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When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi (平装)
by David Maraniss
| Category:
Biography, Football, NFL, Leadership |
| Market price: ¥ 208.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist illuminates the life and legend of the great pro football coach Vince Lombardi, in this textured and compelling biography of an American original. |
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AllReviews |
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E. Pofahl (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-14 00:00>
David Maraniss has written the story of a champion, Vince Lombardi, covering his life from birth in Brooklyn in 1913 to his untimely death in 1970. The book briefly describes his family background noting that his father with his father's brother owned their own business selling wholesale meat. Family, religion and sports shaped Lombardi's childhood. While sometimes inaccurately portrayed as a martinet, this is misleading, as he was a more complex person. The author traces Lombardi's development as he progressed from playing high school football, to college football at Fordham, to an assistant coach at Army, to finally becoming an outstanding NFL head coach.
Many influenced Lombardi's career. On page 245 the author notes "The fundamental principles that he used in coaching-repetition, discipline, clarity, faith, subsuming individual ego to a larger good-were merely extensions of the religious ethic he had learned from the Jesuits." From Army coach Red Blake he learned how to organize a team and prepare it to play its best.
Interestingly, his first head-coaching job was as a high school basketball coach. He knew little about basketball but coached his team to a regional championship. He began his football-coaching career at St. Cecilia High School in North Jersey staying eight years and developing there many of the skills that later allowed him to stand apart form the coaching multitudes. The text narrates Lombardi's coaching career from St. Cecilia, to an assistant coach under Red Blake at Army, to his first pro-football coaching job in 1954 as offensive coach for the New York Giants. The author notes that with the Giants "Lombardi began to earn the respect of the pros.. .If he had to adjust, he would find the means; it was a talent that exhibited for the rest of his coaching career, though it often went unrecognized, overshadowed by his public image as the implacable leader who demanded that the world adapt to him." The Giants offense scored 264 points in 1956, the most in the East, and the press began to recognize him.
In 1959 Lombardi went to Green Bay Packers as general manager and head coach. Here "He would have no tolerance for the halfhearted, the defeatist, the loser. The goal was to be the New York Yankees of football. World champions, every day, year round. Admired everywhere." The Packers ended their first season with Lombardi with a record of 7 and 5, the first Packer winning season in a dozen year; and Lombardi was named NFL coach of the year in an Associated Press poll of sportswriters and sportscasters. As the old saying goes "From this point on it was all history."
The text continues the Lombardi story which is the birth and history of modern NFL football as the game emerged from it one conference to today's era of two conferences and the Super Bowl. Along with the story of Lombardi's coaching career and his outstanding record with the Packers which included two Super Bowl Championships, the author relates the fascinating stories of Packer greats such as Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Ray Nitschke, Forrest Greg, Willie Wood, etc. Interwoven with the narration, the personality and philosophy of Vince Lombardi is given. It some paragraphs, the story is almost like a motivation lecture given by Lombardi and later by his son Vincent.
A very interesting chapter is a discussion of Lombardi's signature phrase "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Contrary to popular belief Lombardi did not originate the expression. "Red " Sanders (later UCLA football coach) coined the phrase in the mid-1930s.and the line was later used in a John Wayne movie. Perhaps Lombardi's preferred expression was "Run to win" which emphasized his expectation of maximum effort from all involved.
The book notes that in 1968 having chosen to be just general manager and no longer coach, Lombardi was miserable, was faced with a team going downhill and suffered from declining health. In 1969, he accepted a part owner and head coach position with the Washington Redskins. The text recounts Lombardi ending, in 1969, the Redskins twelve year losing streak with a 7-5-2 winning record while the Packers without Lombardi went into a decline that lasted for more than a quarter-century.
The story ends with a moving account of Lombardi's terminal illness and his death on September 3, 1970. The author closes the book noting "The remnants of Lombardi's world are fading, yet his legend only grows in memory: the rugged and noble face, commanding voice, flashing teeth, primordial passion, unmatched commitment."
This is a book that both fan and non-fan alike will enjoy.
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J. Mack (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-14 00:00>
Work and Play. These words were tattooed on the knuckles of Vince's father. They symbolize the paradox that was Vince Lambardi. He stood for work and play, love and hate. Over the years, Vince has become a legend in the business world, football, and sports in general. Lombardi was preached the themes of discipline and patriotism, and he passed on at a time when these values that he symbolized began to decay. Lombardi was a complicated man indeed.
One element, Maraniss does at excellent job of bringing out in Lombardi is the fact that he was a flawed individual and not the symbol of perfection he was held up to be. The 3 most important things in the coach's life were God, football, and family. Lombardi attended church daily and was perhaps the best footbal coach ever. Maraniss does an excellent job of looking into the flawed and often neglected family life of Lombardi.
As a Packer fan and football fan, I believe this is an excellent documentation of the life of Vince Lombardi. While I am not a reader of biographies, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I just wish I could have lived through this golden era of football.
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Randy Dills (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-14 00:00>
I have only a few words to say about this astounding biography. The author does a wonderful job of doing what a biography is supposed to accomplish: answering the questions of why we need to know about this subject and how did they impact their times. The author accomplishes both by deconstructing the myth of Vince Lombardi, showing all of his complicated sides, his weaknesses and his strengths. The author succeeds in deconstructing the myth of what Vince Lombardi was, and you are left with the facts of what Vince Lombardi really was, and you begin to respect the man even more. The author further counters the constant trend that tends to idealize the historical past, perfected by the once formidale scholar Steven Ambrose and Tom Brokaw in his "Greatest Generation." While the efforts of those who experienced those times should not ever be discounted, the author argues that it should not be glorified or exaggerated but set in the context of the past as it should be, and from there, the real truth, and the real value of a generation will be exposed. Vincent Lomardi was not a mythical figure of unmatched proportions, he was a teacher and football coach who wanted the best for his family and to excel at the next level. He excelled in those conditions, providing a lasting impression, education and symbolism to all those who new him, but he should not be removed from the context of his times. The past was not innocent, the same faults still plague us now as when "pride still mattered." But as the author clearly showed,there is still something to be learned from every generation, when the myths are deconstructed, and the real lives of real people are revealed. This classic biography should not be missed by any biography or sports fan.
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Robert Fleming (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-14 00:00>
This book kept my interest from the time I began reading it till the moment I finished it. So many emotions leaped from the pages that I need to find more books on Mr. Lombardi. The author set forth to give a complete look inside the makings of this wonderful, yet abrasive man. His remarkable details of Lombardi's relationships with his wife, children, special players, and those that influenced and formed him is what makes this book truely memorable. I felt Hornung's favored son treatment, along with the pain his own son felt as the chapters revealed Lombardi's strengths and weaknesses. As a Catholic, I appreciated every reference to Lombardi's Catholicism, and what a "Saintly" one he was, attending daily mass, clinging to his rosary in times of need. I believe these are the qualities that will always keep me in awe of this man. How I wish our country had men of his resolve, around to lead!
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J. Mullin (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-14 00:00>
Maraniss has done his typical excellent job of bringing a larger-than-life character, in this case legendary coach Vince Lombardi, to life in this engaging biography. The author explores Lombardi's humble beginning, his Catholic upbringing, and his will to win which enabled him to compete as one of the famed "Seven Blocks of Granite" at Fordham despite a lack of both size or exemplary athletic talent.
Early in the book, Maraniss provides a fascinating glimpse into the college football programs of former national contenders Fordham and Army, where Lombardi was an assistant under the famed Red Blaik, and where he sometimes sat watching film with huge Army supporter Gen. Douglas MacArthur. At West Point Lombardi learned some of the coaching techniques, including a manic obsession with film study and precise repetition in practice, that served him so well later.
For those who know nothing about Lombardi apart from his years with the Green Bay Packers, there is much here to learn and enjoy. Vince was an assistant coach for the NY Giants, coaching the offense while another future hall of famer, Tom Landry, coached the defense, and he gives a stirring account of the famous 1960 championship game, believed by many to be the greatest football game ever played. Maraniss explores Lombardi's frustrating delays in obtaining a head coaching job, which he thought was due to his Italian heritage, and explores his Green Bay days in thorough, skillful fashion. Characters such as Paul Hornung (the coach's "Golden Boy" and favorite player), Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Ray Nietzsche, Alex Karras, Willie Wood, Dick Schaap,and countless others were apparently interviewed, and their personal remembrances of the Packer era made this a football fan's dream.
But Maraniss does not simply concentrate on x's and o's, as he also explores Lombardi the husband and father, painting a sometimes unflattering picture of Lombardi the reluctant family man with little or no time for quality interaction with his kids. The author even quotes from a devastating letter written by Lombardi's wife Marie to their son, in 1970 as Vince was beginning to get ill and their son was starting his own career and family, expressing frustration at the apparent lack of effort expended by both Lombardi men to cement their father-son relationship. Ultimately Lombardi was a complex man, standing up for his players (he would not tolerate discrimination against players who were black or gay) as he berated them on the practice field. The portrait is especially relevant now, as the country debates the antics of another "tough disciplinarian" coach by the name of Bobby Knight.
I would have enjoyed a little more complete picture of Lombardi's one year back on the sidelines coaching the Washington Redskins in 1969. Maraniss skillfully explores Lombardi's hiring and uneasy split with Green Bay, as well as his introduction to D.C. and his power lunches with owner Edward Bennett Williams. However, after some good material regarding his initial reactions and impressions of the team (he thought Sunny Jurgenson was blessed with incredible talent), Maraniss virtually skips the entire season and tells you how the Redskins did in retrospect, without any of the detail or anecdotes that made the Packers years come alive in his retelling. It was as if Maraniss knew it was time to wrap things up, and he had tired of writing about football. However, all in all, this is a fascinating portrait of a man whose impact is still felt on the gridiron, and whose fanatical dedication to team and especially character lately have been sorely missed in the NFL (and in all sports for that matter.)
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