RIP John Wooden

Legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, passed away on Friday night at the age of 99.  Over the weekend, I have read numerous articles and heard many stories about Coach Wooden.  The thing is most of the stories were about him as a man, not a coach.  This is interesting, considering that Wooden is considered the greatest college basketball coach of all-time and is in the conversation as the greatest coach in any sport.  He led UCLA to 10 national titles and a record 88 straight victories, not too mention being an All-American player himself and winning a national title while at Purdue.   So when most of the stories I've heard are about his affect on people and not on the X's and O's of the game, it makes me think he was an even greater man than he was a coach.

I thought about sharing links to a number of articles about Wooden, but there are so many, its too hard to choose, so I will just encourage you to google some for yourself and read about a wonderful man.

Coach Wooden was a legendary coach, wonderful man, loving husband, astute teacher, great man of faith, a leader, and great molder of men. He made sure his teams and players did things the right way and treated all that he met with respect, humility, and friendliness.  I will share one good article about the coffee shop in Tarzana, CA that Wooden was a regular at for years.  I love hearing the stories other patron shared about him and it makes me wish I would have had the opportunity to share a meal with him.  To talk about life from a man who showed so much wisdom.  I have his Pyramid of Success sitting at my desk at work and have read a couple of his books, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court and John Wooden's UCLA Offense.  I've gain good insights from these books and can just imagine what it would have been like to talk to him. Maybe I will get that chance in heaven someday.  He was a devout Christian and lived a life that was not wasted.  Basketball was important, but Christ was supreme in his life and how he had such an impact on people.  I think this quote sums it up...

"I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere."

~ Coach John Wooden.