Customer Reviews

Counsel in the Crease: A Big League Player in the Hockey Wars

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book. It was not only entertaining, but it gave a lot of insight into the workings of the legal field in pro sports as well as television and entertainment. I found myself thinking "I'd forgotten all about that" or "Is that how that came about?", and the hockey names from the past that I'd long since forgotten were brought back to the present by the writing of Mr. Swados. This was well worth the time it took to read it!

Hockey fans who are avid followers of the sport will surely recognize the name of Robert O. Swados, who has been a league owner, executive, and franchise builder in the professional hockey world for over forth years. Counsel In The Grease: A Big League Player In The Hockey Wars provides a strong memoir of his encounters with coaches, players, and owners alike, describing the many changes he's observed in the sport since his initial involvement in the 1960s, and his up and down years with the National Hockey League. A lively set of insights on the sports world as a whole makes Counsel In The Grease a highly recommended pick indeed.

Good grief Robert, who was your fact checker?? Understandably this book was written by an aging old employee of the Sabres so a pass is given to him on his recollection of facts but GEEZ somebody at the publishing company should have checked this over before releasing this. Where do I begin? OK, Joe Daley was NOT traded for Roger Crozier...that was Tom Webster, Pat Lafontaine did not suffer his concussion against the Bruins, it was the Penguins, the Atlanta Flames entered the NHL in 1972 not 1974, the Capitals entered in 1974 not 1972, Floyd Smith was not the coach when Tony McKegney was drafted, Swados says he attended a game at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton in 1981 and then in the next paragraph he says the building didn't exist in the early 1990's, which is it? Gil Perreault was not drafted in the Fall of 1969, Willie O'Ree was long out of the NHL (1960-61) when the Knox's had Oakland Seals ties, the Sabres did not play their first game in 1969, Dave Forman died in 1987 so how did you call him and ask for advice in the 1990's? The Buffalo Braves did not make the playoffs in the first 3 years etc. Facts like this should have been checked by SOMEBODY! All this and I'm only half way through the book. I'm all for telling the TRUE story of the Buffalo Sabres but find somebody who knows what's going on. What's Paul Wieland doing these days? John B.

The usual disclosure here: I worked indirectly for Bob Swados when we were both connected with the Sabres in the 1980's and 1990's, and interviewed him with I was covering the team after that. Therefore, I had the chance to know him a bit ... and therefore I was very interested to hear him write at length at his hockey career.

At length. There's an appropriate phrase. Swados writes for 450-plus pages here, plus notes and index. The book itself is an interesting mix, at times fascinating, at times surprising. If nothing else, his voice shines through -- no softening ghostwriter here.

Swados is one of those "behind the scenes" characters that doesn't get the spotlight too often but is involved in the inside of pro sports. He worked on Buffalo's proposed team in the Continental League in baseball around 1959 or so, and then moved on to the hockey business in the late 1960's. He was in the middle of the awarding of an NHL franchise to Buffalo in 1969, and stayed active with the team for about 30 years. Swados also served as league secretary.

Two elements shine through in this book. The first is that Swados is a very intelligent man, knows it, values brainpower, and doesn't mind telling you about it. Not all of America's top lawyers came out of Harvard, although you'd think so after reading this. There's a little arrogance in the mix. For example, Swados writes about the time he had to actually stand in line in Ottawa at the will call window to get his playoff tickets, as if the experience was beneath him. On other hand, those qualities probably are desirable in a good lawyer; confidence is kind of nice.

The other element is less desirable. There are a great many factual errors and mistakes in this book. The team started play in 1970, not in 1969 as was written. The arena opened in 1996, not 1997. The Nordiques were not in the NHL in the early 1970's. It's Bryan Trottier, not Brian. You get the idea, and it does hurt the book's credibility a bit. There also are some editing oversights, such as facts are essentially repeated -- sometimes within a few paragraphs. This book obviously was written over a long period of time -- there's a reference to writing a chapter in 2001 -- and another outside read would have been nice.

With that out of the way, there's a lot to like about this book, and not just because Swados doesn't use too much legal lingo along the way. A variety of stories come out about Buffalo sports history that fill in the gaps in public knowledge. For example, I always wondered why the baseball Bisons moved from homey Offermann Stadium to ugly War Memorial Stadium. Swados reveals that the Bills were coming to town, and the city didn't want to fix up the old Rockpile for seven dates a year -- plus the Continental League wanted a good-sized facility if it ever got off the ground.

There's plenty more. Norty Knox tried to prevent Punch Imlach from drafting Tony McKegney for all the wrong reasons. The Sabres deliberately offered Ted Nolan a bad, short contract in the hopes he'd go away and the team would get a fresh start. There's also a complete version of the Adelphia takeover and subsequent bankruptcy, the best and clearest treatment of the subject I've seen anywhere.

More importantly, Swados gives his views on a variety of local and national issues surrounding the game. It's fair to say he worked in the best interests of Western New York, the NHL and the Sabres at all times, and his view that hockey was headed for a financial trainwreck as early as the early 1990's was backed up by recent events that led to the year-long lockout.

This may not be of great interest to those outside of Buffalo, although there are some sections on the NHL that will attract a national audience. Closer to his home, though, Swados has written a book that, flaws and all, certainly demands attention be paid to it.