mauney then walked away, and boy, was he ready to ride come Round 2 of the 2018 PBR World Finals at T-Mobile Arena.
The 31-year-old didn’t just ride, either.
He knocked out his first 90-point ride in 482 days, and his first since a career-threatening shoulder injury at the 2017 Calgary Stampede, by riding M.A.G.A. for 90.5 points.
“That kind of lit the fire under me right there,” Mauney said of his fan encounter. “It pissed me off.”
Mauney channeled his inner World Champion to cover M.A.G.A. away from his hand as J.W. Hart’s bull began to fade across the arena.
The Mooresville, North Carolina, cowboy had joked with Hart earlier, saying that Hart should add some weight to M.A.G.A. seeing as the first time Mauney rode him – 87 points in Fort Worth, Texas, at THE AMERICAN Semi-Finals – Mauney’s cigarettes stayed in his pocket.
“I knew what the bull was going to do, been on him before,” Mauney said. “He has gained weight. He’s gotten a lot bigger since when I got on him. He was kind of thin when J.W. first got him. He’s got a little more power now.”
Two-time World Champion Justin McBride admitted on the CBS Sports Network broadcast that he should not have doubted Mauney on Thursday night, and nine-time World Champion Ty Murray was impressed by Mauney’s ability to reset his hips.
Mauney’s 73 career 90-point rides is one behind McBride (74) for second all-time.
“He is just a great, dynamic bull rider,” Murray said. “He has thrilled people for so long. His hips are as far out of there as you can get. It is almost like he almost magically slides them back over to where they need to be. This is a little, wiry guy that just rides to love bulls.”
Mauney is amidst the worst season of his career.
His ride on M.A.G.A. is only his 18th ride on the premier series. His 36 percent riding average and No. 28 world ranking are both career lows.
The 482 days between 90-point rides is the longest stretch of his career.
“I don’t give a shit,” Mauney said. “Whether I’m 90 or 70, if I win, they can all kiss my ass.”
Mauney, though, understands the criticism about his recent results.
“Hell, I ain’t making no excuses,” he continued. “They’ve been whooping the shit out of me the past two years. But that’s part of it. Everybody does it. I’ve been hurt, but I was able to get by with just tape, braces and stuff like that. Last year, when I tore my shoulder up, it got a little more serious. I couldn’t just say, ‘Give me a brace, I can ride.’
“That was the worst ever.”
Mauney selected Hanna Motors Two Point Oh during the Round 3 draft. Mauney covered Two Point Oh this past summer at the Calgary Stampede for 87 points.
Fans can watch Round 3 of the World Finals on CBS Sports Network beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET. RidePass will offer companion coverage at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Mauney is 1-for-2, but a World Finals event title on Sunday would put Mauney alongside three-time World Finals event winner Robson Palermo in the record books.
That would certainly quiet some of those retirement comments.
At the end of the day, Mauney understands that once a bull rider enters his 30s, that question is only going to continue to keep popping up.
“Oh yeah, this is a humbling sport,” Mauney said. “That’s why, in your head, you’ve got to be the cockiest son of a gun who ever walked the face of the earth. But you don’t tell people. You tell yourself, ‘I’m here to kick everybody else’s asses and I’m here to win, and that’s the only thing that matters.’
“It don’t matter how old you are, whether you’re 20 or you’re 31. That has to be the mentality. And as soon as you lose that mentality, that’s when you hang your shit up.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
