Riley Knows When He Should Back Off

Pat Riley, Laker coach, tells the story about a get-tough approach he used last season before Game 7 of the National Basketball Assn. championship series against the Detroit Pistons.

“I walked in the gym for practice, looked around and everybody is all loosey-goosey,” Riley said. “So I decided my whistle was gonna be tight that day. After all, there’s a world championship at stake, and Magic is out there, putting the ball between his legs and around his back.

“So I walked up to him and I said, ‘All right, dammit, you know what your job is. It is to get the pace of the game going, to penetrate, to pass.’

“Then I went to Byron Scott and I said, ‘Your job is to shoot, but you know, every once in a while, maybe once or twice a game, you can pass the ball back to somebody.’

“Now I’m really heating up, so I head for Kurt Rambis and I said, ‘Let’s get a little more out of you tomorrow night. Right now, we’re paying you $500,000 a year to take the ball out of bounds.’

“And you, James Worthy, if you keep playing like you have been, Dantley will eat your lunch.

“Finally, I got to Kareem. I marched up to him, leaned back, looked up, way up, and said, ‘Ah, um, what would you like to do in practice today, sir?’ ”

Add Riley: One of his favorite sayings is: “There are two things in sports--winning and misery.”

Another, which he learned from his late father and which he is currently preaching in many ways to his floundering Lakers, is: “Plant your feet, stand firm and make your point.”

At dedication ceremonies for the Rose Bowl’s Court of Champions exhibit Wednesday, some old Rose Bowlers were sharing memories.

Don Bunce, Jim Plunkett’s backup at quarterback during the 1970 season, talked about a tumultuous Stanford locker room after the 1971 game, when Stanford upset Ohio State, 27-17, and Plunkett won the game’s most valuable player award.

“There was a mob of sportswriters around Plunkett, and his locker was next to mine,” Bunce recalled. “I couldn’t get near it to undress and take a shower. Finally, the writers all left and I got into the shower long after everyone else had. When I got out of the shower, everyone was gone. I got dressed in a hurry, ran outside, and the bus was gone. They’d left without me.”

A year later, Bunce had a much better day. Stanford beat Michigan, 13-12, and Bunce was MVP.

The more the experts size up the race for the Super Bowl, the more they seem to become fascinated with the Minnesota Vikings, who are nothing if they are not interesting.

Mike Wilbon of the Washington Post writes that, in recent months, 11 Vikings have been arrested, 7 on drunk-driving charges, 2 on disorderly conduct and another on assault charges.

Darrin Nelson, Viking running back, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, when asked to comment on this, “It’s pretty tough when little kids come up to you and say, ‘My dad told me to ask you, is so and so going to be drunk on Sunday?’ ”

Add Vikings: Quarterbacks Wade Wilson and Tommy Kramer used to be the best of friends, but according to Tom Friend of the Washington Post, that relationship has cooled since Wilson won the starter’s job. “It’s different this year, that’s for sure,” Wilson said. “But it’s still professional. It’s not the same from a friendship aspect. We don’t run around and play cards like we used to . . . I mean, we still play cards, but we don’t go out of our way to do things together.”

Quotebook

Philadelphia Coach Buddy Ryan, quoted by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post on how his Eagles approach their playoff game Saturday at Chicago against the Bears: “We’re not going to sneak into town. We’re going in there to circle the stadium and blow our horns.”