Rest in Peace Johnny ...

[Wisexuowl]

Pont, former Miami and Indiana football coach who dies from cancer yesterdy at his home in Oxford.
He was a great "rival" and a top notch class act.
I rejoiced when he coached the Hoosiers to the Rose Bowl ... remember the punter who kept winnng games by running for first downs instead of punting?
While I haven't seen John in twenty years, I got a bang out of him returning to coaching at Hamilton Public HS, and then starting the football program at Mt St. Joe's.
Why? Because he was a football coach .. giving back to the game.
RIP Johnny!

[Mr. Neutral]

Indy Star story on Pont's passing-
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... 004/SPORTS

[muskieman]

He had a great life. rip John.

[wkrq59]

I knew him and considered him a friend. He was especially fun to cover when he started the Mount football program and then went to Japan to coach. I wrote a story about his escapades in Japan especially with the language, but the story was spiked by an editor who three weeks later sent it to a magazine and collected a fee for it.
Told John about it and it was one of the few times I ever saw him mad. None of his players that I interviewed on numerous occasions ever had a bad word to say about him.

He was especially upset by the deaths of Randy Walker and Terry Hoeppner. He was truly a coach for the ages from the Cradle of Coaches. Requiescat in pace.

[Masterofreality]

Q,

Isn't that plagerism where you could sue and get something out of the story?

Or was it just not worth it enough?

[muskieman]

Man talk about a low life. Killing your story and then getting paid for your work.

[wkrq59]

Muskieman,
What you say is all true. But Jo and I went through a lawsuit and it took so long it damn near killed us both. And I was kind enough three weeks after he pulled that stunt to warn him that what he was about to do to a coworker was illegal and could cost the company and him big bucks. "I can do anything I want," was his reply. One year later he was fired and the paper had to shell out $500,000. He was fired and four others lost their jobs. I found it hard to feel sorry for him, but I did.

[muskieman]

Muskieman,
What you say is all true. But Jo and I went through a lawsuit and it took so long it damn near killed us both. And I was kind enough three weeks after he pulled that stunt to warn him that what he was about to do to a coworker was illegal and could cost the company and him big bucks. "I can do anything I want," was his reply. One year later he was fired and the paper had to shell out $500,000. He was fired and four others lost their jobs. I found it hard to feel sorry for him, but I did.

Jesus would ask of us always to forgive as we ask those we traspass against. Tough but important for us all to learn.

[Pierre Dracot]

Pont was a kind and charismatic man whom I admired greatly. My brother played for him at IU from 1969 to 1971; he was a sophomore when Jade Butcher, John Isenbarger, and Harry Gonzo (a.k.a. B-I-G) were seniors. Isenbarger was the punter who, as often as not, it seemed, ran or passed, sometime unsuccessfully. This prompted his mother to send him a telegram, prior to the Arizona game, that read: "Dear John, please punt." He also happened to be a two-time All-American running back. The '69 team, two years removed from the Rose Bowl season, was ranked No. 1 in preseason polls. That was the year of an ill-advised nationwide boycott by black players. Although the team didn't have many black members, some of them were key players. It developed that Pont wasn't able, emotionally, to handle the adversity of having to deal with the boycott. Although IU's black players ended their boycott early in the season, Pont had already lost his cool and, with it, the respect of the players. They hardly won a game all year. They won exactly one game the following year. He was gone from IU a few years later.