buddy ball

They should have jettisoned barman & kept buddy

 

 

On Ryan’s Farm, Memories Fresh and Fading

By JOE DRAPE

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — Each morning at 5 a.m., Buddy Ryan’s day begins in solitude, mucking out the stalls of his horses. He has 17 of them, and three mares in particular are named for milestones in his colorful and sometimes cantankerous lifetime.

There’s FortySixBlitz, named for the 46 defense that Ryan conjured as a defensive coordinator, and which the 1985 Chicago Bears executed in brutal and brilliant fashion during a championship season. There’s FiredForWinning, a reminder of how his head-coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles came to an end in 1990 despite a 43-38-1 record and three consecutive playoff appearances.

But his favorite is Bayside Girl, named for his wife of 36 years, Joanie. Ryan met her in Queens in 1968, after Weeb Ewbank brought him to the Jets as an assistant. She was a high-strung New Yorker; he was a steel-willed Okie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/sports/football/03ryan.html