“The Wiz is Gone”

The world of sports, in fact the world for that matter, was saddened this past week with the passing of legendary former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Dubbed the “Wizard of Westwood” for how his squads absolutely dominated the game of college basketball for more than a decade, Wooden was a true winner both on and off the court.
His attributes on the court are astonishing.  As a player he led his high school team to a State Championship.  He led his Purdue Boilermakers to a college National Championship.  As coach at UCLA his teams set the high water mark, especially from 1964 – 1975.  In those 12 seasons they won 10 National Championships and went 339-22. 
But for many of us it was not just that he won but how he won.  He was not a coach that ranted and raved at his players like a Bobby Knight type coach.  He said there was no need to yell at young men or snatch them around.  His greatest motivator, he said, were the seats next to him on the bench.  He coached by respect and motivation not fear and intimidation.  Wooden won 10 National Championships, Knight won 3.  
If he was anything he was a man of integrity and principal.  When his big man, John Walton, proclaimed that it was his right to grow a mustache and long hair, which was against team rules, Wooden didn’t blow up at Walton.  But he didn’t back down either to arguably one of the best big men to ever play the game.  He calmly agreed with Walton that it was his right and he was welcome to exercise that right at any other team in the country.  Walton shaved the mustache and cut his hair.
One might think that as a youngster I would have disliked UCLA because they were always beating my favorite southern teams like Kentucky and North Carolina.  But they were a team that was hard not to like, in part because of their unselfish play.  But I became an even bigger fan of Wooden as an adult when I read several books about him and by him.        
When I began closing my weekly column 3 ½ years ago with humorous one liners I started with the mythical figure of Uncle Bob.  After reading a book by Wooden I decided to start rotating insightful one liners from the mythical figure “Coach.”  That was in honor of Coach Wooden and many of the one liners that I have used over the last 3 years are quotes from Coach Wooden.   
Simply Put, the Wiz is gone and we’ll never see another coach like him.  But we can all pay tribute to him by encouraging today’s coaches to deploy the John Wooden model for coaching.  And I will continue to pay tribute to him with thoughts “From The Front Porch” by Coach.     
            
From the Front Porch: Coach Wooden said talent is God given…be humble; conceit is self given…be careful.