When I was a kid, the book
Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer sat on a shelf at home for years. It was one of those books you would see on book racks all over the place. Never had cause to pick it up and read it. Perhaps it was because as a kid, I lived through the 1960s and watched the Green Bay Packers and their exploits of that era. This past winter and now in my rapid aging in life, I was feeling some yearning for the past. And as well, there is something classy about this current Packer Super Bowl winning team that reminds me of that team from the 1960s. I found the book in a used book store.
It's an easy read, not too long, and done in what W. C. Heinz calls, "the progressive narrative" style. I think the rest of us might call that....a diary. Kramer documented the Packer team and Vince Lombardi's great final run to Super Bowl II. It would be the end of Vince Lombardi's coaching in Green Bay. Since his inception as head coach in 1959 Lombardi had gotten his team in a National Football League (NFL) title game after only his second year as coach but lost, then went on to win four NFL title games, and also win the first Super Bowl. Kramer's literary effort documents the 1967 season culminating with a fifth NFL title (the infamous Ice Bowl) for Lombardi and a Super Bowl II victory in January of 1968.
As I recall from memory, there was some grumbling by the era's pontificators in regards to Kramer writing a book for a few reasons. First, he was "just" an offensive guard. Stereotypically, hard-headed linemen ain't suppose to be able to do no read'n and write'n. Second, it was not common in those days for an athlete to breach the locker room code of silence and go public in a book. And third, a guy named Dick Schaap put the book together for Kramer from audio recordings the athlete had made throughout the season on his tape recorder.
Now, in retrospect, it is a sports book, especially if you are a Wisconsin native, that is a bucket list read. Looking back, Kramer either by intention or serendipity, catches a good taste of the culture of sports and society of the era. He is a word-rationing thoughtful narrator - no long diatribes, no self indulgent rants, and no self absorbed pouting. In contrast I can think of some other athletes in the last 60 years that might fall right on in the diatribe, rant, and self absorbed pouting profile. Kramer is a classy guy; you can feel the timbre of his demeanor in his words.
I have seen Jerry Kramer on television and heard him on radio every so often. He still puts his best foot forward even now almost 45 years after those first two Super Bowls. He is still the same soft spoken guy that realized back in 1967 he was part of sports history and took the initiative to try and document at least a small part of it from the eye of the storm.
The book is full of Lombardi sayings. Also highlighted was Lombardi's obsession with control; and, he did not like sports agents, and often had skirmishes with media. Lombardi also preached perfection while other teams did not. And finally, in an era of racial difficulties and lingering segregation, Lombardi insisted his team - his black and white players - stay and travel together. That was a policy that often had him at odds with regional rules, mores, norms, and prejudices. Also, visited from time to time was the back story of players rankling with military obligations during the perennial Cold War and Vietnam era.
This current Packer team also seems to function like a group of classy guys as opposed to a stable of primadonnas - a phenomena that plagues current era of sports teams. That old 1960s team, although under pressure from a changing American culture and rapidly expanding football culture was too....also a classy outfit. Kramer unassumingly catches the nuances of the times so long ago when we all thought football was a dandy distraction from the turmoils, perennial war, riots, protests, and prejudices of the day.
The times are so different now....but are they? Sports are ever changing, we live in a time of perennial war, poor economy, and social dissatisfaction. Perhaps the only thing that has really changed is our loss of memory for the old cliche of how, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Kramer's book stays relevant.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan) Sergeant Ryan Christopher Adams, 26, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, was killed on Friday, October 2, 2009 in Logar province, Afghanistan. Enemy forces attacked his vehicle using rocket-propelled grenades. He was assigned to the 951st Engineer Company (Sapper), Wisconsin Army National Guard out of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted seven other Guard soldiers were injured in the incident. About 100 soldiers from the unit were deployed to Afghanistan. Their mission was one of combat engineering tasks including clearing routes for the 101st Airborne Division. Adams had also been deployed with the unit to Iraq from May 2003 to April 2004. At that time the unit went under the moniker of Company C, 724th Engineer Battalion. Adams had joined the National Guard in 2001 after he graduated from Rhinelander High School. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Ryan played quarterback on the football team; and, he played baseball. He was also a volunteer for Angels on My Shoulder, a nonprofit cancer support group. An obituary posted in the Journal Sentinel mentioned Ryan was born on December 7, 1982 in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
The Rhinelander Daily News via their Website noted Adam also played golf in high school. He was remembered as a hard worker and a natural leader. Ryan had a love for football beginning his playing days in Pop Warner competition. Adam's Guard unit was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2009. Sergeant Adams was the second Rhinelander soldier to die in the line of duty in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
At the time of his death, Ryan Adams was survived by his parents Peter and Jalane Adams; his sister Amanda Adams; and, his uncle Patrick Adams. Sergeant Ryan Adams was the 15th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
1 American/Coalition death in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
100,799 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,950 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,455 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1572 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
880 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,085 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
11,314 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
31 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
148 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
4 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
