The Marysville Advocate by Sarah Kessinger Bob and Connie Fisher of Centralia were expecting a guest from California last Friday when they received a phone call. It was a co-worker of their guest’s mother, calling to say they’d be late because they were in Terminal C of Los Angeles International Airport where a gunman was causing chaos. A local free-throw expert, Bob Fisher is well known for making the Guinness Book of World Records for his basketball shooting prowess. He recently was contacted by the family of a young basketball player, who had seen Fisher in a shoot-off with Charles Barkley on the Jay Leno Show earlier this year. They…

The Marysville Advocate by Julie Perry Bob Fisher still spends two hours practicing free throws in the basement of his Centralia home even after he beat “Sir” Charles Barkley, the 11-time NBA All-Star player and hall of famer, on the Feb. 12 Tonight Show. That shoot-out, which Fisher won 27-10, will be “tough to top,” Fisher said. “It’s not like NBA players are lining up to risk the possibility of losing to a 55-year-old guy from Kansas. Charles is one of a kind. He did me a huge favor by competing against me and I have to admire him for that, because nobody else would have stepped up to lose…

The Topeka Capital-Journal by Kevin Haskin There is nothing unusual about Bob Fisher stepping to the foul line. A soil conservationist for the USDA by trade, Fisher shoots free throws every day. Roughly two hours on average. The challenges vary, but on Tuesday he was attempting to make as many shots as possible in 30 seconds. He hit 27. And was disappointed. “I was off the record pace,’’ he said. He knows. He holds the world record. One of 14 Guinness has certified for Fisher. His mark of 33 in 30 seconds still stands, but there were factors why Fisher felt a bit frosty from the line. A studio audience…

The Marysville Advocate by Julie Perry Three years and 14 Guinness Book of World Records in free throw shooting will land Bob Fisher, Centralia, in the limelight of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Fisher and his wife Connie attended a Tonight Show taping last month and were invited back to appear as guests during Tuesday’s 10:30 p.m. show on NBC with guest Charles Barkley. “The producer loves my story of how an average small town guy became a 14-time Guinness world record holder after the age of 50,” Bob Fisher said. “The plan is that I will sit on the couch for an interview and then demo shooting free…

The Leaven by Jessica Langdon CENTRALIA — Olympic athletes — from gymnasts to basketball teams — drew the world’s attention to London this summer. But the global spotlight is also illuminating the basketball courts of northeast Kansas, no less, thanks to Bob Fisher. The 54-year-old parishioner of Annunciation Church in Frankfort admits he doesn’t look like the “prototype” basketball star. And that, he believes, is what makes his journey to becoming the world’s fastest free-throw shooter so remarkable. ‘Almost all of them’ Fisher holds 14 Guinness World Records for free throws — a feat he only started working toward at age 52. Alternating with a partner. Blindfolded. Standing on one…

Lawrence Journal World by Chris Duderstadt Centralia’s Bob Fisher, right, shows off his free-throw form. Fisher holds 14 Guinness world records for his free-throw shooting. Over the course of the 2012 NBA regular season, only Jamal Crawford and JJ Reddick shot better than 90 percent from the free-throw line out of those who had 100 or more attempts. Crawford and Reddick are well above average in the NBA when it comes to knocking down shots from the charity stripe, but they do not compare with Centralia resident Bob Fisher, who holds 14 Guinness world records for free-throw shooting. Fisher takes pride in all of his records and said that came…

Marysville Advocate by Julie Perry Setting world records in free throws was not on Bob Fisher’s agenda when he and his wife, Connie, both of Centralia, participated last weekend in the Worlds Science Festival Street Fair in Brooklyn, N.Y. Fisher, a 54-year-old who owns 14 Guinness Book of World Records in free throw shooting, performed and answered questions during the festival Sunday. An estimated 175,000 people attended the multi-day festival. Fisher was teamed with professor John Fontanella, the New York author of “Physics of Basketball.” They performed several shooting demonstrations throughout the day. That evening, professor Cynthia Bir of ESPN’s sport science placed sensors on Fisher to track his movements.…

by John Branch CENTRALIA, Kan. — With the start of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament,  the country is once again contemplating the art of the free throw — mainly, why so many of the uncontested 15-foot, 1-point shots are missed. Nobody contemplates the lowly free throw as does Bob Fisher, a 54-year-old soil conservation technician and failed high school basketball coach. Nobody on the planet shoots them so well, so fast. In the past 26 months, Fisher has set 14 Guinness world records for free-throw shooting. He has made 33 in 30 seconds, 50 in a minute, 92 in two minutes, 448 in 10 minutes. He made 2,371 in an hour — nearly…

March 8, 2012, Marysville Advocate by Julie Perry Four of six Guinness Book of World Records were rewritten, another was reclaimed and another was broken Monday night by Bob Fisher, Centralia, in front of about 65 people in Centralia. The audience included New York Times sports feature writer John Branch and Kansas City photojournalist Steve Hebert. Unofficially Fisher owns 14 records — timed accomplishments he started setting in January 2010. His wife Connie will submit Monday’s six achievements completed in Centralia High School’s gym and they will wait for verification, which could take up between six and eight weeks. “He’s done so much more research (on the mechanics of free-throw…

December 21, 2011 Marysville Advocate by Julie Perry An orange, a slice of bread spread with peanut butter and a cup of coffee was Bob Fisher’s breakfast for a champion Saturday morning. “Normally I have two cups of coffee or more, but in the flow of last-minute preparations, I forgot the second cup”, the 54-year-old survey technician for NRCS, Seneca, and Centralia resident said. Preparations for breaking more Guinness Book of World Records free-throw marks resulted in the biggest one-hour mark he has pursued since September 2010 and had attempted four times before Saturday. The hour record, which Perry Dissmore, Hartford, Ill., set on a television show is 1,968 free…