Sunday Night Book Review

Just finished reading When Pride Still Mattered, a biography of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss. What does it have to do with Cardinal sports you ask? Paul Hornung is from Louisville and features prominently here, so there.

Quite simply the best biography I've ever read. Maraniss is fascinated by what he calls the "Lombardi Myth." He seeks to discover why Lombardi stands alone in American lore as the archetype of the iconic coach. The answer is complex and contradictory; much like the man himself.

This is a book for any fan of football.  In many ways Lombardi's life mirrors the rise of the sport in the American consciousness. From being taught the game by one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, to his playing days at Fordham as one of the Seven Blocks of Granite, to the beginning of his coaching career under legendary figure Red Blaik at Army; in retrospect Lombardi's life seemed charmed by the football gods. This is no nostaligia piece, however; Maraniss does not neglect Lombardi's flaws. In full display are his epic temper, his frustration with continually being passed over for head coaching positions, and how his all-consuming passion to win came at the expense of being a father and husband. The story is about greatness; the actual traits that allowed Lombardi to take football to new heights, and the perceived greatness, how his authoritartian demeanor made him a revered (and  controversial) figure in the 1960s. (Lombardi became so popular that he was once considered as a running mate for Richard Nixon in 1968, till Nixon learned Lombardi was a staunch Kennedy-Democrat).  The setting for much of the book, the quirky and frozen football outpost of Green Bay, makes a perfect backdrop for Lombardi's unique brand of perfectionism.

Maraniss can write, and I don't mean for a biographer, but really write. An excerpt:

"The winds were still blowing strong, but as Paul Hornung said, 'We were young and happy and we'd had a few bottles of champagne and we wanted to get out of there and we did.' And that was that--the end of something. They rolled down the long runway, champagne corks popping, the plane shaking and bumping and rising uneasily and dipping and rising again into the whirling winter dusk, and they were headed home to Green Bay, Lombardi and his family and his Packers, champions once more, best ever, and none of them knew at that moment how much could be lost so soon, a president and a Golden Boy and even a way of life. Perhaps the past was not so innocent, but it seemed that way once it was gone, and it was gone the moment that plane left the ground."

A compelling story of man and myth. And I'm not too proud to admit that when Bart Starr, the dutiful son, and Paul Hornung, the prodigal son, go to visit the old coach as he lay dying on his hospital bed...well, the eyeballs were getting just a tad sweaty. Just a great book.

Here's a piece on Louisville's own larger-than life coaching figure.