Packers' Joe Philbin away indefinitely

[truebluefan]

Mike McCarthy called it a "punch in the heart."

Then the typically stoic Green Bay Packers coach briefly lost his composure, pausing for several seconds as he choked up with emotion.

It was another sign of how hard the team has been hit by the death of Michael Philbin, the son of Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin.

With Sunday's playoff game against the New York Giants to prepare for -- and a Super Bowl repeat to strive for -- real life has knocked the Packers back.

"I think the reality of this just gave everybody a punch in the heart to let you know the reality," McCarthy said, pausing and looking downward as he gathered his emotions. "How fortunate to be where we are."

Philbin wasn't with the team Wednesday and will be away indefinitely as he and his family deal with the loss of Michael, whose body was recovered from an icy Wisconsin river on Monday.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/745194...definitely

[Fardreamer]

There is a line spoken by King Theoden (Bernard Hill) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that might sound a bit cliched, but it is true and fitting:

"No father should ever have to bury a child."

Sadly, it happens to lots of parents; sometimes it's due to illness, accidents or suicide, and (too often enough these days) at the hands of one or both progenitors. No matter how tragedies strike, though, it's always as though the laws of nature upend themselves.