Page 6 - lw3742

PARTY POOPERS continued

It just stops. There's been ail this build- 1 had never missed a postgame party, machismo and victory. "Well, Pop," he
up, all these bruising games, all this study and there was one going on downstairs said flatly, "you blew it." I turned to
and preparation and strain, and then it in one of the banquet rooms. I couldn't look at him, hoping to see a nice smile
ends. There's not even a fanfare. After stand the idea of missing anything; I or the slightest sign of forgiveness, but
the game Dale Hackbart and Trainer had to see what was happening. "Gimme there was none. J.J. was simply stating
Fred Zamberletti led me into the train- a hand, will you, Larry?" I said, and he a fact; we blew it. I started to explain
ing room and cut my pads and uniform helped me to get out of bed and dress. how it happened. J.J. said he didn't
off and gave me some pain-killers. Some- Downstairs the funeral was iniull swing, wish to hear any excuses.
body asked me what happened, and I but I could only stay a few minutes. I Later somebody sent me a clipping
said, "The full catastrophe." That's the was making small talk with Marcia and from a Ken Jacobsen article in the Berke-
line Anthony Quinn used in Zorba the Dale Hackbart when these waves of nau- ley Daily Gazette. Jacobsen quoted Dave
Greek when he described getting mar- sea came over me, and I said, "Hack,,, Meggyesy as saying, ''Kapp is the kind
ried and having children and staying at see if you and Larry can get me back to of quarterback who attempts to infuse
home as ''the full catastrophe." They the room before I throw up." We just back into the game his own personality
helped me out to the team bus and we made it. and individuality, and who exhibits true
made the long drive to the Hilton Inn, When Marcia and I got back home qualities of team leadership and produces
out there with all that interesting marsh to Minnesota we had to confront the great elan among his teammates. The
grass and those airplanes and neon lights. problem of our son, J.J. You'd have to Super Bowl was interesting to the ex-
The fellows helped me to my room and know him to understand. J.J. might be tent that it showed that, because of the
put me in bed and gave me some more only six years old and he might stand technical structure of the game, a 'de-
pain-killers, and visitors began trooping only four feet tall counting his thick viant' person like Kapp can't fit in. Len
in. I had invited my father and mother shock of coal-black hair, but he has thor- Dawson is an example of the Bart S:arr
and my three sisters, Joanie, Linda and oughly assimilated the twin ideals of type of technical quarterback who dom-
Suzie, and my brother, Sergeant Larry
Kapp, just back from stepping on a gre-
nade in Vietnam. Marcia was there, and
after all these years as the wife of a quar-
terback she's learned how to lose grace-
fully. My mother came in and said she
was just glad the season was over and
that I wasn't hurt too bad-if she had
been Jewish, she would have offered me
chicken soup; that's thewayshe is. Gen-
eral Manager Jim Finks said we had
nothing to be ashamed of, and several
of the players came in and just looked
glazy-eyed at me as if to say, "Well,
what do we do now that the world's
stopped turning on its axis?"
The only real problem was my war-
veteran brother, Larry. If Larry were 6'
3" instead of 5' 7" he'd be me-and
then some. He's a great competitor, and
he is not amiable about losing. He was
stomping around the room moaning and
complaining, as though he was the one
with the shoulder separation instead of
me. He was cussing the Chiefs and the
officials and the crowd and the airport
and the Hilton lnn, and he was running
over to my bedside every 10 seconds to
ask, " You all right, Joe? You all right?"
One of the times he came running over
I could see the tears streaming out of
his eyes, and I reached out with my
good arm and patted him on the shoul-
der and I said, " Don't worry, Larry,
you'll get another chance next year."
Somebody came in and gave me some
more pills, and by this time I was really
feeling woozy. Then I remembered that LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 1970 SEASON, KAPP DIGS INTO AN ICE CREAM SUNDAE.

24