Remembering Coach John Wooden 1910-2010

A one of a kind gift from God  

This is not my typical “fitness” blog, but I could not pass up the opportunity to remember and praise one of the all time greats in sports history − John Wooden. I’ve virtually given up on trying to hold up anyone as a hero these days. It seems like every time I do so, along comes a news story, or a short video clip on You Tube, etc., that shows another side of “my hero” that I never would have guessed existed. Over the years so many have been knocked off my hero-pedestal that I gave up trying to push anyone else up there. But of the few who remain on that pedestal there is none more deserving than coach Wooden.

Having had many coaches in my lifetime, with some so horrific that I almost gave up on organized sports all together, I can only imagine how terrific it must have been to play for John Wooden.

What I truly find most amazing is that he remained a man of principle and sterling character throughout his entire life. That’s tragically hardly ever the case today. Groucho Mark once said, “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” More often than not that’s the kind of personal integrity we see today! John Wooden only had one set of principles, and he lived them and taught them every day of his life. He was a man of amazing consistency.

Few in the arena of sports and leadership have had such a lasting impact on and off the court than legendary basketball coach John Wooden. At the age of 99, just four months shy of his 100th birthday, John Wooden passed away.

John Wooden coached the basketball team at UCLA for 27 years. Under his leadership, the Bruins won 620 games and lost just 147. They won ten NCAA championships, and went undefeated through four different complete seasons; 1963-64, 1966-67, 1971-72, and 1972-73. Wooden’s Bruins established a still-standing record 88-game winning streak, before losing on 19 January 1974 at Notre Dame, 71-70.

Coach Wooden did everything with grace and dignity, worked harder than all his contemporaries, and though tough on his players and opponents, they all loved and respected him.

Bill Walton, one of coach Wooden’s standout players, wrote in the introduction to Wooden’s book − Wooden-A Lifetime of Observations On and Off the Court − “John Wooden taught us to focus on one primary objective: be the best you can be in whatever endeavor you undertake… The skills he taught us on the court, teamwork, personal excellence, discipline, dedication, focus, organization, and leadership- are just some of the tools you need in the real world. Coach showed us how these skills are transferable. He wasn’t just teaching us about basketball, he was teaching us about life.”

Coach Wooden’s parents were farmers. Wooden, born just 28 years after James Naismith invented the game, always loved basketball, and his first ball was constructed by his mother. He remembered it as “a wobbly thing sewed together using rolled-up rags she had stuffed into some black cotton hose. Dad nailed an old tomato basket with the bottom knocked out to one end of the hayloft in the barn. That’s how I got started playing the game of basketball.”

In high school he played guard, and made the All-State Team all three years. His team won the state championship in 1927, and lost in the final playoff game the year before and the year after. He played college ball for Purdue University, winning numerous honors there, including three-time All-American and captain of his team. His Boilermakers won two Big Ten championships, and the national championship in 1932. For his hustle and crazy dives for the ball, Wooden was nicknamed “the Indiana Rubber Man”.

After college, he played professionally for seven years, for three teams in three different leagues — the NBA had not yet been imagined. He spent five of his pro years with a team called the Indianapolis Kautskys, but the pay was minimal and unreliable, and it went without saying that pro players also had real-world jobs to make the rent. For Wooden, in all the years he played pro ball, he also taught high school − and, of course, coached the schools’ basketball teams.

He always treated players and officials with respect, never with the Bobby Knight-style fury and bombast. In his entire career as player and coach, he received just two technical fouls − and he always maintained that one of them was called by mistake, when someone behind him yelled a profanity, and the referee thought it was Wooden.

After retiring from coaching, Wooden spoke often at corporate, military, and sports meetings, expounding on his theories to maximize personal and team accomplishments, which he called the “Pyramid of Success“. He was in great demand as a motivational speaker, but he rarely addressed audiences of big-money donors, or where the admission price was too high. “I’m not comfortable with that,” he said. “Not everyone can give that kind of money and those who give smaller amounts are just as important.”

Among his many noted “Woodenisms”, he often said, “A good coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment,” and “A man may make mistakes, but he isn’t a failure until he starts blaming someone else.”

After being admitted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Wednesday, May 26 for dehydration, the 99-year old “Wizard of Westwood” passed away of natural causes.

Jim Wooden and Nancy Muehlhausen issued a statement after their father died, saying, “He has been, and always will be, the guiding light of our family. The love, guidance and support he has given us will never be forgotten. Our peace of mind at this time is knowing that he has gone to be with our mother, whom he has continued to love and cherish.”

Coach Wooden’s success on the basketball court was secondary to his faith, family, and guiding principles that shaped the lives of so many people. As Wooden said, “True happiness comes from the things that cannot be taken away from you. Making the full effort to do the right thing can never be taken away from you.”

Coach Wooden also said, “We who coach have great influence on the lives of all the young men who come under our supervision, and the lives we lead will play an important role in their future. It is essential that we regard this as a sacred trust and set the example that we know is right.”

And that he did!