re: Forty one years ago tomorrow

WASHINGTON -- President Reagan Thursday praised Paul 'Bear' Bryant, the late Alabama football coach, for making 'legends out of ordinary people.'

Reagan said of Bryant, who died Wednesday at 69:

'Today we Americans lost a hero who always seemed larger than life.

Paul 'Bear' Bryant won more college football games than any other coach in history, and he made legends out of ordinary people. Only four weeks ago, we held our breath then cheered when the 'Bear' notched his final victory in a game named, fittingly, the Liberty Bowl.

'He was a hard, but loved taskmaster. Patriotic to the core, devoted to his players, and inspired by a winning spirit that would not quit, 'Bear' Bryant gave his country the gift of a life unsurpassed. In making the impossible seem easy, he lived what we strived to be.'