We will never pass up on a an opportunity to share stories on Coach John Wooden. I received the following last night from my friend and Point Guard College CEO Dena Evans. Besides knowing and spending time with Coach Wooden, Dena is also a freind of Andy Hill who played for Coach Wooden. Andy has previously wrote a book about Coach Wooden titled, "Be Quick, But Don't Hurry." It's a great book on Coach and one that's been in my collection since it came out. The following is a recent piece from from Andy:
It seems hard to believe that six years have flown by since John Wooden was in Washington, D.C. to receive our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, from the President of the United States. Those of us lucky enough to be there that day will never forget it. I was both gratified and mystified that a former benchwarmer like me was in attendance. To see our then 92-year-old Coach sitting under a huge portrait of his favorite American, Abraham Lincoln, while he greeted well wishers and fans seemed an appropriate final act for this Indiana farm boy who had become a national treasure.
But Coach has an indomitable will to keep teaching, a nd this past week he added another chapter in his continuing career as our most admired and inspiring mentor. On July 29 he received an award as the Greatest Coach Ever from The Sporting News.
Typically these types of events are dominated by too much media, some cookie cutter remarks about the featured guest, and a sense of relief when you are in your car headed home. But this event was far from typical, in large part because The Sporting News was sensitive to Coach’s “down home” nature and kept it small and intimate. Rather than booking a fancy room at a big hotel, the event took place at one of Coach’s favorite restaurants, the homey Valley Inn, in a small side room. Members of Coach’s family, a few members of the media, and 10 former players gathered to make a few tributes and hear some familiar stories from Coach.
Everything proceeded exactly as planned until Coach spoke.
But Coach has an indomitable will to keep teaching, a nd this past week he added another chapter in his continuing career as our most admired and inspiring mentor. On July 29 he received an award as the Greatest Coach Ever from The Sporting News.
Typically these types of events are dominated by too much media, some cookie cutter remarks about the featured guest, and a sense of relief when you are in your car headed home. But this event was far from typical, in large part because The Sporting News was sensitive to Coach’s “down home” nature and kept it small and intimate. Rather than booking a fancy room at a big hotel, the event took place at one of Coach’s favorite restaurants, the homey Valley Inn, in a small side room. Members of Coach’s family, a few members of the media, and 10 former players gathered to make a few tributes and hear some familiar stories from Coach.
Everything proceeded exactly as planned until Coach spoke.
UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero spoke movingly about what Coach has meant, and will always mean, to UCLA. Current Bruin Coach Ben Howland told us how he grew up watching replays of Wooden’s remarkable teams on KTLA at 11 p.m. Ben made it clear that the UCLA basketball program owes a debt to Coach that can never be repaid. I had the chance to let Coach know how deeply his teachings have impacted our lives after we left UCLA, especially those of us who sat on the bench and didn’t see our dreams come true until after we left school. Marques Johnson told a hysterically funny story about Coach Wooden the pool shark and his unique ability to interact with all of his players. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the greatest of all Bruins, summed it all up perfectly with his heartfelt tribute to our Coach and his ability to see that there was much to life beyond basketball.
All the speeches ended the same way…with an expression of admiration and love for this man who had changed us all for the better. Little talk about games or triumphs, but lots of talk about relationships, family, friends, and LOVE.
Then Mike DeCourcy, the fine basketball writer for the host, The Sporting News, presented Coach with this truly momentous award. Coach will turn 99 in October, so we assumed his remarks would be limited to a few familiar yarns we had all heard countless times before. No one could have anticipated his comments would hit us all like a bombshell.
To his players, Coach had trotted out his world famous PYRAMID OF SUCCESS year after year, and was usually met with eye rolls and yawns. But as we eventually left his day-to-day supervision to make our way in the world, for many of us his Pyramid had become our gyroscope that keeps us balanced and true to Coach’s ideals. Unlike most lessons that fade with the passage of time, Coach’s Pyramid grows in significance as we learn to rely ever more on the sage wisdom contained in it.
So what did Coach tell us as he accepted his award as the greatest ever? He told us he had made a big mistake in his Pyramid. What? Are you kidding me? Fourteen years in the making and nearly 60 years of lectures…and now he tells us he made a mistake?
Of course this revelation and the timing of it could not have come at a more perfect time. What was Coach’s big mistake? He left “love” out of his Pyramid, and he always says that “love” is the most important word in the English language.
So many of Coach’s lessons came to mind as we tried to sort through this stunning development…“the team that makes the most mistakes WINS”… “not all change is progress, but all progress requires change”…“always keep an open mind”…“failure is not fatal, but failure to change may be”…and “it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” In a way it makes perfect sense that at the moment he was being honored as the greatest ever, he admits to his closest family and friends his biggest mistake.
The years have taken their toll on this former three-time All-American at Purdue, and you can feel his pain and discomfort that he fights so hard to keep to himself. But we all marvel that his mind is still keen and his wit razor sharp. As we sat and listened to our aging Coach make a speech we will never forget, you could hear a pin drop and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. His grace, his intelligence, and his humanity blew us all away one more time.
What more can you say? We had come to honor our old Coach, and once again he had taken the opportunity to teach us, guide us, and show us the way.
No doubt he gained his notoriety and fame because of he won 10 N.C.A.A. championships in 12 years, had a streak of 88 straight regular-season wins, and most remarkably, 38 straights games in the single elimination N.C.A.A. Tournament.
But John Wooden gained his immortality with the life lessons we will never forget. And as all the guests, including former players Mike Warren, Lucius Allen, Gary Cunningham, Jamaal Wilkes, Kenny Washington, Fred Goss, and Ken Heitz said their farewells to Coach, there were no handshakes…just hugs…and kisses…and Coach’s now aging students telling their old teacher that they love him. After all, Coach may have left the word “love” out of his Pyramid…but his players got his message just the same.
How the heck do you wrap up a speech like this? Most of us would mumble some humble words of thanks…but Coach has never been like anyone else I know. It shouldn’t have surprised me when his final words struck me p rofoundly as the unadulterated essence of this remarkable man.
With his voice faltering just a bit, and his energy now waning, Coach left us with the ultimate expression of who he has always been… “I only wish I could have done more for you all.”
8/7/09
Andy Hill is an author, motivational speaker, and executive coach who played, sparingly, on three national championship teams at UCLA from 1969 to 1972. He is the co-author with John Wooden of BE QUICK, BUT DON’T HURRY (Simon and Schuster, 2001), and was formerly the President of CBS Productions responsible for shows like TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL; DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN; WALK ER, TEXAS RANGER; CAROLINE IN THE CITY; and RESCUE 911.
All the speeches ended the same way…with an expression of admiration and love for this man who had changed us all for the better. Little talk about games or triumphs, but lots of talk about relationships, family, friends, and LOVE.
Then Mike DeCourcy, the fine basketball writer for the host, The Sporting News, presented Coach with this truly momentous award. Coach will turn 99 in October, so we assumed his remarks would be limited to a few familiar yarns we had all heard countless times before. No one could have anticipated his comments would hit us all like a bombshell.
To his players, Coach had trotted out his world famous PYRAMID OF SUCCESS year after year, and was usually met with eye rolls and yawns. But as we eventually left his day-to-day supervision to make our way in the world, for many of us his Pyramid had become our gyroscope that keeps us balanced and true to Coach’s ideals. Unlike most lessons that fade with the passage of time, Coach’s Pyramid grows in significance as we learn to rely ever more on the sage wisdom contained in it.
So what did Coach tell us as he accepted his award as the greatest ever? He told us he had made a big mistake in his Pyramid. What? Are you kidding me? Fourteen years in the making and nearly 60 years of lectures…and now he tells us he made a mistake?
Of course this revelation and the timing of it could not have come at a more perfect time. What was Coach’s big mistake? He left “love” out of his Pyramid, and he always says that “love” is the most important word in the English language.
So many of Coach’s lessons came to mind as we tried to sort through this stunning development…“the team that makes the most mistakes WINS”… “not all change is progress, but all progress requires change”…“always keep an open mind”…“failure is not fatal, but failure to change may be”…and “it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” In a way it makes perfect sense that at the moment he was being honored as the greatest ever, he admits to his closest family and friends his biggest mistake.
The years have taken their toll on this former three-time All-American at Purdue, and you can feel his pain and discomfort that he fights so hard to keep to himself. But we all marvel that his mind is still keen and his wit razor sharp. As we sat and listened to our aging Coach make a speech we will never forget, you could hear a pin drop and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. His grace, his intelligence, and his humanity blew us all away one more time.
What more can you say? We had come to honor our old Coach, and once again he had taken the opportunity to teach us, guide us, and show us the way.
No doubt he gained his notoriety and fame because of he won 10 N.C.A.A. championships in 12 years, had a streak of 88 straight regular-season wins, and most remarkably, 38 straights games in the single elimination N.C.A.A. Tournament.
But John Wooden gained his immortality with the life lessons we will never forget. And as all the guests, including former players Mike Warren, Lucius Allen, Gary Cunningham, Jamaal Wilkes, Kenny Washington, Fred Goss, and Ken Heitz said their farewells to Coach, there were no handshakes…just hugs…and kisses…and Coach’s now aging students telling their old teacher that they love him. After all, Coach may have left the word “love” out of his Pyramid…but his players got his message just the same.
How the heck do you wrap up a speech like this? Most of us would mumble some humble words of thanks…but Coach has never been like anyone else I know. It shouldn’t have surprised me when his final words struck me p rofoundly as the unadulterated essence of this remarkable man.
With his voice faltering just a bit, and his energy now waning, Coach left us with the ultimate expression of who he has always been… “I only wish I could have done more for you all.”
8/7/09
Andy Hill is an author, motivational speaker, and executive coach who played, sparingly, on three national championship teams at UCLA from 1969 to 1972. He is the co-author with John Wooden of BE QUICK, BUT DON’T HURRY (Simon and Schuster, 2001), and was formerly the President of CBS Productions responsible for shows like TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL; DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN; WALK ER, TEXAS RANGER; CAROLINE IN THE CITY; and RESCUE 911.
