# Miami Heat coach Riley talks bow hunting on African Safari



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Riley talks of bow-hunting on African safari

Heat coach Pat Riley vacationed around the world this summer, including bow-hunting on an African safari. 'I got something . . . I'm going to have it mounted,' he said.

BY BARRY JACKSON
[email protected]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sp ... 802519.htm

Navigating his team to an NBA championship wasn't Pat Riley's only heart-racing, nerve-racking adventure this summer.

When you're surrounded by wild animals on an African safari, watching Dirk Nowitzki sneak free for a three-pointer doesn't seem quite so unnerving by comparison.









''I got caught in a riverbed with about 20,000 wildebeests stampeding within 20 feet of me,'' Riley revealed matter-of-factly Thursday. ``It was incredible.

``This was right after the championship. I was a week away from Dallas and the next week I was being chased by buffalo and wildebeests.''

Did he feel at risk? ``Yeah, I did. Oh, yeah. I felt at risk in the middle of the afternoon, stalking wildebeests and buffalo and [getting] caught in the middle of a high grass savanna. And there were buzzards circling overhead, so the night's kill was all around.''

What's more, there was a pride of lions 'probably 50 yards away. They don't bother you if you don't bother them. They've already been fed. But I was afraid we would walk up on somebody in the deep grass and, `Hey!' We did walk up on what they call a warthog. He jumped out and scared the hell out of us. I said, 'Let's get to some place where we can see.' We had people with high-powered guns, obviously, but I didn't have one on me.''

*ON THE HUNT*

Riley had been to Africa before, but this was the first time he went bow-hunting. His wife, Chris, couldn't make the trip because she was ill.

''I had a license for everything except cats and elephants -- elephants they don't let you,'' he said.

Riley has a friend who is a world-class hunter and outdoorsman who taught him to bow-hunt. 'For years, he kept saying, `You got to go.' ''

Riley initially resisted because ``I don't want to kill anything. A rifle is not a challenge. I was with a 60-pound bow and I had to be within 20 or 30 meters. That was my range.''

So did he kill anything? ''I got something, but I'm not telling you,'' he said, laughing. ``I'm going to have it mounted. It was a clean kill, too, which is important, because you don't want them to suffer.''

Riley shared other reflections on his summer -- and his state of mind -- in an introspective conversation with two reporters after Thursday's practice.

He had fond memories of being in Nice, France, with his wife and best friends on Bastille Day. ''It's like our Fourth of July,'' he said.

``It was incredible. In the hotel, I took the top suite. Fireworks went on for hours. At the time, I didn't even know it, [Heat owner] Micky Arison was out there on a yacht having a party for 40 or 50 people.''

Besides Africa, Riley traveled throughout Europe, Japan and Hawaii and was congratulated by NBA fans most everywhere he went. ``It went real fast.''

And now, with the Oct. 31 regular-season opener approaching, it's back to work. Which, to Riley, means giving up so much of what he treasures in life at age 61.

''Four decades in the gym have created a lot of lost time . . . with friends, family, children, going places,'' said Riley, whose team plays its fourth preseason game tonight in Memphis.

``From right after Labor Day until the end of the season, I take myself out of the mainstream of life, and that's what I hate about it more than anything else.

``I can't live during the season like I live during the summer. There's too much guilt and responsibility on my part to get it done and to sacrifice and discipline myself to get them ready.

``I hate that about the job. It makes me not sleep at night and takes away from a lot of things you love to do in life. I'm running out of time now. I don't want to give up those things that much anymore. . . . There are different things in fall and winter you'd like to do and can't.''

So did he ever lean against coming back this season?

''I never thought about that,'' he said. ``After we won it, it's the right thing and the only thing to do. I don't feel like I was forced to do it.

``Now whatever happens next year or down the road, I don't know. I felt in my heart I had to finish this out with this team. It doesn't mean I have to finish it out forever with them, but with this group, at least this year.''

*PRIMED FOR A RUN*

Riley revealed the ''mind-set'' he had last season was ''really one of desperation by the end'' -- fueled by ``questions of whether or not I'd ever do it again.''

Now, after 18 years between championships, he's primed for a run at consecutive ones.

''I think we know -- and I know the league knows -- that if we're healthy, and even though we might not have a great regular season if that does happen again, I wouldn't want to play us if we're right and healthy in the playoffs,'' he said.

His message to his players:

``You either defend the championship or you disgrace it.''


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