Newsmax: The Steve Malzberg Show- Bud Grant On His NFL Career

Source:Newsmax- talking to former Minnesota Vikings and Hall of Fame head coach Bud Grant.

Source:The Daily Press

"Bud Grant, former NFL Head Coach joins Steve to discuss his new book, "I Did It My Way: A Remarkable Journey to the Hall of Fame."

From Newsmax

I don’t want to sound cold here, but if you look at the Vikings four Super Bowl appearances, they were the second best team in every game, so why they would be on a missing rings list from. NFL Films is surprising to me and in really at least two of those games they were clearly the second best team in the Super Bowl. Because only Super Bowl 8 against the Miami Dolphins and Super Bowl 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, before the Steelers became a great team on offense, the Vikings were clear underdogs in these games.

The Vikings remind me of the Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s, as teams that got beat badly in Super Bowls by teams that were clearly better than them. The Vikings were overmatched upfront on defense and offense by the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 4. And by the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 11, which meant the Chiefs and Raiders could run against them real well. And take away the Vikings run game and throw the ball when they wanted to do and force the Vikings to throw the ball when they had too.

The Vikings of the late 1960s and 1970s were very good teams on both sides of the ball. But that’s not enough when you play teams that are clearly better than you in the Super Bowl. They lost to two of the best teams of all-time in the 1969 Chiefs and the 1976 Raiders in the Super Bowl. Which is how both games turned into blowouts because the Vikings simply weren’t big and good enough up front to take on those big powerful offensive and defensive lines that the Chiefs and Raiders had. 

The Vikings getting beat badly up front, messed up their offense in these games where they had to throw practically every down. Against those big strong quick defensive lines. Against the 69 Chiefs, 73 Dolphins, 74 Steelers and 76 Raiders. The missing rings should be about teams that would’ve won the Super Bowl that year, but came up short and the 98 Vikings would be on that list. Perhaps the 86 Cleveland Browns, the 68 Baltimore Colts or the 1990 San Francisco 49ers. Not for teams that lost the Super Bowl to a better team. 

The 69 Vikings are one of the most dominant teams of all-time as far as how they won games and simply dominated their opponents. A team that finished 14-2. But the 68 Colts who lost Super Bowl three were a better team both on offense and defense and a team that should be on this list. A team that won Super 5 against the Dallas Cowboys. What the Vikings were of this era were very good teams especially on defense that didn’t have enough to win the Super Bowl.

NFL Network: Mike Ditka: A Football Life

Source:NFL Network- Iron Mike Ditka.

Source:The Daily Press 

“A Football Life is a documentary series developed by NFL Films and aired on NFL Network that documents the lives of select National Football League players, coaches, owners, and teams. Friends, teammates, family members and other players and coaches associated with the subjects are interviewed.”

From Online Documentaries 

To understand Mike Ditka you have to understand his upbringing growing up in a tough Western Pennsylvania town. From a blue-collar Polish-American family with a very tough and demanding father who really loved him. Who ends up going to college at Pittsburgh University another real tough iron blue-collar city and then gets drafted by the Chicago Bears. Similar town as Pittsburgh culturally, but with about ten times as many people.

So, Iron Mike for the most part has always been around where he came from and what he’s most comfortable with as a man. And then he ends up playing one of the toughest positions in the game tight end where you have to be tough and physical to be successful.

The Mike Ditka that people got to see as a football player is the Mike Ditka that a lot more people saw as head coach of the Chicago Bears. This get in your face tough ass didn’t take crap from anyone who simply wanted the best from his players.

Mike Ditka was the ultimate tough love head coach father figure that coached the Chicago Bears for eleven seasons (1982-92) and if you look at his record he was very successful one of the most winningest head coaches in the NFL in the 1980s.

You do your job and you give your best effort, Ditka is your best friend. But if you screw up and make mental mistakes or are lazy, Ditka is the last person you want to be around. Because he’ll tell you how bad you were, how dumb you were and how bad of a mistake you’ve made.And if you don’t do better in the future, you better look for another job.

Which was the message of Mike Ditka and you might not like his tactics, but that’s what Ditka was about. And I think something he learned from Tom Landry in Dallas, that if you want the best out of your players, you have to want it, you have to expect it and you better demand it. And your players must be aware of it as well.

Mike Ditka was a blue-collar Polish-American head coach coaching in a blue-collar city with a large Polish-American community.

Iron Mike fit Chicago as well as any head coach has ever fit any major pro sports city. And why he called his football team the 85 Bears the Grabowski’s, because his team were so blue-collar and represented that city so well. And it worked very well in the 1980s until it burned out in the early 1990s when the Bears let him go.

NFL Network: Tom Landry: A Football Life

Source:NFL Network- from the NFL Network documentary.

Mike Ditka on Tom Landry: "Grantland Rice had a quote on class: 

Class is a hard thing to define: 

It could be the swing of a slugger's bat. 

It could be the lift of a thoroughbred's hoof. 

It could be the flick of a quarterback's arm. 

But once you see it, you'll never forget it. Tom Landry was class." No better way to start of A Football Life Tom Landry, than with Mike Ditka, who perhaps knew him the best.

"A Football Life Tom Landry" 

From Sports Freak Podcast 

Tom Landry is an interesting subject for me as a Redskins fan because here’s the guy who built America’s Team that became the new arch-rival of the Redskins in the early 1970s replacing the New York Giants and cost the Redskins division-titles in the 1970s which the Redskins corrected in the 1980s. But Mike Ditka I believe has the best quote that at least I’ve heard about Tom Landry so far when he was talking about class. 

And Iron Mike said and I’m paraphrasing here, but “that class is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. It might be a great throw from a quarterback or the sound of a ball off of a sluggers bat for a home run. Tom Landry was class”, that when you saw him or knew him you knew he was class and that’s a great way to describe Tom Landry. That greatness is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. You know a great play when you see it, you know a great player when you see them play and you know a great head coach when you play for him. Or watch his career and that’s what Tom Landry was. 

Tom Landry’s philosophy of coaching was simply to get the best out of his players and teams that he could possibly could. To make them as good as could be, which is easier said then done and hopefully the goal of every head coach. But then how you do that and every head coach probably has their own philosophy to accomplish that. But with coach Landry it was about never being satisfied with any of his players until he got the best out of him that he could.

Which is why he never congratulated his players or tell them how great of a job that they were doing and never complemented them. Unless he was getting the best play and games out of his players that he could and when he did that is what we saw America’s Team in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys of the 1970s a team that was almost impossible to beat. When they were all playing up to their capabilities and winning championships. And with Tom Landry pushing his players to the limit was on both offense and defense always pushing his players to get the best out of them.

You want to talk about football genius’, how many head coaches do you know that could be either the offensive or defensive coordinator on the team. That knew enough about both offensive and defensive football that he could not only call the offensive plays and defensive plays for his team, put both the offensive and defensive game plans together for his team, not just do all of these things, but do them very well. The only person that did all of these things and did them well is Tom Landry.

Tom Landry is one of the top 3-5 head coaches of all-time because of how knowledgable he was about both sides of the ball. But then was such a great teacher and knew how to communicate his knowledge to his players. And show them exactly what he wanted out of them and very few if anyone did that better than Tom Landry.The numbers in Tom Landry’s career. Twenty consecutive winning seasons from 1966-85 which I believe will never be broken. Eleven straight playoff appearances from 1975-85, that may be never be done again. Two Super Bowl championships in the 1970s, the Cowboys being the only NFC team to win a Super Bowl in the 1970s. Twelve division-titles, five conference championships.

All of these things happening after inheriting one of the worst expansion teams of all-time in the 1960 Cowboys. But it’s not the championships and the 270 odd victories that Tom Landry had but all the knowledge he brought to the game. And his great ability as a teacher to teach his knowledge which is why he’s Ss high on the list of greatest NFL head coaches of all-time.

Carrie Underwood: ‘Carrie Underwood – Mama’s Song (Official Video)’

Source:Carrie Underwood- Mama's Song.

Source:The Daily Press 

“Carrie Underwood’s official music video for ‘Mama’s Song’. Click to listen to Carrie Underwood on Spotify…

From Carrie Underwood

How do I describe my own mother, the most important woman in my life who without I wouldn’t have a life. And how do I do that in a blog post. Which I guess is the challenge of this post, right. I guess the way I would do that would be to look at people who I truly respect who’ve influenced my life. and those people are the people, men and women who are never satisfied and never completely happy, who are never interested in settling. Not that they are depressed people always looking for the negative and only feel good when tears are flowing down their faces, who want to hang around depressed people all the time. I think that would even be depressing for shrinks, because it would be like going to a depression convention.

Depressed people, are well, depressing and listening to nothing, but sad stories all the time, could create more depression. But what I’m talking about is someone in my mother, who doesn’t let the people they care about and love settle when they know they can do better. Always looking for that edge who doesn’t settle for mediocrity always pushing the people they love to do the best they can. And that’s how I would describe my mom.

My mom is not only someone who doesn’t let her sons settle for being okay or good. And I’m one of three sons, my parents have three kids all boys, but she’s also someone whose always looking to challenge her kids. And try to get them to do something they normally wouldn’t do, especially if it’s good for them. And she knows they would be successful at it and would even enjoy it.

I can give you a small example of how Mom pushed me and a big example of that. When I was a kid, my mother was always pushing mashed potatoes on me, even though she knew I didn’t like them and I wouldn’t eat them. And she would keep saying: “These are really good you should try them I think you’ll like them I made them different this time.” And so-forth.

I hated mashed potatoes my whole time as a kid. But at some point as an adult I guess in my mid twenties, I tried mashed potatoes one more time, I guess. Either made by mom like on Thanksgiving, or perhaps at a restaurant where the mashed potatoes came with the meal. And actually liked them and have loved mashed potatoes ever since. As an adult and eat practically every time I’m eating meatloaf, or steak, or some type of meat like that. I guess my mom built up my tolerance for mashed potatoes as a kid and I grew to love them as an adult and they are also good for me. A bigger example of my mother’s influence on me has to do with what I’m doing at this very moment. Which is blogging and writing.

Ten years probably before blogging was a major industry, Mom knew I was a political junky from our family conversations and she suggested I should write a letter to the editor at the Washington Post about politics. I wish I had done that now, but I wasn’t even thinking about writing online at that point. And wasn’t sure what I wanted to do professionally. I wish I had done that, but I’m not blogging without my mother. And people who I use to work with at a bookstore and I have them to thank for that especially my mother. Who I’ll always love and be grateful for.

For President: Jimmy Carter 1980 TV Ad- Commander

Source:For President- President James E. Carter (Democrat, Georgia)

Source:FRS FreeState 

"Commander, Jimmy Carter 1980 Presidential Campaign TV Ad, Courtesy Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, www.4President.tv" 

From For President

You do not see Jimmy Carter running on the economy here and telling people about how great the economy is with inflation not being much of a factor or with low-interest rates, or plenty of energy, oil and gas to go around, with low unemployment and high economic growth, with no American hostages around the world, or without Russia on the march in the Middle East, or anything like that. Because the Carter Campaign knew all of that wouldn’t be true and that actually all the opposites to those things were true.

The country was in bad shape in 1980 and back in recession with the American hostages still in Iran. A country that did not want Americans or other Westerners in their country at all. So what the Carter Campaign is trying to do here in this ad campaign is run on what they could and what was left to run on. That the military was stronger, that America was at peace in the world for the most part not involved in any foreign wars. And that even Egypt and Israel were at peace with each other as well. And all of that is true.

NBC Sports: FBS 1993- Pittsburgh Panthers @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports- WR Lake Dawson would also go on to play in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Source:The Daily Press 

"Notre Dame handed Pittsburgh a stinging defeat as the Irish marched to a 44-0 victory. 

The full game is available for a limited time only exclusively on The Fighting Irish Youtube channel. For more games check out the full "The Vault: ND on NBC" playlist." 

From the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Talk about your total mismatches: the Pittsburgh Panthers have a great football tradition, at least until went downhill in the early 1990s and were no longer a winning program, let alone a consistent bowl team or national championship contender. Perhaps the main reason why head coach Johnny Majors left the Tennessee Volunteers, where he built a consistent Southeast Conference contender there in the 1980s, was to rebuild the Pittsburgh Panthers football program. 

And then you look at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where they were a bowl team every year under head coach Lou Holtz, except his first season in 1986, won the national championship in 1988, contended for the national championship in 1989 and were looking to win another championship in 1993, and are playing the Pittsburgh Panthers who entered this game at 1-3. It's hard to see how the Panthers can even compete with the undefeated Irish, especially at Notre Dame.

Marilyn Monroe: Happy Birthday Mr. President (1962)

Source:Miss Malevolent- Hollywood Babydoll Marilyn Monroe, singing Happy Birthday, to President John F. Kennedy, in 1962.

Source:The Daily Press 

“Marilyn Monroe – Happy Birthday Mr. President”

From Miss Malevolent 

President Kennedy had the line of the night, at least from what I heard saying that after hearing Marilyn Monroe sing Happy Birthday to him, he could now retire from politics. I mean after hearing a goddess like that with that voice sing Happy Birthday to you, what is the point of going on, what else could you even hope to accomplish at that point after hearing Marilyn sing Happy Birthday to you. 

It’s not just the President of the United States being the only politician that may be lucky enough to get Happy Birthday sung to you by Marilyn Monroe, but that Jack Kennedy might have been the only politician lucky enough to have Happy Birthday sung to them. Jack Kennedy was certainly ahead of his time as far as how he related to Americans. Because he wasn’t just judged by the job he did as President, which of course all President’s are and he wasn’t just judged by how he related to Americans personally, which of course all President’s are. 

But JFK was also judged by how he related to people in a social way, he was our first hip President, someone who related well the entertainment community, including Hollywood. Which is a big reason why he had so many friends out there. Like Peter Lawford, who also happened to be his brother-in-law, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and many others. That is how this event happened.