Sunday, May 30, 2010

“Gentlemen, this is a football”

Your “Packerville” staff is back from the West Coast trip, where travel, relaxation, and irregular internet access limited the updating of this blog last week. We’re here now to get back on a regular schedule.

Back in the days Vince Lombardi, the Green Bay Packers had a most interesting beginning to pre-season training. All the players knew that at the first team meeting, the legendary coach would waste no time getting straight to the point. Many of the men, half Lombardi’s age and twice his size, were openly fearful, dreading the encounter. The coach did not disappoint them, and, in fact, delivered his message in one of the great one-liners of all time. Football in hand, Lombardi walked to the front of the room, took several seconds to look over the assemblage in silence, held out the pigskin in front of him, and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” In only five words, Lombardi communicated his point: We’re going to start with the basics and make sure we’re executing all the fundamentals.

In today’s photo, Lombardi appears to be doing the same thing with the assembled media.