More Wright Thompson excellence: The story of Vince Lombardi's home

Didn't see it anywhere else on here, but this story by Wright Thompson on Vince Lombardi's home was tremendous:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2010/columns/story?id=6077292

The ending to the story with Susan Lombardi gave me chills:

" I guess that's why I don't go in," she says. "When the Packers went to the Super Bowl with Brett and John Madden, doing his whole show out of the basement, I barely could watch it. I said, 'You can't be there. I'm supposed to be there.'"

She's quiet now.

Finally, she says, "I wish my daddy was alive.

"And I don't mean Vince Lombardi," she says, crying.

She's talking fast now through her tears. The sentences run together.

"People forget that he was my dad," she says. "He wasn't just a coach. He was my father." "

 

Good stuff.

 

Excellent story.

 

Great story ...

 

That was great.

 

Another Wright Thompson story about a sports figure and someone's decision not to knock on the door?

(Someone had to say it. Might as well be a friend of Wright's.)

Seriously, great work.

 

I don't remember if he addressed this with her, but was the move to DC not supposed to happen or her father passing away early?

It could be both, but rereading that Madden not supposed to be there struck me a little differently today.

 

Great stuff...it would be nice if people could give that family some peace. As well-humored as they may seem, it can't be easy living life knowing strangers could be knocking at your door at any moment.

Driving past should be enough shouldn't it?

 

Nope. If I was ever in Green Bay, I'd knock on their door. If that makes me an asshole, well, that'll be nothing new, but I would. 100 percent chance.

 

bravo, wright thompson. bravo.

i know i've read at least one other story in recent years about the house, its occupants, the landmark it is for 'tourists,' etc. but this one hit all the right notes.

 

As others have said, great story. I think there's a couple of spots where there's stuff seems a touch overwritten -- not much. It's just the kind of stuff I used to appreciate, but now look at as excessive. I think Double Down referenced the idea of spare storytelling even in long form vs. flowery prose and that's what I mean.

That said, I don't think it's there much at all. Just a thought that struck me when I read it earlier. The ending is a perfect example of him just telling the story though. Definitely powerful.

Another excellent story for him.

 

Excellent story. Loved this anecdote:

"Lombardi loved to sit in the television room, in his big chair, and watch "McHale's Navy."

Funny that Ernest Borgnine played Vince in made for TV movie.