Hi everyone this is Michael Lee.  On this episode of Blue Line Banter I’m joined by Rich Cohen.  Rich is the author of several New York Times bestsellers including Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football and also The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse. He is a co-creator of the HBO series Vinyl and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications.

Our discussion today covers his most recent book, Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent, which takes us through a season of hard-fought competition in Fairfield County, Connecticut, an affluent suburb of New York City. The story is part memoir and part exploration of youth sports and the exploding popularity of American hockey, Pee Wees follows the ups and downs of the Ridgefield Bears, the twelve-year-old boys and girls on the team, and the parents watching, cheering, conniving, and cursing in the stands. It is a book about the love of the game, the love of parents for their children, and the triumphs and struggles of both. This latest book by Rich Cohen has already reached #1 Best Seller status on Amazon a week after the release and after having a chance to read it for myself I suspect it’s going to stay there for a while.  I hope you enjoy this discussion with Rich Cohen.