Wooden

[Steve Brown <sjbrown@axdev.com>]

I ran across an old article and thought there's so many things
to like about it (from bumping refs to Bill Walton to Mark's 110%)
that I thought I'd share it with you. Its called The Coach,
by Pat O Brian.

He walks a little slower, but that's about all.  At age 86,
the Wizard of Westwood still has that magical command of
the situation, whether it be basketball, the game he loves,
baseball, the game he loves even more, or life, the game he
has conquered.  His memories are all intact.  His players
still love him.  And a rookie generation still calls him
"Coach."

But when John Wooden talks about sports, he doesn't bring
up his 10 NCAA championships at UCLA.  He doesn't talk about
his 88-game winning streak.  He doesn't brag about the great
men he put out into the world.  He talks about patience,
faith, honesty an integrity.  In short, John Wooden remains
the bouncer at the door-the man with last word.  And what
sort of legendary revelations are we caught up in today?

How to put your socks on.

"It was one of the first things I taught my players," he says.
"I'd tell them how smooth them over their toes so there were
no wrinkles.  This prevents blisters, you know."

So I ask, "Did your teams ever have a lot of blisters?"

"Not after I started teaching them how to put on socks, no."
End of conversation.

Which brings us to what John Wooden is really all about:
fundamentals.  No matter what you're doing.  Catching a
basketball Fingers up!  That way you won't jam them.
Shooting a free throw?  Elbow in.  Shirts are tucked in.
Shoes are laced.  Hair is cut.  Oh yes, that brings us
to the Bill Walton haircut story.

On this day, John Wooden doesn't really want to repeat
this one.  He probably thinks it makes fun of Bill, but
it doesn't.  When Bill Walton was playing at UCLA, he had
long hair.  John Wooden didn't like long hair.  So the coach
called his center in and said, basically, "Bill, cut your
hair." Walton said basically, "No." Now remember that Walton
was perhaps the greatest college basketball player in the
country at this point, and that, boys and girls, spells
championships.  At any rate, this college superstar stood
his ground against this coach who needed him for the Final
Four.  And the coach, the bouncer at the door, said what
few coaches today would dare say to their superstars,
"Well then, Bill, we're going to miss you."

Bill cut his hair.

He didn't have any blisters, either.

In the landscape of coaches' problems today, I know a couple
hundred who would choose haircuts over them all.  As Wooden
states, "Pat, you recall the '60s 'antiestablishment'?
There are problems in every era.  Problems change, so you
have to cope with the problems that are prevalent at that
particular time."

One of today's problems is discipline.  You see a kid bring
the ball up court, and instead of looking to pass, he looks
to shoot.  You see a kid with a perfect layup situation, and
instead of a perfect layup, he slam dunks.  You see a kid who
uses a press conference to sell himself.  Some bump refs.
Some bump other players.  Some bump cameramen.  You can just
imagine the Wizard of Westwood sitting alone, the flicker of
the television set reflecting off his wise face and the grimace
that Coach John Wooden gets when he sees abuses in his game.
His beautiful game.

"I'm sorry to see that as the players have become so much
better with their athleticism, it has hurt team play," Wooden
says.  "I'm concerned with some of the things that I see.
I don't recall the taunting and the showmanship.  Maybe that
pulls the crowds in, but it worries me.

"I think television has made showmen out of not only players,
but coaches and, sometimes, officials.  Basketball is a
beautiful game, one of finesse and maneuverability... And
the pro game is too physical.  When players get under the
basket, it is almost like wrestling.  And carrying the ball...
and traveling hurt the game.

"The enormous salaries being paid to the pro players-the
college players and the youngsters coming up-that appeals
to them," Wooden continues, "and they think they are all
going to get that kind money.  One player said, 'I'll write
blank check, and you can fine me whatever you want. "The
athleticism is somewhat remarkable, but I don't think
the other things have a place in the game."

No question he loves the game. No question the game loves
him.  No question his former players love him, a group that
keeps in touch with as much as time permits.  Which brings
us back to Bill Walton.

"When Bill first started Broadcasting, he asked me to watch
and then asked me what I thought.  Well, Bill, I'll say two
things. First, you talk too much. You go too much in detail
and take too long to say something.

And he said 'What else?"

"Well, Bill, don=92t tell me a player is an overachiever. You
never heard me say that. We are all underachievers. And Bill,
nobody plays at 110 percent.  It's impossible.  And Bill?
Those guys who go flying after balls and run up into the
stands that you call hustlers?  That is just stupidity."

What advice does the coach have for kids today who want to
play?

"Don't put so much emphasis on it.  Make it an enjoyable
experience, something you love to do.  And parents----if your
kids really love it give them the exposure so they can learn
the proper techniques.  And remind them: It's a team game."
In basketball and in life, Wooden says it is patience and
faith that get you the win.  And if you put together all
that John Wooden teaches-from putting your socks on correctly
to being able to speak in complete sentences at a postgame
news conference-you've got yourself a pretty well-centered
person and player.

>From head to toe.

Steve