[Dion]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Since we are on the topic of hockey books, I'm reading Derek Sanderson: Crossing the Line right now. Sanderson was a beauty. Always liked him.

A few quotes from the book:

Booze, pills and the rise and fall of former NHLer Derek Sanderson

“Crossing the Line” details Sanderson’s beginnings in Niagara Falls, Ont., to life with the Bruins before becoming the world’s highest-paid athlete with the World Hockey Association’s Philadelphia Blazers.

Sanderson wanted US$80,000 from the penny-pinching Bruins. The Blazers offered him $2.65-million over 10 years.

The move proved to be a disaster. He played just eight games in the WHA and was bought out for $1-million.

Away from the ice, the flamboyant Sanderson partnered with Namath in a bar before starting his own string of restaurants. He stepped out with the ladies and would not bat an eye at gathering a group of friends — including three actresses and two Playboy Bunnies — and flying them to Hawaii on the spot.

The conditions were they had to leave with nothing more than the clothes on their back and they couldn’t phone anybody.

Sanderson put everything on his American Express card.

Sadly a pickled Sanderson fell asleep on the beach and woke up with a nasty sunburn on the left side of his face and back.

“I had a line starting on my forehead, running right down the middle of my nose,” he wrote.

Recovered to the point he could golf, he bought two sets of clubs and everything else needed to play. He ended up giving his clubs to his caddy as a tip.

“I did that a few times,” he wrote. “I had a bunch of money and I hate carrying clubs to the airport. It was the easy way out.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle5016334/