College Football at its Best - Penn State Nittany Lions

Today Stiles Points features the Penn State Nittany Lions as part of the series "College Football at its Best"....Mike from Black Shoe Diaries was kind enough to take some time and respond to my questions....he's a 33-year-old engineer living in Philadelphia who graduated from Penn State in 1997....he has been blogging about Penn State since January 2006 and has been running BSD since August of 2006....I want to thank Mike for his time....

BlackShoeDiaries - Penn State

Q1. Who was the better running back at Penn State - Ki Jana Carter, Larry Johnson, Curt Warner, or Curtis Enis?
Wow. Tough question. My personal favorite would be Ki-Jana Carter. I was a junior at Penn State in 1994 so I will always have a soft spot for that team. Most Penn State fans consider him the best all around back to play for the Nittany Lions. I have to agree. He had the total package. He could run, catch, and block. But beyond that he was a humble kid that endeared him with the Penn State faithful.

Not to take anything away from the other guys though. Johnson and Enis were great, but they both had some attitude problems. I’m afraid I’m too young to remember Curt Warner, so I’m probably not doing him justice. A lot of old timers will contend he was the best ever. I’m sorry I’m not informed enough to comment on him that much.

Q2. What is the greatest Penn State football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
Another tough question. Why don’t you just ask me which one of my kids I love most? The

1987 Fiesta Bowl win over Miami has to be the greatest of all time. We were huge underdogs and nobody gave us a chance in that game. The buildup to that game was unbelievable. Miami paraded around all week in their army fatigues while the Penn State kids were always seen in suits and ties. It was a classic street thugs vs. the choir boys battle. At the joint team dinner before the game Jerome Brown stood up and asked, “Did the Japanese sit down and eat with Pearl Harbor before they bombed them? No. We’re outta here.” And with that he led the Hurricanes back to the team busses. On their way out the door Penn State punter John Bruno stood up and asked them, “Excuse me, but didn’t the Japanese lose the war?” The game evolved into more than just a football game between Penn State and Miami. It was a struggle between good and evil.

Miami had an amazing amount of talent. In addition to Heisman Trophy winner Vinnie Testaverde they had future NFL stars Michael Irvin, Jerome Brown, Alonzo Highsmith not to mention future Dallas Cowboy and Super Bowl winning coach Jimmy Johnson running the show. Penn State had guys like John Shaffer, D.J. Dozier, and Ray Isom. Only linebacker Shane Conlan was recognized as having future NFL star potential.

The Penn State defense won that game. The offense couldn’t move the ball all night. It was the defense that won the game by forcing five interceptions. They got into the head of Johnson and Testaverde. As Miami drove deep into Penn State territory late in the fourth quarter with Penn State holding on to a slim 14-10 lead the tension was so thick my arms and legs were shaking as I watched the television. The pressure was so great on fourth and goal that defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky got lockjaw. He couldn’t call the play. Linebacker Trey Bauer called the play from the huddle. Testaverde rolled left and threw the ball right to Penn State linebacker Pete Giftopoulos. Pete ran around like he didn’t know what to do and just fell to the ground. Joe Paterno won his second National Championship and the entire state of Pennsylvania exhaled.

Q3. Who is currently Penn State's biggest rival? Do you miss the rivalry with the old eastern teams such as West Virginia, Syracuse, and Pitt?
In a way I do miss the old rivalries with West Virginia, Syracuse and Pitt. Lately the Big East has been getting some recognition as a credible conference again. I know if Penn State played those teams we would beat them more often than they would beat us. Teams like West Virginia and Rutgers are starting to think they are national players. It bugs me we can’t settle it on the field anymore.

But I wouldn’t trade Penn State’s status in the Big Ten for anything. We don’t have a natural rival in the conference. Penn State fans like to think Ohio State or Michigan are our biggest rivals, but those teams each consider the other to be their rival so they don’t necessarily reciprocate the hate that Penn State fans have for them. The eight game losing streak and the fact that the two teams didn’t play in 2003 and 2004 kind of cooled off the rivalry with Michigan. Right now I think Penn State fans consider Ohio State to be our biggest rivalry.

Q4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear a Penn State uniform and why?
Well, I was born in 1974 and didn’t really start following Penn State football until around 1985, so I probably can’t do the players before that time justice, but here’s my top five list.

5. Larry Johnson – After spending four years riding the bench and in Joe’s doghouse he broke out for that special 2000 yard season in 2002. I think he broke the single game rushing record three times that year.

4. Paul Posluszny – All time Penn State career leader in tackles. Arguably the best linebacker to ever play at Linebacker U. He embodied the Joe Paterno mold of the student athlete.

3. Ki-Jana Carter – Heart and soul of the 1994 offense which many people rank with the greatest offenses of all time.

2. Todd Blackledge – Starting quarterback on the 1982 National Championship team.

1. Shane Conlan – Two time All American and member of the 1986 championship team.

Somebody is going to yell at me for leaving someone off the list.

Q5. Make your case why Penn State football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
This is like asking Joe Paterno to show you his best endzone celebration dance. I guess I’m supposed to mention National Championships, undefeated seasons, All Americans, and legendary coaches. Maybe it’s a result of being a Penn State fan so long, but I have a tough time saying Penn State is the best program in the country. Joe Paterno would never tell you he has the best program in the country, so neither can I.

I think we’re a great program. Maybe one of the top five or ten in the country. Obviously we’ve been very successful on the field, but I think what endears this program to our fans is the manner in which the team conducts themselves with class on the field. There is no dancing in the endzone. No taunting the opponent. When you score you act like you’ve been there before. We wear plain blue jerseys with no names on them. On the road we go completely vanilla. We’re boring, but we’re a team. Off the field Penn State student athletes excel in the classroom as well. In a commencement speech a few years ago Joe Paterno said, “Success without honor is an unseasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.” Penn State adopted from that speech a slogan that goes “Success with Honor”. Paterno has applied this to his coaching and teaching philosophy and it’s the reason why Penn State fans feel so much pride in their team....

I want to thank Mike for his time....tomorrow I will feature the Oregon Ducks....

Sunday Baker's Dozen

Sunday Fact - Former Dodger Don Newcombe is the only pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP over his career.

New York Yankees manager Joe Torre tells New York Daily News reporter Mark Feinsand that this has been his toughest year as manager of the Bronx Bombers.... "Torre admitted to the Daily News last night that this has been the most difficult season he has endured in New York. If his magical ride in his hometown ends on the sourest of notes, Torre seems ready to deal with that." ....

Mark Feinsand

Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan looks back at the life of Bucko Kilroy who died last Tuesday.... "Bucko Kilroy the player was legend enough. Tough and unapologetic, he dished it out and took it in the trenches with such gusto that he had a reputation as one of the most hated and feared (and respected) men in the league." ....

Bob Ryan

New York Daily News reporter Hank Gola writes about the last time the British Open was played at Carnoustie - one of the greatest meltdowns in golf history occurred.....remember Jean Van De Velde.... "This week, the British Open returns to the scene of the disaster, where the Frenchman preferred to go down in flames than take the easy path to the claret jug." ....

Hank Gola

Oakland Tribune sports columnist Art Spander is in Scotland getting ready for the British Open.... "The British Open, the Open Championship, is back in Scotland, at Carnoustie, on the northeast coast, Tayside, near Glamis Castle, reputed to be the one where Macbeth held dominion, not all that far from the ruins of the castle of McDuff, who, not born of woman, slew Macbeth." ....

Art Spander

Cleveland Plain Dealer baseball reporter Paul Hoynes has been covering the Cleveland Indians for the last 25 years.....in a year long series, each month Hoynsie, as he is known, selects the best player he has seen at each position.....today he picks his best right field.....

Paul Hoynes

The talk of the sports world this week was about David Beckham....L.A. Times columnist Grahame L. Jones writes that Becks could be in for a rough ride.... "The playing fields of the U.S. and Canada are not like the manicured lawns of Old Trafford or Santiago Bernabeu stadiums. Sometimes they are threadbare. Sometimes they are bumpy. Sometimes they are artificial." ....

Grahame L. Jones

Fort Worth Star-Telegram sports columnist Gil Lebreton gives his list of 100 places a true sports fan should do before they die..... "I don't necessarily want to see an opera festival in Finland, or bathe with strangers in Budapest before I die. I want to go to a Red Sox-Yankees game in Fenway Park." ......

Gil Lebreton

Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti is asking commissioner Bud Selig to listen to the Cubs fans and allow Mark Cuban to buy the team.... "The fans want Cuban, as indicated by every Internet poll, talk-show discussion and Wrigleyville debate I've heard and read. The players want Cuban . . . " .....

Jay Mariotti

Home field advantage?....the Cubs don't need no stinkin home field advantage according to Chicago Tribune sports Columnist Rick Morrissey..... "When the Cubs win the first two games on the road against some hapless American League opponent, won't home-field advantage in the Fall Classic be a moot point anyway? If they are going to sweep, which is a given, it would mean the club can celebrate on the hallowed ground of Wrigley Field." .....

Rick Morrissey

St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Rick Hummel writes that people should not over-analyze the tiff between Tony LaRussa and Albert Pujols.... "Pujols, long a La Russa backer, will play as hard as always. If he and third baseman Scott Rolen, who had just four homers before the weekend, find their power strokes, the Cardinals' offense will take on a different look." .....

Rick Hummel

The Baltimore Sun begins a series of stories about athletes who leave the playing field to go to the battlefield.... "The concept of sports as preparation for war dates to ancient times - and still thrives as military recruiters seek out future warriors among teenage athletes....."

Rick Maese

Newark Star-Ledger's Carlton Holmes writes that time is no longer on Michael Strahan's side... "The 15-year NFL veteran, who holds the NFL record for sacks among active players with 129 1/2, does believe his time in the league is winding down." ....

Carlton Holmes

Boston Globe reporter John Powers writes how a former Harvard football player and WWE wrestler is taking on the issue of concussions.... "Nowinski has solid credentials because he's also a victim, a former Harvard football player and World Wrestling Entertainment performer who suffered at least a half-dozen concussions that eventually ended his career." ....

John Powers

Quick Hits

The Beckhams have arrived in America.....I was reading this week that Posh Spice has promised that she will smile more so that Americans can see that she is more than just a woman with a constant frown....by the way, what was up with those provocative photos of Becks and Posh in W magazine?....

The New York Yankees have taken the first steps to give a contract extension to Alex Rodriguez....however, A-Rod’s agent Scott Boras is talking that Rodriguez has the chance to make $30 million a season.....WHAT!?!.....I like A-Rod and he is a helluva player, but he alone cannot carry a team to a World Series title which is being proven this year....I would like the Yankees to re-sign him, but there is no way I would pay him $30 million a year....nope!.....

Finally, I would like to acknowledge a good friend of mine down in North Carolina.....he sent me an email this morning that his dog Sanders died overnight.....some people may laugh and think it is crazy that some people get upset when their dog dies....their comment is always, “it’s just a dog”.....those are the people who don’t get it.....I know Sanders meant a lot to my friend and his family....in fact Sanders was the one responsible for him meeting his wife....I have lost three dogs during my life and I will say, it is not easy.....so I understand the sadness my friend is going through....Sanders was more than just a pet - he was a friend - he was family.....the photo is of Sanders and my friend’s son....

College Football at its Best - The U - Miami Hurricane Football

It's another installment of "College Football at its Best".....and today we focus on The U -- the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes.....providing his thoughts about The U is Manny Navarro.....he is 29-years-old and has been a reporter at the Miami Herald since he was a 17-year old senior at Miami Braddock Senior High....he was born and raised in Miami and grew up a huge Miami fan in general....he wrote that his job is a dream come from true....he has covered the Hurricanes beat for two years now and has been running the Eye on The U blog for two years.....I want to thank Manny for his time - it is much appreciated....

Eye on the U

1. Who would you take as the head coach to lead an All-Miami team - Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson (photo), Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis, or Larry Coker - and why?
Tough one and I'm kind of torn between Schnellenberger and Johnson. But because I believe the Hurricanes were at their best when Johnson was coach, I'll take Jimmy. Nobody really personifies what UM was during its most exciting period than Johnson. This was a man who not only recruited some of the best players in UM history, but loved to gamble on fourth down and really loved to take chances and maximize the talent he had. Yes, Erickson won two titles, more than any other UM coach. But he won his first one with Jimmy's players. And let's not forget how the Canes would have won another title in his last season in 1988 if not for a bad call at Notre Dame in a 31-30 loss. That Canes team by the way opened the season with a 31-0 drubbing of top-ranked Florida State, an thrilling come-from-behind win at Michigan, an 18-16 win at home against 8th-ranked Arkansas and a 23-3 blowout of Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Johnson basically had Miami ranked No. 1 or No. 2 going into its bowl game from 1985 to 1988. And he also knew how to put together a great staff. The choice is simple -- Jimmy.

2. What is the greatest Miami football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
Wow. How in the world do you pick just one. If I could, I'd pick the entire UM-Florida State series and all of the Wide Rights and the Wide Left, the first national championship game in 1983, the 2002 national title game (Yes, I know they lost to Ohio State, but what a game), the great comebacks at Michigan in 1988, against the hated Gators at home in 2003 and any of the big wins against Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

But honestly, of all the great games to choose, I'd have to go with the 1998 home game against third-ranked UCLA. The Hurricanes were not ranked and had just lost 66-13 at Syracuse the week before. It seemed like for every step forward the program was taking under Butch Davis, a bad loss to Virginia Tech, Syracuse or some other Big East school was holding the Canes back. Then, UCLA walked into the Orange Bowl looking for a spot in the national title game. Edgerrin James (photo) ran wild and Miami won possibly its most important game on the comeback trail from scholarship reductions and the dreadful 5-6 season of 1997. The game was back-and-forth and while likely not the most exciting, the most meaningful because it helped net the recruits that would make up the 2001 national title team and put the Canes back on the map.

3. Who do you hate more as a rival - Florida, Florida State, Virginia Tech, or Notre Dame - and why?
Another great question that is awfully tough to answer. For Mia

mi fans, no team is honestly a better rival than Florida State. The games, the battles have always been classic. No two programs mirror each other more as far as the players are concerned. The speed is equal. The talent is usually equal. I think if you asked a Canes fan, they'd say their favorite rivalry is with Florida State because the Seminoles are really the only team Miami has played on a yearly basis for a long time. But the most hated? That's a whole 'nother topic.

While Notre Dame is a program UM fans hated during the 1980s when the teams actually met on the field, Miami has not played the Irish since 1990. And while there will always be a special place of hate for Notre Dame, no team is more disliked than the Gators. Florida, now at the top of the college football world, ducked UM when it was on its own magical ride and backed out of the annual series because they didn't like get blasted by the Canes. UM fans took their beatings from Florida in the 1960s and 1970s and never liked the fact the Gators decided to take a step back after 1987 and only renewed the series in 2002 after UM had gone through its struggles in the 1990s. So, to most Canes fans, the most hated rival has to be the Gators.

4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear a Miami uniform and why?
At any other college football program, this might be easy to answer. But at The U? Home of the most first round talent-producing NFL school in the country. Good grief. First name that comes to mind is Michael Irvin (photo - right). The Playmaker was all that and a bag of chips. One of the greatest receivers in NFL history and a cornerstone of the 1987 national title team. Does anybody honestly bleed orange and green more than Michael? I don't think so.

Second name that pops into my head is Vinny Testaverde. Quite possibly the best UM quarterback ever. Heisman trophy winner. Went 21-1 as a starter and has played for 20 seasons in the NFL.

Next is Ray Lewis. If he doesn't get you excited to watch football. I'm not sure who will. He was a first-team All-American and honestly has become one of the best linebackers in NFL history.

My next choice is Ed Reed. Probably will never be a greater playmaker on special teams and defense. Ed picked off 21 career passes at the U and returned five for scores. He produced turnovers and blocked kicks that led to 106 points and was a key factor on the 2001 defense which produced a record 45 takeaways during the national championship season. We all know what he is doing now with the Ravens.

And finally, my last choice, is Edge. Edgerrin James started the recent run of talent in the backfield. He won two NFL rushing titles with the Colts and was responsible for what I think was UM's most important victory in its comeback from scholarship reductions, the 49-45 win against UCLA in 1998.

5. Make your case why Miami football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
I could sit here and try and convince you why UM is currently the best football program in the country. But the truth is, it is not. Right now, the Canes have a ways to go in terms of matching the long-established history of the Michigans, Notre Dames and Ohio States of the world and the current dominance of Florida and USC. But pound for pound at least in the last 25 years, no program has produced more talent or delivered more excitement and championships than the University of Miami. The five national titles since 1983? Unmatched. The 89 players taken on the first day of the NFL Draft? Unmatched. The 47 players taken in the first round since 1984? Nobody is with 15 of that number. The 12 top five finishes since 1983 in the Coaches Poll. Unmatched. There are other reasons. The 58-game home winning streak. The Orange Bowl, one of the best home-fields in the history of college football. The fans.

But honestly, the reason the University of Miami is the best college football program in the country to watch is because of the swagger. I challenge you to tell me there has been a team more entertaining to watch in the last 25 years than the Canes. Who could have scripted anything like UM showing up to the 1986 Fiesta Bowl wearing battle fatigues. How about Randal "Thrill" Hill bringing out the pistols against Texas after running under the stadium after scoring a touchdown in a 46-3 blowout? How about 3rd and 43 followed by a bomb and a first down? How about a Ray Lewis or Sean Taylor knockout blow? How about Wide Right Part I, II, and III? How about Kellen Winslow's 'I'm A Soldier' speech? How about Michael Irvin's All About The U campaign? How about the backfield? Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Frank Gore? How about Devin Hester in the open field? Or Warren Sapp in the middle. I could go on and on. But the bottom-line is the University of Miami has owned the eyes of college football fans everywhere for the past 25 years. And I know I'm not the only one who can't wait to see what the next 25 years brings us....

Once again I want to thank Manny for his time....on Monday, Penn State will be the featured football program...

Unitas vs. Manning - Who's better?

With the NFL training camps getting closer, Stiles Points will be featuring views of various bloggers and sports reporters about the NFL teams....what better way to start than with the World Champion Indianapolis Colts......BigBlueShoe from the blog Stampede Blue took a few minutes to respond to my two questions concerning who is the better quarterback Peyton Manning or former Colt and Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas....I want to thank BigBlueShoe for his time....

Stampede Blue

Q1. Who would you take as the all-time Colts quarterback Peyton Manning or Johnny Unitas?
It is obviously very hard to compare the two men by today's standards. John Unitas created the modern passing game we have today. Because of that, and because you are asking this today (July 2007), I'll still say Unitas is the Colts all-time QB. However, in about 5 years or so, Manning will surpass Unitas in that category. It's funny, but before Unitas' untimely death, he never had good things to say about the Indianapolis Colts... unless he was talking about Manning. Unitas loved watching him play, supposedly. Now that Manning has won a Super Bowl, he is creeping up there and will soon surpass Unitas as the #1 Colts QB of all time.

Q2. Where does Peyton Manning rank among the all-time NFL quarterbacks?
Give me your top 10.
All time? He is top ten, no doubt. Anyone who doesn't rank Manning in the top 10 is either a closet Patriots fan or an idiot (sometimes they are one in the same). Top ten:
1) John Unitas
2) John Elway
3) Peyton Manning
4) Otto Graham
5) Dan Marino
6) Fran Tarkenton
7) Brett Favre
8) Dan Fouts
9) Steve Young
10) Joe Montana

You'll notice I rank someone like Steve Young slightly better than Joe Montana. The rankings are based on what the player himself brings to the table. Montana won 4 titles because he played on tremendous teams stacked with talent. He also played in the non-salary cap era, where teams (like the 49ers) could buy a Super Bowl. Unitas is still #1 because despite not playing in over 45 years, he is still ranked 10th in all-time passing yards. This man played in a league where they penalized you for throwing, yet still dominated. Peyton Manning ranks third because he simply is better than guys 3-10. He's more accurate, scores more, and works more with less than the other guys did.

The American League has won nine of the last 10 All-Star games (the other game was the infamous tie).....put your money on the National League tonight.....they will win....

What a great photo of AT&T Park that appeared on ESPN.com yesterday (above)...

MLB started having honorary captains at the All-Star Game beginning in 1975....Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial were the first honorary captains....

Willie Mays holds the All-Star record for most hits with 23....Mays played in 24 All-Star Games....Stan Musial has hit the most All-Star homeruns with six....

With 51.6% of the baseball season complete, here are my mid-year awards.....
American League
MVP
1. Alex Rodriguez, New York - he has elevated his game to another level and has single-handedly won the Yankees at least 5 games....
2. Magglio Ordonez - Detroit - a few years ago it looked like his career may be kaput after a serious knee injury.....
Cy Young
1. Chi Chi Sabathia, Cleveland - those red beans and rice have packed on even more pounds, but finally the big guy is fulfilling his potential....
2. Josh Beckett, Boston - with Schilling’s bum shoulder, Beckett has stepped up to be the #1 pitcher in Boston....
Manager of the Year
1. Mike Hargrove, Seattle - who would have “thunk” that the Mariners would be in contention....has the award ever gone to a manager who quit in the middle of the season?....
2. Bob Geren, Oakland - the A’s have not missed a beat with Geren....

National League
MVP
1. Jose Reyes, New York - he is the most dynamic and exciting player in the game....he is a game changer....
2. Orlando Cabrera, Florida - New York stud David Wright gets all the glory at third base, but Cabrera is the better player....
Cy Young
1. Jake Peavy, San Diego - people are starting to recognize him as the best young arm in the game....
2. Brad Penny, Los Angeles - Penny has been so consistent the last two years, but he gets zero respect....
Manager of the Year
1. Ned Yost, Milwaukee - finally the Brewers young talent is being harvested by Farmer Yost....
2. Grady Little, Los Angeles - the Dodgers are right on track for another playoff run....

In other tidbits, what is wrong with Fox football analyst Bill Maas?....the 45-year-old Maas was arrested this weekend in Peoria, Illinois and charged with drug possession and weapons charges....Maas was pulled over for a routine safety check and police found a .22-caliber revolver, 5 grams of suspected marijuana, 6 grams of suspected cocaine and 28 pills of Ecstasy....isn’t it time that Maas grew up and stopped acting like Pacman Jones or some other 20 something year old athlete....Fox Sports did the right thing by canning the loser....what a freaking waste....

Did I miss something, but I thought war protestor Cindy Sheehan said she was done protesting and was going back to her home in the northwest?....then why is she now giving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an ultimatum that she better bring impeachment charges against President Bush or Sheehan will run against Pelosi for her House seat.....Sheehan is another whacko who says it’s not about her, but in the end, it is always about her.....also, Sheehan is back down in Crawford, Texas planning another protest.....well, maybe she would be a good politician since she flat out lied about not being involved in anymore war protests....

Finally, the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa admitted to having an affair with Spanish-language TV anchor Mirthala Salinas (photo).....on June 8th, the mayor announced that he was splitting from his wife after more than 20 years of marriage.....the news was announced on Telemundo by none other than Salinas who was the anchor that night....

Dan Patrick Leaving ESPN

After 18 yaers at ESPN, Dan Patrick will be leaving the station in August...

Dan Patrick Leaving

College Football at its Best . . . Georgia Bulldog Football

The Georgia Bulldogs are the fourth football power that I am featuring in the series "College Football at its Best".....Kyle from the blog DawgSports took some time to respond to my questions about Bulldog football....he is 38-years-old and will be attending his 21st consecutive season-opener in Sanford Stadium on September 1st....from 1999-2004 he co-hosted "The Dawg Show" - a local cable access program that was devoted to Georgia football.....Kyle began blogging in July 2005 at KyleonFootball before moving over to SportsBlogs Nation in February 2006.....he is married with one son and has been engaged in the general civil practice of law for almost 10 years....I want to thank Kyle for his time - it is much appreciated....

Dawg Sports

1. Is Herschel Walker the greatest college running back ever?
Without question, the answer is yes. The Goal Line Stalker ranks ninth on the all-time N.C.A.A. rushing yardage list and the guys above him (Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams, Tony Dorsett, DeAngelo Williams, Charles White, Travis Prentice, Cedric Benson, and LaDainian Tomlinson) all had four-year college careers, whereas Herschel spent only three years wearing the silver britches. (If you don’t believe me, you can look it up in the .pdf version of the N.C.A.A. record book. Appropriately enough, the data are on page 34.) Dayne’s record-setting 6,397-yard career at Wisconsin eclipses Walker’s three-year career mark of 5,269 by just 1,138 yards. (The next-best three-year rushing career belongs to Herschel’s contemporary, Nebraska’s Mike Rozier, who gained 4,780 yards. Rozier ranks 21st on the all-time list.) In statistically the worst season of his college career, Herschel gained 1,616 yards.

Had the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner spent the 1983 season with the Georgia Bulldogs rather than the New Jersey Generals, he would have set a career mark somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 yards. Barring injury, four collegiate seasons of Herschel Walker would have established a record that not only would stand today, it would be unassailable, a high water mark for which there is no analogue to be found in college football. We would have to go to the realm of baseball---to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak or Ted Williams’s .406 average in 1941---to find a sports record similarly untouchable. Some contemporary stars like Texas’s Cedric Benson and Memphis’s DeAngelo Williams benefited from the 2002 rules change that allowed postseason yards to count towards career totals. Had that rule always been in place, Walker would have tacked an additional 337 yards onto his collegiate tally by virtue of his three Sugar Bowl appearances.

More important than that, though, is the fact that Walker did what he did in an era before supplements, before sophisticated weight training regimens, and before scientifically sound nutritional guidelines. What Herschel did, he did with God-given talent and personal drive. Add to that the fact of his great quality both as a human being and, even today, as an ambassador for his alma mater and it is clear that the Goal Line Stalker is without peer as college football’s greatest running back ever.

2. What is the greatest Georgia football game that you have seen – whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
This was the toughest question for me to answer, because so many memories flooded into my brain as soon as I began to think about it . . . the 1980 Florida game (photo - below right of Lindsay Scott) . . . the 1981 Sugar Bowl . . . the 1984 Clemson game . . . the 1996 Auburn game . . . the 1997 Florida game . . .the 2001 Tennessee game . . . the 2004 and 2005 L.S.U. games . . .In the end, though, it came down to two choices. The best game I ever saw on television was the 2002 Auburn game, in which Georgia, down to its last gasp on a cold night on the Plains, called 70 X Takeoff on fourth down and connected on the touchdown pass that put the Bulldogs into their first S.E.C. championship game.

The best game I ever saw in person came exactly one year later, when the Tigers came calling in Sanford Stadium looking for a little revenge. For the first time in a dozen years, Georgia beat Auburn between the hedges, handing the Plainsmen a 26-7 beatdown that was nowhere near as close as the score indicated. The Auburn rushing attack was limited to nine yards in the first half and the War Eagle was held in check throughout the day. David Greene handed off to Michael Johnson (he of 70 X Takeoff fame) on an ostensible reverse, but the Georgia wide receiver uncorked a 40-yard pass to Fred Gibson to set up a touchdown. What made this game so perfect was a play at the start of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were leading 19-0 but Auburn was driving and hoping to claw its way back into the contest. Jason Campbell’s would-be touchdown pass was tipped and Odell Thurman snagged it out of the air at the one yard line. 99 yards later, the Georgia linebacker rumbled into the end zone to put the home team comfortably ahead at 26-0. It was the most electrifying play I have ever seen from the stands, as Odell’s end-zone-to-end-zone rumble---which seemingly took half an hour---was accompanied by the shouts of 92,058 screaming fans, including me. When Odell scored, I felt like I’d run 99 yards.

3. Who do you consider Georgia’s biggest rival – Auburn, Florida, or Georgia Tech?
I probably tipped my hand a little with my answer to the previous question, but I will walk you through the explanation, just the same. The in-state series with the Yellow Jackets has lost much of its luster since Georgia Tech left the Southeastern Conference and Bobby Dodd retired. At one time, the Ramblin’ Wreck was the very portrait of stability, as the Golden Tornado had just three head coaches in the first 75 years of Georgia Tech football. In the 40 seasons since, the Yellow Jackets have been led by eight different head coaches, not counting the interim coach for the 2001 Seattle Bowl. That instability has cost Georgia Tech dearly and the rivalry has been diminished accordingly. I have been alive on the planet for 38 years and I have seen Georgia defeat Georgia Tech 28 times. As the old saying goes, “Georgia Tech fans think about Georgia every day of their lives, but Georgia fans only think about Georgia Tech when Georgia Tech is good.”

As maddening as the Gators’ recent run of dominance in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been, the Georgia-Florida series has always been streaky in nature. The Orange and Blue have won 15 of the 17 series meetings since 1990, but the Red and Black won 15 of the 19 series meetings from 1971 to 1989. The closeness of recent games suggests that the pendulum is swinging back Georgia’s way, especially in light of the Bulldogs’ 5-1 record against defending national champions since 1965. We’re proud to be Gator-haters, but a program whose tradition dates back to the 1890s cannot claim as its chief rival a program whose tradition dates back to the 1990s. That (dis)honor goes to Auburn.

The Plainsmen are the Classic City Canines’ oldest rivals; the series dates back to 1892, when the two teams met in Auburn’s first game and Georgia’s second game . . . ever. Georgia has played Auburn more times than Georgia has played Georgia Tech and Auburn has played Georgia more times than Auburn has played Alabama. Since 1897, it quite literally has taken a World War to prevent the Bulldogs and the Tigers from tangling. The rivalry is heightened by the proximity of the schools and the extensive cross-pollination between the Deep South’s oldest enemies: Georgia’s most successful coach, Vince Dooley, went to Auburn and Auburn’s most successful coach, Pat Dye, went to Georgia. Each program has at least one of the other school’s alumni on the football coaching staff to this day. Finally, there is the quirky nature of the series. Auburn has a winning record (18-9) in the Classic City. Georgia has a winning record (13-9-2) in the Loveliest Village. The home team has won just three times in the last 15 series meetings and, more often than not, the higher-ranked team comes up short on the scoreboard.

Thanks to the bizarre nature of this heated rivalry, the series is about as close as they come. In 110 showdowns between the two, the all-time score is 1,685 points for Georgia and 1,665 points for Auburn. Such is the stuff of which one of the great rivalries, not just in the history of the schools, but in the history of the sport, is made.
By the way . . . I hate Auburn.

4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear a Georgia uniform and why?
I’ll play within the rules, but it should be noted that three of the four retired jersey numbers in Bulldog football history were worn by players whose collegiate careers concluded well before 1970. The fourth, of course, was Herschel Walker, whose status at the top of the list cannot be gainsaid, for the reasons provided previously, as well as others. During the Goal Line Stalker’s three-year career at Georgia, the Bulldogs went 33-3, never lost a conference game, captured three straight league titles, and won a national championship. The Red and Black’s losses during the Herschel Walker era came against Clemson in 1981, Pittsburgh in the 1982 Sugar Bowl, and Penn State in the 1983 Sugar Bowl. Those three teams finished those seasons ranked No. 1, No. 2, and No. 1, respectively, in the final coaches’ polls. Georgia was good; like no other player since Frank Sinkwich (photo), Herschel made Georgia great.

Second place probably goes to David Pollack, the emotional leader of the Bulldogs’ 21st century resurgence and the only Georgia player other than the Goal Line Stalker to have been a three-time consensus all-American. After that, it starts to get a bit tricky. I’m not altogether convinced that at least two of the other three fellows in the top five aren’t on the Red and Black roster right now, but they haven’t earned their way onto the list quite yet. Likewise, George Patton, Jake Scott, and Bill Stanfill would have contended strongly for a spot in the standings, had the cutoff point been just five years earlier.

With apologies to Boss Bailey, Buck Belue, Kevin Butler, Robert Edwards, Bill Goldberg, David Greene, Rodney Hampton, Andre Hastings, Rex Robinson, Lindsay Scott, Jon and Matt Stinchcomb, Richard Tardits, Hines Ward, Scott Woerner, and Ben Zambiasi, though, I’m going to round out my top five with Champ Bailey, Terry Hoage, and Garrison Hearst, in that order.

Bailey was probably the most versatile player to have suited up for Georgia since Charley Trippi in the mid-1940s. In 1998, the year after Michigan’s Charles Woodson won the Heisman Trophy as a sometime two-way player, Champ was on the field for more than 1,000 plays as a cornerback, wide receiver, and return specialist en route to the Bronko Nagurski Award. Over the course of the 1998 campaign, Bailey racked up 49 punt return yards, 261 kickoff return yards, 744 receiving yards, 47 catches, 52 tackles, three interceptions, and five touchdowns.

Hoage’s Georgia career overlapped with one of the three great periods of success in Bulldog football history, the Red and Black’s 43-4-1 run from 1980 to 1983. That was no coincidence. A two-time all-American both on the field and in the classroom, Hoage posted what was at the time the highest finish ever by a defensive back in the Heisman Trophy balloting, coming in fifth in 1983.

Hearst revived Georgia’s “Tailback U.” tradition in 1992, when he finished third in the Heisman Trophy race. While averaging 6.8 yards per carry in his final year with the Bulldogs, Hearst set a new conference mark for rushing touchdowns in a single season (19) and capped off his career by being named the S.E.C. Player of the Year, the Doak Walker Award winner, and the Citrus Bowl M.V.P.

5. Make your case why Georgia football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
After 20 years of wandering in the wilderness, Georgia football has been restored to its rightful place in the college football firmament by Mark Richt, who guided the Bulldogs to four straight 10-win seasons, four straight top 10 finishes, two S.E.C. titles, and three Eastern Division championships. The totality of the Red and Black’s restoration is attested to by the fact that a nine-win season in which the Bulldogs lost a seven-point game to the eventual national champion and finished the season with three straight wins over ranked opponents now counts as a “down” year.

Historically, Georgia has been a storied program, even if the Red and Black have not been celebrated widely outside the region. The Bulldogs have been victorious in the Cotton, Orange, Rose, and Sugar Bowls, something few other programs can claim. In addition to capturing a dozen conference crowns in what arguably is the toughest league in the country, Georgia has been at or near the forefront of college football on numerous occasions since making its first real national impact under Harry Mehre in the 1930s.

Now, with a visionary young athletic director, an efficient and highly solvent athletics program, and the man who already is the third-winningest head coach in school history just six years into his tenure in the Classic City, the Bulldogs are poised to cash in on stellar recruiting and upgrades to the coaching staff, the facilities, and the schedule by clearing the hurdle that will make one of the great college towns and one of the most talent-rich states the home of the No. 1 team in the land. Count on it . . . by the time Georgia’s 1980 national championship team celebrates its 30th anniversary by being honored at halftime of the 2010 homecoming game, Buck Belue and Herschel Walker will not be members of the Bulldogs’ most recent national title-winning squad.

Once again I would like to thank Kyle...on Thursday, The U - Miami Hurricanes will be the next football program to be featured

The Sunday Baker's Dozen

Sunday Fast Fact - Did you know the Major League Baseball All-Star Game began in 1933 as part of the Worlds Fair that was being held in Chicago. The idea of an All-Star game did not come from the braintrust of MLB, but from Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward.

San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea does a one-on-one interview with Bud Selig..... "Q: Have you decided whether you'll attend Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run game? A: I have not yet. I'll do that in the upcoming weeks."....

John Shea

San Francisco Chronicle’s Michelle Smith writes how Giants broadcaster Jon Miller is getting a night off on Tuesday with the game being played at his home park - how will he spend it?..... "I gave my tickets to my brother, my dad and my son," Miller said."....

Michelle Smith

Carl T. Hall of the San Francisco Chronicle writes how AT&T Park was designed to keep the wind at a minimum.... "Fans and players can expect a relatively wind-free experience, at least compared with the ball field AT&T replaced: Candlestick Park, . . ."

Carl T. Hall

San Francisco Chronicle columnist John Shea has been busy writing....this small piece focuses on San Francisco Giants pitchers in All-Star games..... "Nobody was a more dominant All-Star Game pitcher than Juan Marichal, whose ERA was 0.50, the second-lowest among pitchers with at least nine innings."...

John Shea

Newark Star Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg writes about how Larry Doby broke the color barrier in the American League 60 years ago... "Somehow baseball historians seem to act as though it all ended on the day Jackie Robinson came up the dugout steps at Ebbets Field, taking baseball's first grudging steps toward entry into the real 20th century.".....

Jerry Izenberg

New York Times reporter Joe Lapointe writes how former New York Yankees great Reggie Jackson is no fan of the upcoming ESPN series "The Bronx is Burning"..... "And they didn't have the decency to ask me a question," Jackson said. "Portray me when you don't know the story? Why would you do something like that and no one asked me?" ....

Joe Lapointe

The Albany Times-Union senior sports writer Mark McGuire writes how the Baseball Hall of Fame sent their diplomat - Jeff Idelson - to speak to Barry Bonds..... "Bonds keeps most of his memorabilia -- much of it on display at home in Beverly Hills, Calif., the rest cataloged in a San Francisco area storage facility."....

Mark McGuire

Pittsburgh Post Gazette sports columnist Chuck Finder writes how it could have easily been Junior Griffey breaking Hank Aaron's record.... "Were this a Griffey Chase, there inarguably would be more warm and fuzzy feelings for the hunter, so much so that Aaron and commissioner Bud Selig might never have hesitated to pledge their attendance.".....

Chuck Finder

Associated Press reporter Hal Bodley looks back on the great Willie Mays.... "When baseball's brightest gather in San Francisco for Tuesday night's All-Star Game, they'll bring along a buzz of anticipation, the kind of excitement that only the game's top players can generate. Willie Mays would know all about that."....

Hal Bock

St. Louis Star-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon writes that those who cheered Mark McGwire should hold their tongue when dealing with Barry Bonds.... "Don't come to the game dressed in a lab coat. Remember, most of you rallied behind Mark McGwire as he chased -– and broke -– Roger Maris' single-season home-run record. McGwiremania sucked in an entire region of fans.".....

Jeff Gordon

Louisville Courier-Journal sports columnist Rick Bozich writes how former Louisville and current Atlanta Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino will have one major question to deal with when camp opens - Michael Vick.... "Will you solemnly swear that Vick is your quarterback? Will he still be your quarterback if federal authorities charge that he is connected to the extensive dog-fighting operation they believe was run on property Vick owned in Virginia?" ....

Rick Bozich

Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Rachel Blount writes how boxing trainer Calvin Williams has not let blindness stop him with help from a non-traditional boxer.... "When his sight abandoned him, so did most of the athletes he trained. Griffin and his 15-year-old daughter, Annie, stayed, penetrating Williams' darkness with the light of friendship and purpose.".....

Rachel Blount

New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick writes how sportscasters have their own on-air language.... "That's because normal people don't normally speak that way; only sportscasters, on the air, speak in sportscaster. Anywhere else and by anyone else, it's considered crazy talk."....

Phil Mushnick

Quick Hits

Here are a few odd news items that caught my eye when snooping through the internet and newspapers.....

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the list of people who will present this year's class of new inductees.....Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones will present Michael Irvin; former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy will present Thurman Thomas; Hall of Famer and former teammate Mike Munchak will present Bruce Matthews; Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford will present Charlie Sanders; former Cleveland Browns teammate Bobby Franklin will present Gene Hickerson; and Hall of Famer Larry Wilson will present Roger Wehrli.....

One female sports journalist who does not get a lot of notice is NFL Network's Mary Strong (photo)....Strong provides updates during the NFL Now segment....she is a graduate of Loyola Marymount and played volleyball while in college....she later spent time on the beach volleyball circuit....

Former New York Knick and Georgetown Hoya star Patrick Ewing will be back on the bench this NBA season...Ewing agreed to be an assistant coach on Stan Van Gundy's staff in Orland.....looks like Dwight Howard will be getting great advice from the former center....

This was an interesting baseball nugget in Wednesday's Akron Beacon Journal....in 1966, pitcher Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves became the first National League player to hit two grand slams in a game....he also added a single for a total of nine RBIs in their 17-3 win over San Francisco....

The famous Copacabana in New York City closed this past Sunday....

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Bears front office has ordered two types of NFC Championship rings....

David Haugh

Sean McClelland of The Dayton Daily News reports there are rumors that former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will be coaching the Cleveland Browns next season....

Sean McClelland

College Football at its Best - Oklahoma Sooner Football

The Oklahoma Sooners are the third football power that I am featuring in the series "College Football at its Best".....Matt Hofeld of the blog Crimson and Cream took some time to respond to my questions about Sooner football....he is 33-years-old amd attended his first OU football game in 1983 as a kid and has been hooked since....he launched his first sports blog, My Opinion on Sports, in April of 2005 and became a part of SBN in August of 2006 with the launch of the Crimson and Cream Machine.....I want to thank Matt for his time - it is much appreciated....

Crimson and Cream

Q1. First question - Barry Switzer or Bob Stoops?
A. Wow! What a question to start out with. Let me first say how fortunate the University of Oklahoma is to have the heritage of football coaches they do. Not just Barry and Bob but also put Bud Wilkinson as well. As for the question itself, as difficult as it is I would have to go with Switzer at this point with no shame or disgrace what so ever to Bob Stoops who has been nothing but fantastic since arriving in Norman. In his 16 years at Oklahoma Switzer won 3 national championships (1974,1975,1985) and 12 conference championships including consecutively from 1973 – 1980. Switzer also owned Nebraska and Texas. Some will argue that the trouble the team got into under Switzer’s watch would automatically place him under Stoops but I argue that it was a different era in college football and that kind of stuff was going on at campuses across the nation. Sure, we’re not proud of it and it probably was time for a change when Switzer stepped down after the 1988 season but that activity wasn’t exclusive to the Oklahoma campus. While Bob Stoops is certainly on his way by winning 4 conference championships and 1 national title in his first 8 seasons at OU he still has a way to go to catch the King.

Q2. What is the greatest Oklahoma football game that you have seen - whether it be in-person or on television? Explain the game and why it was so great.
A. I really had to think hard about this one because I’ve been to a lot of fun games but that doesn’t necessarily mean the best game. I was at all the slaughter games of the Stoops era, when OU beat Texas 63-14, 65-13, Texas A&M 77-0, and Oklahoma State 52-9. While those games were a lot of fun they really weren’t great games. A great game also doesn’t necessarily mean that the Sooners win. For example, the Fiesta Bowl in January was a great game. In spite of the fact that the Sooners were upset, it was still a fantastic game and by far the greatest of the 06 football season.

I guess I would have to say that for me the greatest game I have ever witnessed was the Orange Bowl following the miracle 2000 season. OU beat Florida State 13-2 to claim their 7th national championship. Despite being undefeated going into the game the Sooners were still underdogs and no one thought that they had a chance to win including the radio broadcast crew for the Sooners. Not only did they win, they dominated Florida State that night. The 1985 Orange Bowl is close as well because it is the first time I actually saw OU win a national championship but the Sooners were so much better than Penn State that year that there really wasn’t any drama and the game wasn’t close.

Q3. Who do you consider Oklahoma's biggest rival - Texas, Oklahoma State or Nebraska?
A. This one is easy. Hands down it’s Texas followed by Nebraska and then Oklahoma State is a distant third. The winner of the OU/Texas game generally goes on to play for the Big 12 Championship, unless Texas just gives it up like they did last season, and in the old days of the Big 8 it was usually OU or Nebraska who won the conference. While the Cowboys are our instate rival they really aren’t a threat for winning the conference and recruits don’t sway between OU and OSU like they do with OU and Texas.

Q4. Since 1970, who are the five greatest players to wear an Oklahoma uniform and why?
A. I don’t want to totally balk at this question but we are running a feature in our countdown to kick-off that will highlight, in our opinion, the ten players who have had the most impact on the Sooner football program since the 1975 national championship. I’ll throw you a bone though. Here are a few of the candidates; Tinker Owens, Lee Roy Selmon (photo left), Joe Washington, Billy Sims (photo, lower right), Tony Casillas, Brian Bosworth, Keith Jackson, Danté Jones, Cedric Jones, Josh Heupel, Rocky Calmus, Roy Williams, Tommie Harris, Mark Clayton, Jason White, Adrian Peterson.

Q5. Make your case why Oklahoma football, as a whole, is the best football program in the country?
A. There aren’t a lot of teams who can boast the winning tradition that Oklahoma has. The Sooners have won seven national championships and forty conference championships. Under Bob Stoops Oklahoma is winning a conference championship every other year and playing for a national championship about once every three years. What kind of kid wouldn’t want to play for a program like that?...

On Monday, the Georgia Bulldogs will be the next football program featured...

Happy Birthday America

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Also, Happy Birthday to The Boss - George Steinbrenner

Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi

The American Dream - Joey Chestnut vs. Six-Time Defending Champion - Kobayashi

Takeru Kobayashi set a world record last year at the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest, only to see Joey Chestnut shatter his mark by eating 59½ earlier this year. Chestnut will make America proud on the Fourth of July. As Mills Lane would say - Let's Get it Ohnnnn!!!!

Jerry Izenberg Unplugged - Thoughts about Vince Lombardi - Part II

This is the second part of my interview with the legendary sports journalist Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger about his dealings with former Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi....

He (Lombardi) was a genius in terms of not asking too much (from his players). He had the smallest playbook in football. Forrest Gregg (photo) once told me, "we (Packers) would laugh when he ran our plays. We all but said that we are coming over left tackle - stop us if you can." Forrest Gregg was a wonderful story which tells you more about Lombardi. Gregg had mixed emotions about Lombardi when he first came. The Green Bay locker room was worse than what Forrest had at SMU. He was thinking of retiring because the previous coach had played favorites, and nobody worked. There was a boycott campaign in Green Bay about going to see the Packer games. He (Gregg) was like, "I don’t need this stuff anymore." Then Vince came and he talked to Forrest on the phone and Forrest said, "let me give this guy a try." So he goes out there and the first day Lombardi rips into Paul Hornung and Forrest thinks to himself, "I like this guy, I think I’m going to stick around." Later in that camp Vince is diagraming what would become the Green Bay sweep. So Forrest puts his hand up and says, "Coach I don’t mean to contradict you but you are asking me to pull behind the guard, get all the way around and make an impossible block." Vince looked at him and said, "Well Forrest it might be impossible for you so I will find someone who can." Forrest Gregg ended up making that block for years.

Vince was a wonderful guy. He really was a funny guy. I remember one year I was stuck in Green Bay all by myself over Christmas. They had tied with the Baltimore Colts and they had an extra playoff game. So I go out to the compound to see him and he was sitting there with his first computer. And he's screaming at everybody because he didn’t know how to work it. He said, "I stayed up all last night asking questions to the computer." The kind of questions he was asking the computer were unanswerable because there was no software for it. He said, "I have come to the conclusion that the computer has told me anybody whose IQ is higher than 130 will not hit."

I once had an argument with him that we carried on long distance over a book I wrote. It was a book called "Rivals" dealing with rivalries that moved all of America. Now Vince was a Dodger fan being he was Brooklyn. So he called me up and said, "Gee that is a great book you wrote." And I was like, "Thanks but it wasn’t that good. It was a nice book." So Vince is like, "I’m telling you it was a great book!" So now I ask him what the hell have you read (in the book) and he said to me, "Never mind, I read it. It is great!" And that was Vince, he always had to be right.

I’ll tell you though, I liked him so much. You had to like him cause he kind of favored the New York area writers. When we would come out there (to Green Bay) he would ignore everybody else. He was really such a class guy. I’ll tell you something that a lot of people do not know, there was some maneuvering for Vince to come home and coach the Giants. And he really wanted to come. He wanted five percent of the team. And Helen Mara, who was Wellington Mara’s sister-in-law said, "we work so hard so I don’t see why we should give up anything." The Maras had 50 percent of the stock but nothing ever came of it. The Giants were horrible back then. They changed coaches like they changed socks.

Izenberg then talked about covering the famous Ice Bowl game between the Packers and Cowboys. (photo)
I will tell you two anecdotes that had nothing to do with football but will tell you how cold it was. There was no heat in the press box. It was an old wooden press box at Lambeau Field. It was freezing. In those days they had little heaters with motors that would throw heat. So they would start them up, but they had engines. Some genius decided to put one in the press box and after a while I started smelling something. Here is was emitting carbon monoxide. I told them, "shut that damn thing off."

It was the only time in my entire life at a football game that I drank. It was so cold. As the game ends, some kid jumps on the field and has a saw. The goalpost back then were wooden. This enterprising little bastard is going to chop it up and sell pieces of it. So he is out there sawing. I go back to writing my story, shivering, and when I finish I look and the kid is still sawing. He was not able to cut off one piece because it was so frozen.

Before the game Vince was bragging that some guy sold him a bill of goods to put electrical wiring underneath the turf this way it wouldn’t freeze. So you would put the tarp over it and you turn the electricity on and it keeps the field soft so when you take the tarp off the field will not be frozen. Well the only thing it didn’t calculate is how you get the tarp off because the tarp is frozen to the field. It took them like a half an hour to scrape up the tarp.

Vince was a guy who reacted very viscerally. You know when they played down in Dallas in the game where the Packers intercepted in the end zone when Dallas was driving for the winning touchdown. They had some kind of a thing for the halftime show that went on and on and on. And they had floats on the field and were trying to get them off the field. All of a sudden I see this guy come running across the field banging on the side of one of the floats yelling, "get that fucking thing out of here." It was Lombardi.

Lombardi was often worse when they won than when they lost because his head was still in the game. He was still playing the game and he would get very angry. He was easier to interview after a loss. In a game against the Rams, the Packers just won something like 6-3 and he knew they would have to play the Rams again in the playoffs. So he has them all in the locker room and he is tearing everybody a new asshole. He’s like, "you guys don’t deserve to be Packers." You have to remember, it was a very important thing for these players to be Packers for the pride as much as the playoff money was guaranteed. In those days they didn’t make any money. Now, Lombardi is going on and on and on and Willie Davis (photo) is sitting on a wooden folding chair in front of his cubicle. He was leaning back in his chair hoping Lombardi would not see him. So he is leaning back and leaning back. Then Vince yells, "does anybody here want to play Packer football?" And with that, the chair breaks and Willie goes onto the floor and jumps up and Lombardi looks at him and says, "now see, Willie Davis wants to play Packer football. Who else wants to play it?" I asked Willie if he ever told Lombardi the truth about what happened and he said, "are you nuts?"

Before concluding the interview, I asked Izenberg how Lombardi would have been as a coach in today's NFL....
I think he would have been great because he understood the players and the types of players there are. He understood the world he lived in. And I don’t think he would have had a Terrell Owens, but I think he would have understood today’s players.

Once again I would like to thank Mr. Izenberg for his time...it was very much appreciated!!...

Jerry Izenberg Unplugged - Thoughts about Vince Lombardi

On Monday, June 25th I had the honor to interview legendary sports journalist Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger....Izenberg has been reporting for 56 years and is one of only four reporters to cover every Super Bowl (the other three are Jerry Green of The Detroit News, Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald, and David Klein formerly of the Star-Ledger and now a writer for a pro football newsletter).....Izenberg still writes 20-25 columns a year and covers the Super Bowl and Triple Crown races....he has written numerous books including "No Medals for Trying" in which he spent a week with Bill Parcells and the New York Giants....another of his books is "The Greatest Game Ever Played" which detailed the epic game 6 NLCS battle between the Astros and Mets....

At the beginning of the interviewed I asked Izenberg to discuss the most interesting person he interviewed when dealing with the NFL....he said there are so many that it was impossible to just focus on one person....so I decided to ask him about Green Bay Packer head coach Vince Lombardi....for the next 30 minutes Izenberg told enthralling stories about the late great coach...I want to thank him for his time - it is much appreciated...below are his words and thoughts about Lombardi....I give you Jerry Izenberg - Unplugged....

One of the great Lombardi quotes will tell you what has happened in pro football when he said, "is this a game for madmen and have I become one of them". I got to know him when he was a coach with the Giants which is where our friendship began even though I had known of him from St. Cecilia’s in Inglewood and when he coached up at West Point under Red Blaik. In those days we did not have coordinators, we had backfield coaches who really ran the offense and a defensive coach who ran the defense. On a remarkable staff, Vince and Tom Landry held those positions for the Giants.

You have to remember how he was shaped. Vince was shaped by the fact that he was always trying to catch up and then suddenly he was way ahead of everybody else and that posed another set of problems because he wanted to stay there. When I said he was trying to catch up, you got to remember, this guy coached high school football as a mature man. He went back to Fordham as a freshman coach. (His classmate when he was student at Fordham was Wellington Mara.) He had done nothing at Fordham to make you think that he was going to go anywhere else. He was getting very impatient. He noticed that all the assistant coaches on Red Blaik’s staff turned over every two years because they got full-time jobs as head coaches. So he interviewed at West Point and Blaik took him. The first year he jumped on some cadet. I believe he was coaching the freshmen and Blaik called him aside and told him "We don’t do that here. And if you want to get anywhere in this business you better remember that and hang on to your temper." It is hard to believe that he did. Can you imagine what his temper used to be like? So he did temper it a little bit.

The huge disappointment. Maybe the biggest disappointment of all came when other assistant coaches got different (head coaching) jobs. And Lombardi was a candidate for a job at Wake Forest. Now this is the south and we are going back to the late 40s early 50s. And you know that a lot of things are very slow to change. He interviewed and he was quite excited about it because other coaches from that staff (at Army) got jobs and he fully expected that he would get the Wake Forest job. A guy down there in North Carolina called him up and said. "Vince I have to tell you I don’t want you play out a charade. They had several number of people interview and you were one of them but they are not going to give this job to anybody whose name ends in a vowel." Now whether the guy was right or wrong, Vince had believed him, and he did not get the job. It was a tremendous blow to him. And years later it was the reason that he and (Green Bay Packer) Willie Davis were close. This is how that friendship started. Willie came to Vince and asked for the day off from practice which is like asking for instant canonization. You don’t get that from Lombardi. So Lombardi asked him why he wanted the day off. Davis said he had to go to Milwaukee to get a haircut. Vince said, "Mister you get a haircut here like everybody else." Davis told Vince that, "Emlen Tunnell and I do not get haircuts here. They guy won’t cut our hair." So Vince told Davis to come with him after practice. So he goes to the barber, and he has Willie with him, and they step into the barber shop. The barber is like, "hey coach, we gonna have a good team this year, blah, blah, blah. So what do you think, a light trim?" And Lombardi said, "Nah, I don’t think I need anything. Just cut this guy’s hair (referring to Davis)." And of course the guy did. And after that, the black players could get their hair cut in Green Bay. He later told Willie that all came about because his name did end in a vowel and what happened to him with the Wake Forest job. He said, "we had to be just a little bit better everybody else. Me in my time, and you in your time. You just got to deal with it and don’t let anybody take it away from you." That was just one little side of Lombardi. I’ll tell you about another side to Lombardi that people don’t know.

Nelson Toburen played for Green Bay in the early Lombardi years and broke his neck in practice. Lombardi went to see him in the hospital and he said, "what you going to do, you can't give up?" And Toburen had a good attitude and said I think I want to be a lawyer. The story I got was that Vince had called someone at Marquette and got Nelson in on a free ride and never discussed it with anybody.

Vince had that competitive fire in him. He's in the living room on the floor playing marbles with his grandson and Marie (his wife) is looking at him and the kid starts to cry. She asks what's the matter and he said "grandpa is winning all my marbles." So she mumbles very softly, "for Christ-sake let the kid win" and Vince said, "the world is not like that Marie."

I want to give you a background of who he was. His father was an immigrant and Vince became the head of the family because his father was older and not too well. Well Vince's brother Joe Lombardi played guard for Vince at St. Cecilia's and the big game every year was Englewood High against St. Cecilia's - Thanksgiving Day - traditional. Vince had a curfew so he would go around to all the player's houses and they better be in bed at 10:00. So he gets to his mother's house and his brother is mopping the kitchen floor. Vince says, "what are you doing up?" Joe said, "well Mom said that tomorrow is your end of the season party and Mom told me to clean the kitchen floor." Vince said, "well I told you to be in bed." Joe later told me, "here I am mopping his mother's floor for his (Vince's) party and he tells me I am not playing tomorrow." I don't know if he finally let him in the game but he was harder on Joe than anybody else.

So Vince had suffered, but he comes down to the Giants as the backfield coach which means he is the offensive coach. He tells the players he is going to put in a play that was very successful for him in college called the halfback option. All the Giants laughed. They said, "we don't need a college play." They weren't afraid of him yet. Anyway the halfback option turned out to be the play that became famous in New York because Frank Gifford threw the passes.

He was a terrific organizer. He was hard as hell, but they (players) loved him. So Wellington Mara gets a call from Philadelphia saying they want to speak to Vince about the head coaching job. Wellington tells Philadelphia that Vince is not interested. Wellington then goes to Vince and tells him that he just turned down your permission to talk to Philadelphia. Vince was like, "why did you do that?" Wellington told him, "this is not the job for you. I'll tell you win to go. Believe me and I will help you." Three or four years later the Green Bay job opened up and Vince was cool to the idea. He was a Brooklyn guy and to go live in Green Bay, Wisconsin - he could not imagine that. But Wellington told him, "you better take the job. Believe me. The reason you got to take this job is that I know the guy who is the head of all the stockholders. And I told him about your temperament and he is going to let you call every shot." And that is how the Packers were born. In his second year, he got them to play Philly for the championship and they lost. I remember him telling me afterward, "this will never happen to me again."

Tomorrow, part two of Izenberg's thoughts about Lombardi

The Sunday Baker's Dozen

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Washington Post

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Mark Feinsand - Steinbrenner Interview

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Mark Feinsand

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Elizabeth Merrill

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Gary Washburn

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Mitch Albom

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Pierce W. Huff

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Jason Whitlock

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Dustin Dow

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Jeff Darlington

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Michael Vega

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Joe Henderson

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Arizona Republic