Post-Super Bowl Tristesse

It's Monday morning, the Blue Monday after Black Sunday for many of us. I'm not chipper this morning about the results of yesterday's game. And, in spite of the warning about post-Super Bowl stress I had from my latest issue of Clinical Cardiology,  I almost had a heart attack when I looked at the front page of the New York Times and saw a photograph of the late Vince Lombardi. Vince has apparently, in the wake of Green Bay's victory, come out of retirement to receive congratulations and good wishes from an anonymous fan (who, as it happens, is the late Vladimir Nabokov).

     

As you can see, Vince is a little grayer these days, and a little more portly than in the trim fighting years of his legendary coaching career at Green Bay. Vince's whereabouts in recent decades is something of a mystery to the sports press - nonetheless, he told reporters, he was glad to be back. "These last years haven't been too bad," he said, "just a little boring. You know, they always told me, Heaven is where the Te Deum  becomes tedium."

Asked if he had plans to return to the helm of the Packers, Lombardi told reporters that it was a bit too early to consider any coaching plans. "But," he reflected, "Joe Paterno's been gone for over 10 years now, and he's still coaching."

Post-game coverage in today's Times also carries an artist's depiction of Green Bay in the aftermath of last night's Packer victory. It looks a lot more exciting than where Vince has been spending his time.