GREEN & GOLDEN MOMENTS - Tapa dura

If ever a sports franchise could afford to run on cruise control, the Green Bay Packers could, with their guaranteed sellouts and 65,000-person season ticket waiting list. But Bob Harlan never let that happen. Harlan joined the team in 1971, was elected as its president in 1989 and became the single biggest force in re-establishing the Packers as an elite NFL organization both competitively and financially. In the 18 years that Harlan was in charge, the Packers went to the playoffs ten times, played in two Super Bowls, won one of them and lived through only three losing seasons—an incredible feat in the era of salary caps and free agency. Perhaps Harlan's greatest moment as chief executive came in 2000 when he was widely recognized as the driving force behind the passing of a local referendum allowing for the renovation of historic Lambeau Field. In his autobiography—Green and Golden Moments—Harlan invites Packers fans to reminisce with him about the highs and lows of a career spent in sports. From his time at Marquette University with legendary coach Al McGuire to winning a World Championship with Stan Musial and the St. Louis Cardinals to his 36 years with the Green & Gold, Harlan shares his stories and offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest franchises in professional sports: the Green Bay Packers. This is the story of how a kid from Iowa who wanted to be a sports writer built a career, in his own low key, unassuming way, as one of the most effective executives in any game in America.

Harlan's story is written by former Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel sports columnist Dale Hofmann. A member of the Milwaukee Press Club Hall of Fame, Hofmann has covered every major Wisconsin sport since 1970 when his first beat was Al McGuire's 28-1 Marquette basketball team. His assignments have included the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the World Series, the US Open Golf Tournament, the Indianapolis 500, the NBA Finals and the NCAA Final Four.