October 14, 1910 to June 4, 2010
"They don't make em like Coach Wooden anymore." A giant of a man left the court of life, four months prior to reaching the century mark (October 14, 1910 to June 4, 2010).
God brought him off the bench to play on his starting team. John Wooden-the Wizard of Westwood-built one of the greatest sport dynasty's of our era at UCLA. The UCLA basketball program was the benchmark of excellence.
Considered one of the greatest coaches of any sport and a master tactician of the game, his lasting influence, however, will be felt off the court and in life. He taught us all about character. He once said "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Because your character is really who you are and your reputation is who people think you are." He had a love for the kids he coached. Bill Walton said "he was a friend first and then a coach."
He taught his players to love and respect the game by practicing humility, teamwork and love. We may laugh at such "arcane" values today-especially when we observe the current "sports culture" marked by self indulgence, materialism and vanity. Yet Basketball, as with most of our entertainment today, only mirrors the culture at large.
All is not lost however, because the Wizard of Westwood influenced hundreds of people on and off the basketball court who carry on the culture of character by living a life of humility, teamwork and love. His influence will live on. I think we all can benefit from Coach Wooden's life in his words and his deeds. We will miss the coach but we can be reminded daily by the many truisms he gave such as "Talent is God given; be humble. Fame is man given; be thankful. Conceit is self given; be careful,"
Coach John Wooden R.I.P
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