the+last+season

That First Season Book Club Page-


 * **PERSON A - GROUP LEADER** - This group member will be responsible for both keeping the group on task throughout the meeting as well as responding to the week's topical questions, listed below.
 * **PERSON B - QUOTATION FINDER** - This group member will be responsible for finding 5 important, meaningful quotations from their section of the text. They will also facilitate a discussion regarding these quotations.
 * **PERSON C - KEY QUESTIONER** - This group member will be responsible for providing 5 open-ended questions regarding the week's reading section. These questions, and their responses, will be posted on the group's wiki.
 * **PERSON D - GROUP SUMMARIZER** - This group member will be responsible for posting a thorough, two-paragraph summary of the group's Friday meeting, to be posted on the group wiki no later than the Sunday following the meeting.

Week 1: Group Leader: (Person A- **Dylan Ferraro)**

Quotes(Person B-**Mike Sowinski**)
 * 1) “It was a game that they would never forget”
 * 2) When the packers were playing the Baltimore colts and many players “quit” on the game
 * 3) “Chilly rain fell as the bus approached memorial stadium.
 * 4) It the perfect atmosphere to play a football because as the bus approached the stadium, fans were everywhere going crazy.
 * 5) “Franchises came and went but fast talking Lambeau put together a winning squad that Green Bay fans enjoyed.
 * 6) When they were talking about the original packers and they gained their true fans but now they are struggling
 * 7) “Down the hall newspaper and radio reporters filled the press room with cigarette smoke and wise cracks.
 * 8) When they were waiting to see if Lombardi would be the coach or not.
 * 9) “I knew they were bad, but they were even worse then I thought”
 * 10) when Lombardi took over the team as coach and he said how and how bad they really were.

Questions (Person C- **Kyle Schneider**)
 * 1) How do you think Bobby Dillon played while being blinded in one eye?
 * 2) He heard more than he saw. He used his other senses to determine his surrounding.
 * 3) What do you think the problem in Green Bay at that time? And Why?
 * 4) Didn’t have a true leader to direct them
 * 5) What do you think needed to be changed?
 * 6) Needed The owner and Organization needed to bring change to bring someone in to put a leash on the team
 * 7) If you were living in that time do you think that Lombardi would be the right choice?
 * 8) Yes I think that it was the right decision because they needed a true leader
 * 9) How did people think that Lombardi would be?
 * 10) They didn’t think he would be the best right away but they learned to grow onto him

Person D (**Mike Manente**)- Our goal was talk about the characters from our book, That First Season. We talked about Bobby Dillon. That he was blinded in one eye but still played football. We think that was truly remarkable. We talked a lot about how it is crazy where the packers started as. They really were a franchise that did not have a lot of money, they had mediocre players, and not a good coach. We talked how it was odd that a lot of the players didn't even care if the team won or lost, they were just playing to get paid. We are thinking that things will change greatly upon the arrival of Vince Lombardi.

Week 2

Person A Group Leader (**Mike Manente**) 2 articles: "Gentleman" he said "Were going to relentlessly chase perfection knowing full well we are not going to catch it because perfection is not attainable. But, we are going to relentlessly chase it because in the process we will catch excellence." This was at the quarterback training camp before the first season of Lombardi's pro career. This really defined how training camp was going to go. Lombardi was really going to push his team to the limit. He did not accept anything other than perfection. He had the heavier players working their bodies into the ground and that is how Lombardi worked.

Jerry Huinn, had been with the Packers since 1954 Person B Quotes (**Dylan Ferraro**)


 * 1) Announcement was surprising because Dillon was just 29 and had plenty of football left. A 5-time pro bowl selection (out of 7 years) he had played safety with extreme confidence the year before, grabbing six interceptions and making first team All-Pro while the rest of the packers stumbled
 * 2) Green Bay’s population was almost entirely white as opposed to New York’s stew of ethnicities.
 * 3) Tunnel had been the first black man to play for the Giants after starring in football, basketball, and baseball as a youngster living near Philadelphia.
 * 4) Now, a decade later, he could help the packers, Lombardi felt, by mentoring younger black players, injecting his winning attitude into the locker room culture, and playing anywhere close to the level he did in New York
 * 5) Talking about Tim Brown, when he arrived at St. Norbert, he picked up a press-Gazette and read that he was one of many players who shouldn’t even bother to unpack his bags.

Person C Questions (**Mike Sowinski**)

Do you feel that the way that Lombardi treated the players ended up helping or hurting the team? We feel that it helped because he was always yelling and angry at his players it pushed them to make them better.

Person D Summarizer (**Kyle Schneider**)

Today we talked about the language of the book. It is more of a reality kind of language as if they were talking in real life. The book is more of a narrator talking about the Green Bay Packers and Lombardi and it tells us what Lombardi said and did. We also noticed there are some curse words but that is the way Lombardi enforced his rules and way to run practice. The players talk behind Lombardi’s back at one point in the book and what they do not know is that his kid is listening in on them and his kid does not tell him. This goes to show how powerful language is it the book. It is pretty cool to read about something that is a true story or based on a real story so you can relate to it.

Week 3:Mood and Tone Person A (**Kyle Schneider**) Group Leader Discuss the mood or tone of your book. What is the overriding emotion of this book? What examples back up your claim?

The tone of this book is very strict and with Lombardi he does not take any crap from anyone so he is pretty much superior. When Lombardi talks no one else does, he is just a coach that gets a lot of respect. The overriding emotion of this book is suspense and will power I would say. I say this because every book has a little suspense but I say will power because these players and coaches go through everyday working hard and try to get wins week in and week out. When things start to go bad are you just going to sit there or have will power to keep trying until you reach your highest goal. As Lombardi becomes head coach of the Packers he never lets the players quit or take a play off. He knows what they are capable of so he works them hard.

Person B (**Mike Manente)** Quotes -"The packers are going to give teams a lot of trouble, starting with us" This is a quote from the Bears coach after their game with the Packers. He noticed that the Packers had really improved and showed themselves to be a scrappy and hard team.

-"If I were you Forrest, I would get up here immediately". This is one of the players talking to another player at training camp saying how hard it is and that he better come up and get in shape.

-"So your a smart guy". Lombardi is showing his authority over his players. This is when one of his players were giving him attitude. He does not take any complaints from anybody.

- "He was a little too cocky for his own good". Lombardi didn't care who anybody was he was going to play the best player for job.

-"Maybe we'll have something good here after all". That this is the start of something great for the Packers and that they are going to come out of their slump and there are signs of a great team coming up. Person C (**Dylan Ferraro**) Questions

Person D (**Mike Sowinski)** Summarizer This week we talked about Lombardi while he was still coaching the packers, two to three years into his coaching career. Lombardi is very strict and is starting to form the team to be more competitive. When Lombardi is working hard to make them a better team. We also talked about the Packers vs. Bears game. That was the true beginning of when the Packers started to take off as the next great franchise of the NFL. We also talked about the tone and mood which was stressful. The players of the Packers were finally being pushed to work hard like no coach before them had. We then talked about what we though of Lombardi so far which we all agreed that he is one of those coaches that will push you and work you as hard as you can until you can't feel a bone in your body. He was also the type of coach that would not take anything from anyone. Then we ended our discussion with how we feel the Packers are going to develop between the next few chapters as a team.

Week 4:Themes/Images

Person A (Group Leader) **Mike Sowinski** On your group's wiki page, discuss the themes and images that your book contains. What are some of the images that are used? What do they seem to represent? Why do you think the author uses these images to convey his or her meaning?

Person B (Quotations) **Kyle Schneider** 1. ' "We have to hit those throws. We have to do something. " ' pg 204 - 2. ' "We've seen this before. I don't know. If we go down to Chicago and beat the Bears Sunday, maybe things have changed." ' pg 211 - 3. "The fans have witnessed a superb comeback, but they watched in silence as the final seconds ticked off the clock." pg 225 - 4. ' " We may not get there this year, but we're going to be the running soon enough" ' pg 234 - 5." Boy, it sure was fun rooting for a good team." pg 241 -

Person C (Questions) **Mike Manente** 1. If you were Lombardis son would you tell Lombardi about the players talking about them?

2. Would you quit or go through Lombardi's vigorous training? and Why?

3. Do you think it was necessary for that hard of a training in the packers mini camp?

4. What do you think is going through the minds of the Packers players during training camp?

5. What is your opinion on Bart Starr?

Person D (Summarizer) Dylan Ferraro