By Michael Kinney

J.B. Mauney’s life has centered around bull riding. Some of the North Carolina native’s earliest memories were of him studying the sport.

“From the time I was old enough to put a tape in the VCR, all I watched was bull riding. That’s all I watched,” Mauney said. “When I came home from school, the rule of thumb was I had to do my homework before I could watch bull riding. And it was eating and sleep bull riding every day in my life.”