European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday August 20, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Landry does t fit Media Conception the trouble with Tom Landry is he does fit the Media or Public Conception of he mythical football coach. He should. He s one of the Best. Maybe the football coach in the Public mind not 10 say in the press s or Hollywood is this kind of Guy Hebang the Walls of the locker room at halftime. He cries yells Calls on the shades of Long dead half backs cajole exhorts. He s As emotional As the Sec Ond act of Tosea or a Browning poem. He shows he cares. Tom Landry is the Man who in t Knole in t even Vince Lombard Bear Bryant or How Ard Jones. He does t have a quip on his lips or a hip on his shoulder. He s not quotable. He never says things like winning is the Only he never Calls on the deathbed utterances of Long gone players and his teams Aren t emotional extensions of himself. Tom Landry is for Texas quite a , laconic his speech is As dry As a High Plains dust storm. It is not interspersed with the bucolic colloquialism of the slate even though he comes from deep in the heart of Texas. He projects the image of a bloodless banker computer not b Man with circuits instead of veins. His own players Cut him up a plastic Man Duane Thomas once com Landry and Minnesota coach Bud Grant once had a personality contest and no one won Don Meredith used to say on the air. When someone pointed out to Meredith that Landry would one Day be a statue in the Park Mere Dith retorted he already of his linebackers once complained he looks at a player and he sees an x or an o. They put the names on the Back of the uniforms for Tom not the Rickles used to get one of his biggest laughs at Landry s expense. Eighty thousand people Are going nuts in the stands and there s Landry stand ing there looking up and trying to get his hat straight his learn was America s Why was t he America s coach you go a Long Way to understanding Landry when you understand that i personal idols were Ben Hogan and Paul Hogan did t play a round of Golf he engineered it. He did t care what the world thought of him. He already had the hardest person to please in the world Brown was the one who changed football from grand opera to High were Tom Landry s role models. His own respect for technology grew when i life depended on it. He Lew 30 Mission Over of iroc As co Pilot in a b-17 when you could lose your life Over the target or Over your own Landing Field. Your instruments Are better than you Are he says he found out. He fell in love Wilh the football technology when As a player coach he set up the defense that slopped the rampaging Cleveland Browns 6-0, in1950 on their Way to the nil championship. We shut them out again in 1958, and no one else shut them out until 1971," he said. The Dallas cowboys under Landry form probably the most perennially successful team in their sport and occupy roughly the same Niche in the Public mind As the new York Yankees or notre Dame. The Green Bay packers. Pittsburgh St Clurs even the Miami dolphins abide their destined hour and go. The cowboys endure. Because Landry Are his lengthened Shadow. The Public likes rustlers or even John Wayne holding the fort they Are not the monsters of the Midway or the pack or the steel curtain. They Are the Guys in the White hats out manned outgunned but not out drawn. Watching them win is like watching Gary Cooper save the town. It s always High noon when the cowboys play. I think America fell in love with Landry s cow boys when they took on the heavily armed Gen Bay packers in the years when they had to live by their wits. They barely lost Wilh the Ball on thy one Yard line once and once in a game that might just As Well have been played on the slopes of s team is Landry s team. They have never had any other coach in their 26 Why in t he Captain America Why in i he recognized As he will be one Day. As the Foremost fall men who Leach and coach football today Why do other men have the labels Genius and wizard who Landry is labelled cold and aloof and is lampooned for having a whisk Broom in his hat and a crease in his pants and not lauded for the game plan in his pocket Landry a practising Christian never complains. But he thinks he knows a big play occurs for our team i m concentrating on How the defense is reacting to it he of the time i Don t see the great catch or the Long run. What i m looking at is How the other Tea defended it. The camera pans on me and it looks As if i m disinterested. I m not. I iry not to break my concentration. When you re concentrating you Don t show Lombard was More of a motivator than i am. I always concentrated on the science of football nol the emotion. Lombardi s teams were no finesse teams. They just ran Over you. Lombard s orca Messias in arousing players to play above themselves. I take the came and apply engineering principles to in. I put in my system at a Lime when to succeed we had to be flashy. We could t sit there and Trade punches Wilh inc league. We were an expansion team and we had to Surprise teams no surround them. We were the first to raise up linemen and shift hem around. We had to try to get teams off balance. That was our personality and in still is. We cultivated the reputation of being a Complex team and we come and dynasties go. But the cow boys arc the team to Beai. No other learn in the Nichas gone to As Many super bowls and no other team in either conference has won As Many division championships 12. His name really should be Tom legend. But he May be like the father who should have told the kids he loved them More or the Man who really was Happy but his face did t know in. Hauler Leonard meeting reported set ski artillus Cinn. Lq7t North Rino Kavieff. The feline is to Fly. I Willby Hallock new York a speculation about marvelous Marvin Harjer s retire ment plans were ended monday when his co manager pal Petronelli announced that he will fight sup Ray Leonard next March in a middleweight championship bout that could yield re Cord purses or Bolh boxers. The site and exact Dale for the fight to be promoted by top rank inc., were not announced. Hagler who was reportedly in Bartlett n.h., was unavailable for comment. If the Long awaited fight comes off the Gross could exceed the 198? Larry Holmes Gerry Cooney heavyweight title fight which reportedly paid each fighter $10 million. This will absolutely be a record purse for each Boxer promoter Bob arum said. He said he did nol have a contract with Leonard. Now we will make an agreement with Ray he said. Well be fair you Deal Wilh the Champion we have an agreement with Marvin. We Don t have a contract we Haven t agreed on anything. We Haven t even spoken to Pel Ronelli out of Courtesy be cause of Marvin s problems making Aphis mind Mike Trainer Leonard s at Torney told a Washington television Sla on we Haven t talked to anybody i be said Pat i la wait to near from of now i Haven t heard from fal said said he would have no prob Pip ecu marvelous Marvin Flagler. Hungers for big payday Lem with such a bout Between Leonard and Hagler. Pat s a Man of his word. If he says he will Call me hell Call me. If he wants Togel the fight going to gel an agreement together great let s go do it. Fra ready whenever he is Trainer said. Hagler listed As 32 years old has been fighting professionally since 1973 and has been contemplating retirement lately largely because of pressure from his wife Bertha. He and Bertha came to a conclusion and Marvin is going on arum wid. Hagler has been middleweight Cham Pion since knocking out Alan Minler in september 1980 and has defended that title 12 times two Short of the division record held by Carlos Monzon. Hagler s most recent defense came jul March in Las vegas nev., Wilh an Lith round knockout of John Mugabi. Throughout however Hagler has Hun gered for the big payday a fight with Leonard could provide. They often have seemed headed for such a showdown Only to have other factors interfere. Leonard one of the heroes of Ameri Ca s Gold medal boxing sweep in the 1976 Montreal olympics knocked out Wilfred Benitez to win the welterweight title in november 1979. He lost the Crown to Roberto Duran seven months later before regaining it in the controversial no Mas fight in november 1980. He Hati four More fights one in which he won the Junior middleweight title from Ayub Kalule. As he moved toward the 160-Pound division to Challenge Hagler. Then quite suddenly the planned showdown was scrapped when Leonard underwent surgery for a detached Retina in his left Eye on May 9, 1982. Exactly six months later with Hagler and six former champions present Leon Ard announced his retirement from the ring saying feeling is gone. I will not come Back. Thai s it 1 Leonard stayed away for 27 months. Until May 11, 1984, when he met unheralded Kevin Howard in a 10-round fight at Wom Ster mass. Howard knocked the former Champion Down but Leonard re covered for a ninth round knockout thai put his career record at 33-1. After the fight disappointed with his performance he again announced his retire ment. Last May just before his 30 h birth Day Leonard began talking of another comeback but Only against Hagler. He said he had seen something that con Vinced him he could beat the Champion. Hagler however talked of his own retirement and said that Leonard Idle for More than iwo years ought to fight a ranked opponent before gelling a Shol at the middleweight title. When it Becam obvious that Leonard was interested Only in fighting Hagler he agreed. According to Petronelli the decision to fight Leonard was made because in 20 years Hagler did not want fight fans who were evaluating his accomplishments As Champion to say he Ever ducked any challenger particularly sugar Ray he fell right along thai sugar Ray Leonard Dindl deserve the shot that hews taking a shortcut Petronelli said. He wanted 10 fight him but he d rather have him earn his Way to if they do fight in March the bout willbe Leonard s first in 34 months and Only his second in More than five years
