Book: "From the Buckeyes to the Bronx: My Wondrous Life as a Sports Executive"

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 The High Road Leads Out of Town

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For nearly 25 years, Rick Bay walked the unexpected and unpredictable path of a sports executive, and he did it from coast to coast at the highest levels of competitive athletics.  The High Road Leads Out of Town:  My Wondrous Life as a Sport Executive is his memoir, unique in that it is a sports story that covers the topic from the perspective of an executive. Books by players, coaches, and managers are commonplace, but the behind-the-scenes, colorful accounts in this book come from an entirely different angle.  His stories are being shared for the first time.

The Oregon section chronicles Rick’s time as the Ducks' Athletic Director as well as the long road he took to break into the field of athletic administration. This quest was made decidedly more difficult by his rocky relationship with Don Canham, his former boss at a previous position at the University of Michigan and arguably the most powerful athletics director in the nation when he hired the author as his wrestling coach.  It took another Michigan employee, Wolverine head football coach, Bo Schembechler, to get Rick over the hump with the Ducks' search committee.

When Rick arrived at Oregon, he found the job far less glamorous than the one he expected for an NCAA Division I School.  He writes humorously about needing to raise money for even the smallest projects, having to resort to revenue-generating schemes that one could never imagine. One of these initiatives included playing a game of Bingo at the halftime of basketball games to raise enough cash to re-paint the inside of the Ducks' decrepit gymnasium, Mac Court. There were also rock concerts in the football stadium, a surcharge to football tickets to fix the sewer system in the stadium and a brief conflict with former Oregon track athlete, Phil Knight, the chairman and co-founder of NIKE.

Section II traces the events of the author’s four years as athletics director at Ohio State. Given that Rick had been a student-athlete and coach at the University of Michigan, the fact that he was even selected for the Buckeyes' job left most folks in the state of Ohio incredulous. But his wife, Denice, and he were soon accepted as part of the Buckeyes' family, especially when, during the first Michigan-Ohio State game in Columbus, Denice kicked the governor of Michigan out of the VIP-packed private suite in the press box when he inadvertently cheered after the Wolverines scored.

As Athletic Director, Rick inherited both a basketball and football coach who were under fire in Columbus when he arrived. There was constant tension in the community as to their fate, which, ultimately, was to be Rick's decision. He would find strong opinions from fans on the subject, including famous alumni  like golfer Jack Nicklaus.

Rick soon had his first introduction to the legendary former Ohio State football coach, Woody Hayes, who was apoplectic over his hiring. A year later, it was his sad duty to announce Woody's death, after which Richard Nixon delivered the eulogy at his private funeral, despite the fact that one of the assistant pastors at the church was convicted Watergate felon, Jeb Magruder.

The High Road Leads Out of Town chronicles how, two years later in what Columbus Monthly Magazine called "The Week the Town Went Crazy," Rick resigned in protest when, the Monday before the Michigan game, the president fired football coach, Earle Bruce against his recommendation. In a bizarre turn of events, the firing led to a major lawsuit and the revelation that the president was having an extra-marital affair. 

 
The author was rescued from unemployment by George Steinbrenner, the legendary owner of the New York Yankees, when he was handpicked to become the Yankees Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.  Section III covers this short but eventful period of exactly 100 days.

Section III is crammed with a myriad of wacky incidents that often seem to characterize the organization. Billy Martin was in his fifth stint as field manager (still the Major League record for most times managing the same club), and Lou Piniella was the general manager. Phil Rizzuto and Bill White were the radio announcers, and Mel Allen was still around. Things happened. The author writes of a time when he signed a check to pay "protection money” to a neighborhood “enforcer” who made certain the outside stadium walls in the Bronx stayed free of graffiti.  
 

The book covers the final days of Rick’s tenure with the team, including the incident that set the scene for Rick to tender his resignation.  When he informed the owner that he would be resigning, he found that Mr. Steinbrenner wanted him to stay.  He chose to move on.

   
As the narrative confirms, Rick Bay was better at getting jobs than at keeping them, although he did not plan it that way.  Each experience was fascinating in its own way for him and will be for the reader, as well. 

The High Road Leads Out of Town covers a career that was a bumpy ride, sometimes turbulent and defiant, but the book is the better for it, with a rich and often humorous index of stories and anecdotes that many, more sensible, colleagues would find impossible to duplicate. 

This book provides an illuminating look behind the scenes of high-profile sports, the ones that command media and public attention every day and where billions of dollars are spent.  There is much that sports fans of all ages will find interesting.  In addition, with university sports administration degree programs proliferating – now at 140 schools – young students will discover the 'real world' about the jobs they are reading about in their textbooks.

The High Road Leads Out of Town covers public issues that make the headlines – players in trouble with the law and the firing of high-profile coaches – and sensitive issues that demand attention but are often hidden from the eyes of the public, including the politics of the press box and the handling of major donors intent on being treated like royalty.  The High Road Leads Out of Town will be a fascinating read with something for everyone who loves sports.