Knute Rockne - Coach And Legend Of Notre Dame Essay -- essays research

Knute Rockne - Coach and Legend of Notre dameKnute Kenneth Rockne was born on March 4, 1888 in Voss, Norway. He firstmoved to Chicago at the age of 5. naught liked him there, and he was in manyfights. Before footb completely or even baseball, Knute discovered skiing. He loved it,and went skiing every chance he got during the winter. Knute was a naturalathlete, and excelled in all of the sports he tried. He excelled in track,making a name for himself later on.Although he was always hotshot of the shortest guys around, Knute was one ofthe toughest. The only protective gear he ever wore was adhesive tape that hestuck to his ears to prevent them from being torn off. Knute often said "Show mea good and gracious loser and Ill show you a failure."Knute discovered the great game of football at the age of 7. He playedin games against different teams his age. The team he played on was called theTricky Tigers. All of the teams were "sandlot" teams. Knute could not get enoug hof the sport. He praticed every chance he got. In fact, the new(prenominal) boys thoughthim crazy for practicing so much. This obsession almost got him an education.Knute never made the starting team until he was a senior, so he played on thescrubs team.At the same time, Knute tried playing many other sports. His naturalizeattendance slipped and his grades became mediocre. Persistence paid off, andafter 3 days on the scrubs, Knute finally made it to the starting football team.After this successful senior football season, it was time for him to leave highschool. It was a wonder that he got into Notre Dame with his high school record.At the age of 22, Rockne decided that he wanted to fulfill a dream. Thatdream was to become a pharmacist and to eventually experience his own drug store. Twoof Knutes friends gained acceptance to a small college in South Bend, Indianacalled Notre Dame. Knute decided to try to get into this same school, althoughhis high school grades were dismal. He w as accepted, but his parents were notfond of the idea of him going to a Catholic school, as they themselves werepracticing Lutherans. However, they did not forbid him to go. Interestingly,Notre Dame was not Rockneys first college choice. For years he had saved andplanned to go to the University of Illinois. Knute had not even planned onplaying football in college. That decision would have resulted i... ... Practice makes hone and perfect practice makesa winning team."One of his most innovative ideas was the Notre Dame Shift. This waswhen the entire backfield would move all to oneside of the ball before the ballwas snapped. This sincerely screwed up the defenders and it worked a lot for ND."Knute was the most innovative and charismic coaches of his era."The Cleavland Press called him "the Buffalo Bill of his generation." Inhis last game as coach he defied his doctors orders and went to the field. Theplayers looked on in horror when the man they thought might di e in front of themtold them to win or watch him die. Rockne ended his career with the greatest alltime % of .881 105 wins,12 losses, 5 ties, 6 national championships and 5undefeated seasons. Rokne tragically died in a plane crash a the age of 43.Studebaker named a car after him and the U.S. government named a ship after him.Will Rogers put it best when he said, " It takes a big calamity to shock acountry all at once, but Knute, you did it. You died one of our national heroes.Notre Dame was your address, but every gridiron in america was your home."(needsto be proofread)