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Monday, July 30, 2007
Bill Walsh was the coach for the ages
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Just last week, while I strolled in Palo Alto, Calif., between the Eucalyptus and palm trees that are as perfectly executed across the Stanford University campus as a play in the West Coast offense, I had that old thought. Maybe Jane and Bill are there. During the post-Walsh era with the San Francisco 49ers, you took it for granted that they’d always be there.
Then after I reached the Hoover Tower, I remembered something that I wanted to forget: They’ll never be there again at the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, where Jane and Bill landed in the Stanford football offices earlier in the decade after their 49ers days. While Jane Walsh (no relation) was the chatty and witty secretary, Bill Walsh was the charismatic and perceptive coach for the ages.
Yes, I remembered, while shaking my head. Walsh confessed last November that he quietly had spent the previous months undergoing treatment and blood transfusions for leukemia. Then I remembered my five years at the San Francisco Examiner during the early 1980s, when the Bill Walsh at the start of the greatest dynasty in sports history was nearly as engaging as the Bill Walsh down the stretch of his 75 years of life.
Those Bill Walshes smiled, joked and told inside stories. If those Bill Walshes weren’t using vivid detail to explain why the Falcons under former 49ers defensive coach Jim Mora and others weren’t running a true West Coast offense, those Bill Walshes were speaking in comical ways about some of their former players.
Nothing tickled Walsh more than recalling how he tried in vain to keep Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson sober and functioning. Nothing angered Walsh more than recalling his days in Cincinnati, where he first invented the West Coast offense for the Bengals of the early 1970s.
That’s when Ken Anderson was the original Joe Montana, and Isaac Curtis was the original Jerry Rice. So, with football’s most prolific offense in decades, Walsh assumed he was the successor to Hall of Famer Paul Brown, the Bengals’ founder, owner and head coach. It didn’t happen, which is why Walsh clenched his teeth when he told me that he was so hurt after he was passed over by Brown in 1975 that he rarely spoke to the man again.
Hurt turned to revenge. While winning 10 of 14 postseason games, including three world championships during his decade with the 49ers, Walsh defeated the Bengals in two Super Bowls. Through it all, he barely uttered Brown’s name.
Which brings us to the Bill Walsh at the height of joining Curly Lambeau, George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Pete Rozelle and Al Davis as the most significant forces in NFL history. That Bill Walsh was pleasantly arrogant and deceptively ruthless. He had a professorial image in public, but he scared the chinstraps off his players as the 49ers’ hidden combination of Bill Parcells and Bobby Knight.
Once, when Ronnie Lott yelled disparaging words at Walsh from across the practice field, the head coach shocked onlookers by rushing to jump in the face of his noted tough-guy safety. They had to be separated. Things calmed down for the rest of the practice, and in case you didn’t know, here is what often happens after such blowups between big-time coach and big-time player: They meet afterward, exchange grins and shrug away their spat.
This time, Walsh waited the next day to saunter across the room in front of the entire team to Lott’s locker. In a stern voice, the stone-faced head coach told the startled defensive back that if he ever did something like that again, he’d be shipped to the worst team in the league faster than a Roger Craig sprint off tackle.
Then Walsh left, with others in the room getting the message: If he’s doing that to Lott, then …
I remembered more Walsh stories as I reached Maples Pavilion, right next to the sports center. Then I turned around. Maybe I’ll see Jane and Bill next time, I thought, when Bill is better. But along came the news on Monday: Walsh had departed his earthly home in Woodside, Calif., to tell his stories Up There.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
Teixeira gives Braves better prospects at today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
I never understood that whole “Annie” philosophy of some sports franchises. The sun will come out tomorrow? I’m sorry, but when was the last time a major league team issued a ticket refund for today because the tomorrows never quite panned out?
When was the last time salary cap space recorded a rebound, or a smoking minor-league prospect in Richmond softened the blow of a 7-2 loss and a $6 hot dog in the majors?
The Braves made a significant decision Monday. They traded tomorrows for todays. This is the way it’s suppose to work.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia might have star stamped on his forehead. Nobody really knows. But with Mark Teixeira, we don’t have to guess. He’s already there. There’s a reason nurseries sell a lot more plants than seeds.
Watch Saltalamacchia develop tomorrow. Watch the Braves develop today. They may have just won a division.
This is what you should want. It’s certainly what the Braves wanted. It’s absolutely what Teixeira wanted. We know this because he was here in January looking at property. He is from Baltimore but played at Georgia Tech, and Atlanta apparently never got out of his system.
Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said Teixeira was in town seven months ago for a baseball team banquet, during which Teixeira’s jersey number was honored. “He told me then that he was looking at property,” Hall said. “He said he wanted to live here.”
Hall said he began to hear rumors a month ago of Teixeira possibly coming to the Braves, so he phoned his former player. “He said, ‘Coach, I would love to come play for the Braves. I just want to play for a team where I have a chance to win every game,’ ” Hall recalled.
Don’t think about what happens after this season, when Teixeira can file for arbitration. Don’t think about what happens after 2008, when somebody may pull the chute on the franchise (Dooms Day scenario: Teixeira leaves in free agency, neither Chipper nor Edgar Renteria have options exercised, Andruw Jones is long gone, Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz retire.)
Think about now. The Braves haven’t had a lineup like this at least since Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez were wrapped around Chipper and Andruw. First base has been a black hole since 2001. The Braves have had six starting first baseman in the last seven opening day lineups (Adam LaRoche being the only repeat offender).
Scott Thorman hasn’t quite worked out. He’s hitting .220. He’s a prospect.
Saltalamacchia wasn’t going to bump Brian McCann from the lineup. The Braves hoped he could transition from catcher to first base. That experiment worked out so well that they’ve been playing Julio Franco, the 48-year-old they fished out of the Hudson River.
Suddenly, first base is not manned by a prospect. Or a Plan B. Or a relic.
Teixeira has 153 home runs and 499 RBIs in less than five seasons. He’s a switch-hitter. He has two Gold Gloves. He’s one of only five players in history to hit at least 100 homers in his first three seasons. He’s no prospect.
As part of the trade, Schuerholz also acquired Ron Mahay, a left-handed reliever who is 2-0 with a 2.77 earned run average in 28 appearances this season. Schuerholz didn’t merely fill needs — he stole the trade deadline.
Don’t look at this as, “Sure, but we’re toast in 2008 and Schuerholz won’t care because he’ll be gone.” You would be missing the point. Franchises can’t get away with dealing top young talent every year, but this was the right time for the Braves. Andruw Jones likely isn’t affordable after this season. There have been health issues with Chipper Jones and John Smoltz. The window is closing on this bunch.
The Braves can only hope Teixeira does for them what he did for Tech. Projected as a first-rounder coming out of high school in 1998, he lasted until the ninth round because of high salary demands. His decision to go to Tech was an easy one.
“He became the best recruiter I ever had that summer,” Hall said, laughing. “He called me after the draft and said, ‘I’m definitely coming to school. Give me the phone numbers of the other guys you signed so I can make sure they come, too.’ “
Teixeira won’t have to recruit here. If he stays and wins today, tomorrow won’t be an issue.
Permalink | Comments (124) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Jeff Schultz
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