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When Pride Still Mattered

HighVoltageHaus : 1/13/2019 2:11 pm
Who else has read/listened to this book? This book goes well beyond a story about Vince Lombardi, as it paints such a vivid picture of life and football from the turn of the nineteenth century and beyond. So many interesting topics in this book, such as 1951 West Point honor code violation to hearing about the good behavior memo sent by the commissioner (Bert Bell) in 1956, as this was the first year the NFL was televised on CBS/NBC and people got to see the rise of the New York Football Giants. Such an amazing book that I would definitely recommend.
terrific book  
bluepepper : 1/13/2019 3:01 pm : link
and yes, enlightening on a lot of non-sports fronts as well and in an unforced way.

One interesting thing was how much Vince felt like he was passed over for head jobs due to being Italian. Red Blaik assistants were in high demand in the early 50's for top college gigs sort of like Saban assistants these days but Vince had to go the pro-route.
Plus one  
shyster : 1/13/2019 4:29 pm : link
My own parents, now 90-ish, grew up in Sheepshead Bay and we'd often visit relatives there, so the early life account resonated.

And I appreciated the way Maraniss highlighted the "Run to Win" quote from Corinthians that Lombardi had engraved on the Packers' championship rings.

It's a favorite of mine and so much more evocative of Lombardi's true persona and sportsmanship than the tired "winning is the only thing."
Great book  
HomerJones45 : 1/13/2019 5:35 pm : link
Another good book on the Golden Era of pro football is "Coach: A season with Lombardi" by Tom Dowling if you can find it. It's about Lombardi's year with the Redskins before he passed away. Great book.
I loved it too  
Moondawg : 1/13/2019 6:47 pm : link
.
Best  
McNally's_Nuts : 1/13/2019 7:05 pm : link
book I’ve ever read.

I read it once a year. He was such a complicated person
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