http://www.hbo.com/sports/lombardi/index.html HBO doc on the legendary coach. Anyone else catch it? I watched it tonight and thought it was very well done. I think any football fan should enjoy it. A couple of interesting tidbits that stuck out to me: - He never had a losing season. - While coaching High School football he was asked to also coach the basketball team. Knowing next to nothing about the sport he went to the library and checked out a book about basketball coaching. The team went on to win the state championship.
Lombardi was the greatest motivator among all coaches. I read jerry Kramer's "right guard" several times, a journal of the 1967 season Lombardi's last as packer coach. The players hated his guts for yelling at them all the time and working them so hard but they would also take a bullet for him. That's not easy to achieve. Lombardi ran the whole show. He drafted and signed players and he negotiated the contracts. Back then players didn't normally have agents and Lombardi did not consider having representation as the manly honorable thing. When his center Jim Ringo showed up with a lawyer Lombardi excused himself for a few minutes and when he came back he told Ringo he was talking to the wrong people since he had just been traded to the Eagles. The Eagles were the last team anybody wanted to play for back then they were terrible.
DAMN IT! I meant to see this on HBO, and I missed it! Anyone know when it may come back on???? I don't want to go to see it on Broadway, too many sick people on the train these days.
I clicked that link posted above and it looks like I might be able to catch it tonight. Hope I'm home.
