Bruins Loss

[matmat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden

[Lobowolf]

The UCLA School of Law's Public Interest Law Foundation would annually auction off "Breakfast with John Wooden," which was just about the most popular item each year and went for a ton. Brilliant and great guy...gave great interviews and told entertaing stories into his late 90s, and among the very best (if not the very best) at his chosen profession. A rightful legend.

[y66]

From John Feinstein's story in today's Post: John Wooden: Untouchable record, incomparable man:

 

Wooden won with more talent and more size than the opposition, and he won with less talent and size than the opposition. He won playing fast, and he won playing slow. On the rare occasions when he did lose, he never blamed his players or the officials. He was as gracious in defeat as he was in victory.

 

Red Auerbach, arguably the greatest professional coach of all time, knew Wooden well and often made fun of how proper and Midwestern Wooden always was. Several years ago, before he died in 2006, Auerbach talked about the fact that he believed he was one of the few people who ever gave Wooden a hard time about anything.

 

"I used to tease him about the fact that he would never curse," Auberbach said. "He would say to me, 'Red, you don't have to use profanity to motivate players.' I would say to him, 'John, you don't have to use profanity to motivate players. Most of us do.'

 

"But the thing people missed with him was how smart he was. He was genuinely a humble guy, never pointed out how well he'd coached or how he had outsmarted the other guy. He just did it, smiled and moved on to the next thing. The thing he did best, though, was he could coach anybody: Some of those guys he had, especially Abdul-Jabbar and Walton, weren't exactly easy to deal with. But they never questioned him. People didn't give him credit for how much he got out of those guys and all the guys who played for him."

 

Krzyzewski has been asked through the years if his success -- he has been to 11 Final Fours, only one fewer than Wooden -- is somehow comparable to Wooden's because it now takes six victories to win the national title as compared to four throughout most of Wooden's run. (It was five the last time he won, in 1975.) Krzyzewski's answer has always been emphatic.

 

"What Coach Wooden did will never be touched," Krzyzewski has often said. "And the number of games you win in the tournament isn't as important as the number you can lose -- none. One bad shooting night or one good shooting night by the other team and you're gone. One bad call can knock you out, or a key injury at the wrong time. That's the beauty of the college game and of the tournament. But it's also the reason why none of us has ever come close to what he did and none of us ever will."

 

...

 

As a coach, he had no peers. And he was a better man than he was a coach.

 

That, more than anything, is his legacy.

[luke warm]

to this day bill walton can quote woodenisms all day long, interspersed with grateful dead lyrics

 

rip

[Phil]

RIP Coach :(

 

As an aside: A long time ago I worked for the estate of a big UCLA basketball booster. He had donated more money to the construction of Pauley Pavilion, but didn't want his name on it. He also (supposedly) (er) rented a room at his home to Lew Alcindor in Bel-Air when he was at UCLA.

[crazy4hoop]

Be quick but don't hurry.

Do not mistake activity for achievement.

Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

Make every day your masterpiece.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

The worst thing you can do for those you love is the things they could and should do for themselves. (Abraham Lincoln)

Success is peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

 

These are just a few of the adgaes he used. I strongly recommend reading his book (co-authored by Steve Jamison) entitled "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court."

 

I was lucky enough to attend one of his basketball camps about 25 years ago and I still remember him giving a lecture at the camp and can truly say that his teachings expand beyond the realm of basketball and into the "real world."

 

He will be missed. R.I.P.