A TRIBUTE TO TONY RIVERA

A TRIBUTE BY RUDY BAZAAN

If I had to use one word to describe Tony Rivera it would be “heart”. Heart can mean a lot of different things, to a lot of different people. It can mean friendship, love, passion, determination, or many other things based on one’s perspective. Tony embodied all those things. I first meet Tony in 2007, one year after he won his National title. Being from the Rio Grande Valley, I knew Steve Shultz, aka “Grande”, with Targetline. Being a newbie to the game of sporting clays I wanted to get a lesson, so I talked to Steve and received the referral to Tony. I showed up as instructed for the scheduled lesson with Tony to find that he was not there. As it sometimes goes with those who run general contracting businesses, like Tony did, his day got busy. Tony felt so bad about not being able to make it, he offered to reschedule the lesson for free. He didn’t know me but was determined to make it right. We had our lesson, found out we lived ten minutes from each other and had had similar interests, and our friendship was off and running. He invited me to shoot with him the next weekend, which led us to become squad mates, almost exclusively for the next ten years. He welcomed me to his squad, not as a student, but as friends. I was amazed that a National Champ would shoot and travel with a newbie.

Shooting and traveling with Tony was an experience like none I’ve ever had. Having a solid group of friends from back home that were all crazy and fun, Tony fit right in and in some cases took it to a new level. On the road we talked about everything under the sun, politics, movies, hunting, fishing, growing up, nothing was off limits, but the one thing we did the most was laugh. The jokes and stupid sayings were countless. Once we got to the shoot, it took an hour just to get to registration due to all the people he would stop, and he was stopped by, to talk to. The same applied when trying to get to our first station. I would request that we leave on time to get there, but we always rolled up at the last minute because he made it a point to, a least try and talk to everyone he knew like a true friend would.

One thing I quickly observed and learned from my time with Tony was that when his wife Debbie called, we would pause our shenanigans so he could talk to her. It could be early morning or three o’clock in the afternoon, and he always answered the phone the same way with a loud and cheerful “Good Morning!” This was just what he did with her, it was special, perfect, and full of love. During my time with Tony, I got to know his family, primarily Debbie and his brother Art. He loved them deeply and would do anything for them.

Once the competition started it was “game on”. Tony would do everything he could think of, to hit every single target out there. His style of shooting was unique, with a gun slinger vibe, he was fast and fearless, making him a tough act to follow working my way up through the classes. His desire to do his best was so great that he would change guns in the middle of a shoot if he felt like it would right the ship. Sure, changing shells or guns in the middle of shoot could be superstition or mental, but anyone who says they don’t have emotions about not shooting well is either lying, or not competing seriously. One thing he always said is, “anyone who is not upset about losing, will never win”.

The Sporting Clays community is like none in any other sport. In what other sport can you end up squadded with a National Champion or All-American? In my experience, 95% of the people at a

competition will help you out if you ask, in some cases they try help even when you don’t ask. The point is, it’s a great group of folks. Tony spoke of this often to me. He told me of his shoot-offs back in the day with legends like Andy Duffy, Scott Robertson, and Bobby Fowler, and remembering when young guns like Corey Cruse and Anthony Matarese could barely carry their autos to shoot, and his joy seeing them be successful. He loved the shooting community and wanted to see the sport grow, helping so many shooters of all classes with positive words in an effort to help others get something positive from the sport. He wanted everyone to realize the benefits of the sport that had given him so much. This was his passion.

A month before he passed, Tony was asked to write an article for ClayShooting USA Magazine, to talk about his handicap sporting clays game he called Matchplay. I have yet to read what he wrote, but we talked about it often, analyzing it ad infinitum. I’m sure his article will be instructive and well thought out. I want people to know that his idea for this game comes from his heart, his personality, his passion to compete against the best, his friendship and desire to include everyone, and his determination to help the sport grow.

It truly was my honor to be asked to write memoriam of my friend Tony who was like a second father to me. I know there are lots of folks out there who knew and cared for him just as much as I did. The words “he will be missed” feels like such an understatement. For me, and so many others, going to tournaments without him will be so strange. I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with Tony and would do it all over again. Till I see you again… “U got dat shot!” n