Author: Bob Rich

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2011-06-21

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1616144289

"Erma Bombeck meets Ernest Hemingway." That’s how a friend described his impressions of Bob Rich’s stories. You may find yourself agreeing as you read these entertaining tales about the adventures of an avid sportsman and entrepreneur told with the light touch of a humorist. Bob Rich has always been a gamer, from his first hockey games as a kid on the ice rinks of Buffalo through his adult life on the high seas in pursuit of record sport fish. Games have defined him in business, sports, and life. In this collection of colorful vignettes spanning four decades, Rich recounts some of the major highlights of his sporting life and his career. Western New Yorkers will be especially interested in his discussion of his activities in the local community: pioneering the art of purchasing the naming rights for a professional football stadium—Rich Stadium—where the Buffalo Bills play; buying and selling a National Hockey League franchise—the Buffalo Sabres—twice; and pursuing the dream of Major League Baseball in his hometown, including behind-the-scene glimpses of Robert Redford’s The Natural, which was filmed in Buffalo. Beyond Western New York, Bob describes fishing trips around the world in pursuit of trout with the president of the United States and in search of a thousand-pound blue marlin known as a grander, as well as swimming around Key West, and much more. The combination of vivid characters, intriguing storylines, and Bob Rich’s easy, flowing conversational style of writing make this an appealing and enjoyable read. From the Hardcover edition.