I watched the Hour of Power TV program this morning. It seems to be getting better and better. One of the highlights of each program is the interview. Today Robert A. Schuller (the younger Schuller) interviewed the great football coach, Lou Holtz. He has written yet another book, Wins, Losses, and Lessons: An Autobiography. Off hand I can't think of a more vigorously entertaining few moments of television than this interview [click on the 1/14/07 date and the Lou Holtz interview]. A transcript is also available, but you've got to watch the interview to appreciate the liveliness and wit of Holtz. (Be sure to read his account of the Orange Bowl of 1977!) Holtz talks fast, so I'm glad for the transcript. Here are a couple of items illustrating his philosophy:
I’m a very simple individual. But everybody needs something to do, someone to love, something to hope for, and something to believe in. And if you’re lacking any one of those four things, there’s going to be a void in your life.
. . . My life is simple but I think there’s only three things, reverend, that you have to have in life. You have to have people trust you, you have to always be committed to
excellence, and you always have to show people you care . . . and that’s a criteria I use to evaluate people.
An Amazon reviewer tells us about the book:
This book is sort of a combination of genres and is hard to categorize. It is a book about football, it is a motivational book, it is a history book, and it is an autobiography. Holtz takes his readers through his life from his impoverished childhood to his retirement to an "embarrassingly big" home in Orlando and he does so in such an engaging manner that this is about the most fun I have ever had reading a non-fiction book. As the title suggests, Holtz talks about the wins and losses he has faced both in football and in life and along the way he engages in his favorite activity, which is teaching. That is where the lessons come in and this man can make his point in a way that few other authors can. He is extremely adept at using humor, often self-depredating, to make his point and there are many valuable lessons that can be learned by reading this book.
It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman and we get to meet that woman in this book. Beth Holtz is a remarkable woman and the love story that is Mr. And Mrs. Lou Holtz is one of the most touching aspects of this book. Maybe some day Beth will write a book about what it is like to live with one of the greatest coaches of all time.