A legend passes away...RIP!!

[JEDIYoda]

I can remember as a child rooting for UCLA basketball!!
There is never be another like John Wooden!!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-woodenobit060410

Swing open the door to John Wooden’s tiny two-bedroom condominium, and the first thing that stands out is that there’s hardly any room to walk amid the clutter.

Piles of items awaiting autographs occupy the living room table. Stacks of poetry anthologies, baseball books and Abraham Lincoln biographies litter the shelves. And enshrouding every inch of wall space are dozens of photos, some of Wooden’s late wife Nell and his extended family and others of the legendary basketball teams he coached.

As his colorful condo suggests, college basketball’s most iconic coach lived a remarkably full life, from his all-American playing days at Purdue, to his success on the bench at UCLA, to his 53-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He died at UCLA Medical Center on Friday four months shy of his 100th birthday, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy highlighted by a record-setting 88-game win streak, four undefeated seasons and 10 national titles from 1964 to 1975.

There is more....

 

[lothar]

John Who?

 

[abaez]

I actually visited his condo and spent like two hours with him a few years ago helping him sign basketballs for an event at my firm (was friends with one of the partners). He was a cool cat.

 

[dahunan]

I actually visited his condo and spent like two hours with him a few years ago helping him sign basketballs for an event at my firm (was friends with one of the partners). He was a cool cat.

Can you believe.. he was a 90+ year old man when you met him and the spark in him was still glowing strong

 

[Lemon law]

What is that old saying, Nice Guys finish last.

Whomever said that never heard of John Wooden. RIP for sure, and I cannot think anyone in the whole wide world who could anything but admire John Wooden.

John Wooden was a living legend, and now he belongs to the ages as a total inspiration.

 

[lothar]

Never heard of him.
I only caught a 10min blurb on NPR while driving to work this morning.

Apparently he was a college(people watch college sports?) basketball coach for almost 30 years and won 10 championships.
He must be the "Phil Jackson" of college basketball.

 

[JS80]

I actually visited his condo and spent like two hours with him a few years ago helping him sign basketballs for an event at my firm (was friends with one of the partners). He was a cool cat.

Wow. Lucky. Did he live in westwood?

 

[FuzzyBee]

Never heard of him.
I only caught a 10min blurb on NPR while driving to work this morning.

Apparently he was a college(people watch college sports?) basketball coach for almost 30 years and won 10 championships.
He must be the "Phil Jackson" of college basketball.

Phil Jackson couldn't carry John Wooden's jock strap. Wooden cared about his players as men as much as he cared about basketball - probably even more.

Wooden has been recognized as the greatest American sports coach of all time by Sporting News.

He was a great coach, and an even greater man.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Never heard of him.
I only caught a 10min blurb on NPR while driving to work this morning.
Apparently he was a college (people watch college sports?) basketball coach for almost 30 years and won 10 championships.
He must be the "Phil Jackson" of college basketball.

Coach Wooden led UCLA for 27 seasons, during which his teams won 10 national championships, 7 of those in consecutive years. He announced his retirement following the semifinal game of his last championship. During his tenure, there was no hint of scandal in his program.

The "Phil Jackson" of college basketball does not do Mr. Wooden justice.

 

[dahunan]

Never heard of him.
I only caught a 10min blurb on NPR while driving to work this morning.

Apparently he was a college(people watch college sports?) basketball coach for almost 30 years and won 10 championships.
He must be the "Phil Jackson" of college basketball.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/life_of_reilly/news/2000/03/14/life_of_reilly/

^^ ten year old article
Quote: Posted: Tuesday March 14, 2000 05:57 PM
View the Rick Reilly Insider Archive
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/life_of_reilly/news/2000/03/14/life_of_reilly/
Sports Illustrated

On Tuesday the best man I know will do what he always does on the 21st of the month. He'll sit down and pen a love letter to his best girl. He'll say how much he misses her and loves her and can't wait to see her again. Then he'll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and walk into his bedroom. He'll go to the stack of love letters sitting there on her pillow, untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one on top and tie the ribbon again.

The stack will be 180 letters high then, because Tuesday is 15 years to the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died. In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only on his pillow, only on top of the sheets, never between, with just the old bedspread they shared to keep him warm.

Quote: Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the whereabouts of 172. Of course, it's not hard when most of them call, checking on his health, secretly hoping to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can write them on the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll their eyes. "Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach would say. "Never lie, never cheat, never steal," Coach would say. "Earn the right to be proud and confident."

 

[FuzzyBee]

Thanks for the link to the Reilly article.

 

[CallMeJoe]

...On Tuesday the best man I know will do what he always does on the 21st of the month...

Thank you.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Never heard of him.
I only caught a 10min blurb on NPR while driving to work this morning.

Apparently he was a college(people watch college sports?) basketball coach for almost 30 years and won 10 championships.
He must be the "Phil Jackson" of college basketball.

Oh, for god's sake! College basketball >>>> NBA. Who actually watches the NBA these days? It is terrible now compared to how it was in the 80s and 90s.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Phil Jackson couldn't carry John Wooden's jock strap. Wooden cared about his players as men as much as he cared about basketball - probably even more.

Yeah, who even cares about the NBA these days? It is a sad joke. College basketball is so much better and has been for a long, long time. Largely thanks to folks like John Wooden, I might add. And at the risk of being branded a homer or fanboy, I would like to point out that he is a native Hoosier.

 

[lothar]

Phil Jackson couldn't carry John Wooden's jock strap. Wooden cared about his players as men as much as he cared about basketball - probably even more.

Wooden has been recognized as the greatest American sports coach of all time by Sporting News.

He was a great coach, and an even greater man.

Interesting, if true.
It's always nice to hear about coaches who are able to inspire their players in making great real life decisions rather than just winning a game.

 

[lothar]

Oh, for god's sake! College basketball >>>> NBA. Who actually watches the NBA these days? It is terrible now compared to how it was in the 80s and 90s.

I don't watch either.
The only sports I watch are the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.

If you were to ask me who won the NBA last year, I'd guess either the Dallas Mavericks, or San Antonio Spurs.
I haven't really followed basketball since the Michael Jordan era.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I don't watch either.
The only sports I watch are the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.

If you were to ask me who won the NBA last year, I'd guess either the Dallas Mavericks, or San Antonio Spurs.
I haven't really followed basketball since the Michael Jordan era.

You and me both. Since Jordan, Johnson, Bird, and the other original Dream Teamers retired, the NBA has really gone downhill IMO.