As we wait for the NFL to dispense discipline (or not) for Sunday’s pushy-shovy scuffle between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle points to an article from earlier this year regarding some dinner discussion between the two men, as told to the Philadelphia Inquirer by Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
“We were having dinner the other night and Jim Schwartz told [Jim Harbaugh] basically there’s no way you’re going to be able to get it done [if the lockout lasts into the summer],” John Harbaugh said. “[Schwartz] told him there’s no way you’re going to be able to accomplish what you need to accomplish in two weeks if this thing lasts a while. Jim [Harbaugh] just kind of bit his tongue, which is what you’ve got to do in this situation. Because there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Actually, there is something you can do about it. You can use it as extra motivation, and then when you beat the guy who said “there’s no way you’re going to be able to get it done,” you can get really fired up and give him an aggressive handshake, along with a shove in the back.
More importantly, Jim Harbaugh told reporters in March that, if the lockout greatly reduces his preparation time for his first NFL season, “I’ll find a way.”
And he sure as hell has.