Sports
Playoffs Chargers – Texans: With wildfires burning in LA the Chargers focus on Houston.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Jim Harbaugh’s football philosophy is rooted in being physical on both sides of the ball and wearing down an opponent.
However, when it comes to relating to his players, it is nothing but love, respect and adulation.
Like he did with the San Francisco 49ers and the University of Michigan, Harbaugh has turned around the fortunes of the Los Angeles Chargers. The Bolts finished 11-6 in the regular season — a six-win improvement — and are back in the playoffs, where they will face the Houston Texans on Saturday in an AFC wild-card round game.
“I just pretty much take on the personality of the team wherever I go,” Harbaugh said earlier this season. “The love Derwin James has for football, I gravitated to that immediately. The humble warrior Khalil Mack is, everything about Justin Herbert. The toughness, competitiveness and confidence of our players, I want to take on a little bit of that. I want a lot of that in my personality and in my life to keep going. It’s infectious.”
Harbaugh made an early impression on his new team. He participated in conditioning drills with players during offseason workouts. He also had players’ hometowns and recruiting rankings on their nameplates in the locker room to show how everyone got to the NFL.
Before the Sept. 8 opener against Las Vegas, players received a blue-collar work shirt from Harbaugh with an embroidered name patch and the Chargers lightning bolt logo. The shirts looked like those worn by filing station attendants and mechanics. Harbaugh said the shirts for him paid homage to his grandfather, Joe Cipiti, who worked in filling stations and was a self-taught mechanic who ended up teaching automobile mechanics at a trade school in Cleveland, but also to members of players’ families who worked in the same type of jobs.
Los Angeles Chargers running back Hassan Haskins, left, celebrates his touchdown with head coach Jim Harbaugh during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
“I feel like that galvanized the team a lot because growing up as a kid, I saw a lot of people in the community who were hard workers. They always had that nameplate and always represented who that person was,” James said. “Just to have that means a lot to us.”
Harbaugh has continued the motivational gifts throughout the season.
After a 17-13 victory over the Falcons on Dec. 1, players received a black metal lunch pail with their names and one of Harbaugh’s favorite words — stalwart — on the front. There were also sweatshirts with the date and score after the Chargers 34-27 victory over the Bengals in a prime-time game on Nov. 17 and the 40-7 win at New England on Dec. 28 that wrapped up a playoff spot.
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“To some people, it may seem cheesy, but I enjoy those life gifts,” James said. “It’s been helping to set the culture. We wouldn’t be in the postseason without all the details and stuff we’ve done doing.”
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was also on Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford and San Francisco, said the area where Harbaugh has evolved the most has been relating his experiences as a player or a coach.
Roman said the stories from Harbaugh’s 15-year playing career or previous coaching stops can help reinforce the message at different points of the season.
Harbaugh’s stories — and there have been plenty — still resonate. Players still mention Harbaugh telling the story of remembering the day he was born on the first day of training camp as one of their favorites.
“This thing is always changing with the mood of the team; what just happened, and where are we in the season? I think it can create some great perspective and bring them into one vision instead of reading a line item on the PowerPoint,” Roman said. “With Jim, he has an art to his storytelling. There’s always a moral to the stories, always, like one of those After School specials when you were a kid.”
The player Harbaugh might have had the most enormous effect on is Herbert. Harbaugh has been Herbert’s biggest supporter from the time he was hired and catches passes from his quarterback during pregame warmups.
Harbaugh also spends plenty of time in the quarterback room watching film with Herbert.
“The things we’ve learned from him … I can’t tell you how much. So it’s cool to be able to share that and learn from him,” Herbert said.
NaVorro Bowman, who played for Harbaugh in San Francisco, has developed more of an appreciation for Harbaugh now that he is on his coaching staff with the Chargers.
Bowman knew Harbaugh loved football, but now he gets to see how much on a daily basis.
“Now I understand why he’s so good at what he does. He doesn’t waste a minute. I mean, if he can squeeze out everything in a minute, he will squeeze it out,” Bowman said. “I didn’t get to see or pay attention to it while playing. But now I understand why he’s so successful is because work is what he loves to do.”
Bowman also sees many similarities in the Chargers and the 2011 49ers, who went from 6-10 to 13-3 and reached the NFC championship game before losing to the New York Giants.
“No one expected us to be where we are today, and the only way that happened is because everyone here treats everyone with respect, respects each other’s space, and grinds,” he said.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
The IOC has a problem with tensions between India and Pakistan.
India wants to host the 2036 Summer Olympics and Paralympics events but there is a significant problem. India and Pakistan hostilities resurfaced following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in late April. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the militants while Pakistan said don’t blame us. India’s government is planning to send a high-level delegation to the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland beginning on June 30th. India wants to continue talks with IOC officials in an effort to host the 2036 Games. GEO News has reported Pakistan is planning to challenge India’s bid to host the Olympics by formally objecting to the IOC, claiming that India has politicized international sporting events. The Indian Olympic Association has officially submitted a Letter of Intent to the IOC. India plans to spend around $7.5 billion on the Games if the country lands the event. India has never bid for the Olympics event. They have the largest population of any country in the world with an estimated 1.4 billion people. It is a market that the IOC probably wants to enter.
The IOC probably will not award the 2036 Games for a few years. India is just one of a number of countries that could bid for the 2036 Games. The IOC no longer wants areas to bid against one another for its crown jewel events, the Summer and Winter Olympics, with the thought that the losing bidders would be upset. The truth is many areas don’t want to put up billions in whatever currency for a money losing event. The IOC has watched bids evaporate in the United States, Europe and in Japan. There are a number of countries that might be bidding for the 2036 Summer Games and that group includes Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, South Korea, Hungary and Qatar. The race for the 2036 Games has begun.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
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