2 minutes in, hearing the other-worldly voice of John Facenda, chills. And they continue throughout. Facenda: "Lombardi ... A certain magic still lingers in the very name. It speaks of duels in the snow and cold November mud." The HBO special should be mandatory viewing for ever NFL fan. His Bio, "When Pride Still Mattered" is also a classic. No matter what team you are a fan of, this is classic on - without doubt - the greatest and most mythical football coach in all of history. Vince Lombardi is the centerpiece of the National Football League. As a young man who began playing little league football while Lombardi was still coaching - though he had switched to the Redskins - in an era when the phrase, "Green Bay Packers," epitomized the greatest team in sport, Lombardi, for me, remains the name that stood for the NFL. In many ways, the great Dolphin teams of the early 70's and the Steelers of the same era were the disciples of the great Packer teams - their systems and styles were the next generation of precision and physical football that the Packers perfected (As an aside, I don't think there is a better era for football than the decades of the 60's and 70's in terms of how the game was played in all its toughness and purity). I'm sure it's also in part the greatness of his coaching; but surely there will never be a name that flows off the tongue that could ever represent toughness, competitiveness and the very essence of physical football than the name: Vince Lombardi. God rest his soul.
If you really want to dig into some old style football raf wrap your mind around full color football history of the AFL Good stuff.
Whole program was excellent. Tragic ending. But, I loved the segment where Madden was talking about going to a one-day Lombardi coaching clinic and that he spoke for eight hours on one play - the power sweep. Madden said he walked away thinking, "I don't know anything about football." Can you imagine sitting in on that - hearing him talk for eight hours about one play? Awesome.
I watched this tonight and cut up some stuff from it. YouTube - Lombardi I YouTube - Lombardi III YouTube - Lombardi's Practices
Didn't know he was bi-polar. Family paid a price for his obsession. And that obsession, perhaps a little autistic? Had some great sayings though... Personal favorite..."Gentlemen we will relentlessly pursue perfection. Although we will never achieve it because it cannot be achieved. In our "relentless" pursuit we will achieve excellence." Or something similar to that.
Excellent piece. As a coach, motivator, and teacher he probably is unparalleled. His beliefs in his values were unmovable but it is sad that his family seemed to suffer for his love of the game. The part about him taking over the basketball program and winning a championship just by reading a book speaks volumes to his understanding of strategy and motivational skills. I do imagine he was consumed by fear of failure.
