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WNY sports memorabilia counted by the thousands
 | | CHAMPION COLLECTOR...Cheektowaga resident Bob Decker has collected thousands of Buffalo sports memorabilia since moving to Nantucket Drive West in 1973. (Times photo) |
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Cheektowaga resident Bob Decker prides himself on having Buffalo's biggest pennant collection in the world. However, those items are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Decker's full repertoire of sports collections.
Virtually every inch of Decker's Nantucket Drive West basement contains a Buffalo sports team item, whether the squad is defunct or active. Buffalo Bills, Sabres, Bisons, as well as the former indoor soccer Stallions and Blizzard, (Roller Hockey International) Stampede/ Wings, (Arena Football League) Destroyers and (National Basketball Association) Braves - just to name a few - collectibles drape walls, a bar stand, ceiling and couch.
Decker isn't sure exactly how many items he has altogether, but he believes it's "in the thousands."
"I expanded my parameters," Decker told the Times Monday afternoon. "I started as Buffalo's only pennant collector. Now, I've got the largest pennant collection in the world."
 | | DECEPTIVE DELIVERY...NCAAA Orioles' pitcher Randy Szymkowiak delivers a pitch in the 9-10 league semifinals on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks. The Orioles won, 16-4, to advance to today's final against the Yankees. (Times photo) |
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The fact that Decker has also worked as a trainer, equipment manager and occasional photographer with numerous Buffalo teams, including the Bills, Blizzard, Stampede/ Wings, Bandits and Gladiators, as well as Buffalo State College, has helped the Nantucket resident accumulate such a wide variety of memorabilia. Besides having more than 300 pennants (one from 1946), Decker has collected hats, cups, glasses, balls, jerseys, blankets, plaques, frisbees, helmets, bobblehead dolls, chairs, shirts, ticket stubs, sticks, baseball bats, patches, sports cards and media credentials depicting events and logos of Buffalo sports teams.
Decker's employment resume has allowed him to branch connections to organizations and employees and put him in the right place at the right time to obtain more and more sports gear. One example of Decker's timeliness, or perhaps, luck, is when he accidently stepped upon the game ball after the Bandits won their second consecutive Major Indoor Lacrosse Championship in the early 1990s.
 | | BOLD BASERUNNING...Mike Chrissy of the Diamondbacks rounds third base and scores on teammate Nick Halter's RBI triple in the bottom of the first inning of the NCAAA semifinals against the Orioles. Unfortunately for Chrissy and the Diamondbacks, the Orioles rallied to win. (Times photo) |
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"I went out with the team staff to celebrate and I felt the game ball under my foot," Decker said with a wide grin. "I can't believe that no one looked for it right away."
Decker, who grew up in Buffalo and attended the former Seneca High School, moved to Cheektowaga in 1973, when the art of collecting pennants first attracted his interest. After collecting a few pennants and then covering and uncovering them, he decided it was time to go ahead with wall-to-wall coverage.
"I realized it was time to spread (more pennants) all out," Decker said. "Even now, I can't be sure if I have exactly one of everything."
Even the slightest variations in color, shape, lettering or logo drove Decker to find individual, unique pennants.
He formerly worked for Forks Fire Department's rescue squad on Broadway, where he became interested in local sports and nearby high school action, including hockey at Holiday Twin Rinks and bowling at the Broadway Sports Center.
"I realized I could administer firstaid to athletes as well, and I thought, How much different could that be than first aid at emergency situations?" Decker stated. "At Rescue, we had a mix of sports at our demographics. I was a fan because I couldn't be an athlete."
In 1992, after graduating from Canisius College, Decker noticed an advertisement in a local publication asking assistance for the Bills' "Camp for Kids." One day after being named as a trainer at the camp, Decker also joined the Blizzard's "Camp for Kids," where he met friend and former Buffalo soccer goalie Jamie Swanner. The goalie thought so much of Decker that he asked the Cheektowaga resident to double as team photographer, allowing Decker a chance to move up in the memorabilia-grabbing hierarchy.
From there, Decker moved on to join the staffs of the Stampede, Bandits and Bisons, where he met personal connections, helping to land future work with the semi-pro football Gladiators, which have since won seven championships.
He also still has dozens of media credentials for events held in the Western New York area. For example, he volunteered at the World University Games in Buffalo in 1993. Many pennants depicting other all-star games, exhibitions and additional events decorate his basement walls.
Decker met Buffalo State women's softball head coach Sandra Hollander while he worked for the Wings, which practiced at the Buffalo State College Sports Arena. This connection led to Decker currently working as head equipment manager and visiting clubhouse managing partner for Bengals' football.
Simply put, the more teams and people Decker came in contact with, the more memorabilia he collected.
"When I started, I knew I wanted the pennants," Decker stated. "I wanted to put up at least one pennant from each (Buffalo) team.
He believes he has every International League baseball cap, one of several distinctions his overall collection boasts. Other rare Buffalo team pennants and items Decker collected include the Gemini, Bisons' softball, Bisons' football, Norsemen, Junior Sabres, Blazers and Royals.
"I started collecting freebees for two reasons," Decker said. "One, they're free. Two, they're limited edition...Because I'm on the inside and people know what I'm doing, people give me things."
Along the way, Decker was formerly married and has three children. He enjoys attending area car shows and cruise nights, stating he possesses a rare Bandit-Edition Trans-Am.
These days, Decker said he desires to join more teams' staffs to complement his Buffalo State fall work. Last year, he spoke with Buffalo Rapids basketball officials in hopes of joining the team's training staff. He didn't get a position, but he stated he may try again this year.
While he passionately enjoys collecting sports items, Decker also treasures the relationships he had with former players and coaches. His favorite sports collectible, he noted, is a soccer ball signed by former Blizzard players and coaches who ran the "Camp for Kids" summer events, including Swanner, Rudy and Randy Pikuzinski, Bobby DiNunzio and Jim May. He lists Rudy Pikuzinski and former Bandit Darris Kilgour as his favorite Buffalo players.
"They were the most tenacious, focused and dynamically powered individuals," he said. "They had the inner force. When you get a person with heart, desire and drive, those abilities and commodities win you championships."
The Times previously interviewed Decker in 2001. Since then, he said, his collection has enlarged, including the addition of a "Colorado Corner" of Denver-area bobbleheads and other memorabilia he obtained from the help of a friend and Colorado equipment manager.
Many have come to view Decker's meticulous collection, which he said he knows inside and out.
"It's what I do. I can still always tell if somebody moves something!" Decker said with a smile. "A lot of people have heard about it. There's always a beer here for anyone who wants to come by and talk Buffalo sports with me."
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