the "Wizard of Westwood" passes

[ddthetide]

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angele...ory?id=5253601

[timmgirvan]

Truly a man among men. RIP Mr. Wooden

[ateamstupid]

Probably the greatest coach who ever lived, in any sport. He'll be missed.

[Rupert Pupkin]

The Bruins won 7 straight national championships under Coach Wooden. That is a record that will probably never be broken.

When he retired in 1976, he was only making $35,000 a year and he never asked for a raise. He was offered 10x more money to go to the NBA but he wouldn't do it. Unlike the coaches today, he truly cared nothing about money.

[philcski]

Best coach ever...

Letter to alumni:

To the Bruin Family:

With the passing of John Wooden, we have lost a true giant and a gentleman, an individual who was perhaps more closely identified with UCLA than any other person in our university’s history. Coach Wooden was an unparalleled motivator and an inspiration to people throughout the world. Those of us who were fortunate enough to meet him will forever be touched by his unfailing wisdom and generous spirit.

Coach Wooden’s record of hundreds of victories and 10 national titles established a gold standard of achievement in college athletics. Both on the court and off, he was a teacher, role model and mentor who guided his players and generations of UCLA coaches and student-athletes to become champions in life. His lasting influence has extended far beyond the campus to include leaders in academia, business and government.

The renowned Wooden Pyramid of Success–a copy of which hangs in my office–encourages us all to value cooperation, loyalty and team spirit. The Pyramid remains one of the most recognized blueprints for competitive excellence, in any pursuit.

Coach Wooden and his beloved wife, Nell, were treasured members of the UCLA family, and the Nell and John Wooden Court at Pauley Pavilion is a lasting testament to their place in our hearts.

John Wooden’s remarkable legacy will stand forever at UCLA. Today, as we mourn his loss, we also extend our deepest sympathy to his daughter, Nan, his son, James, and his entire family.

The university flag in front of Pauley Pavilion will be lowered to half-staff, and a public memorial is being planned. Please visit the UCLA homepage for further information, as well as links to news articles and remembrances of Coach Wooden.

Sincerely,

Gene D. Block
Chancellor

[Patrick333]

No doubt about it, one of the all-time greats.

[mclem0822]

One of the greatest coaches in any sport, a true legend. Have heard interviews with him over the years, he came across as a tremendous teacher. Not only of the game of basketball, but a great life teacher. A good human being, he will be missed. Like his great Bruin teams, he had a wonderful extended run 99. Mr. Wooden RIP.

[Cannon Shell]

No despair....we still have John Calipari!!!

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

No despair....we still have John Calipari!!!

you had to go to the extreme!

[ddthetide]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

No despair....we still have John Calipari!!!

John Wooden was a teacher with class and grace. JC is pure, greedy slimball.

[otisotisotis]

lol! too funny! you guys should do a little research about UCLA and Sam Gilbert......he could have made me the greatest coach ever also.....

[otisotisotis]

Originally Posted by ddthetide

John Wooden was a teacher with class and grace. JC is pure, greedy slimball.

dd....be careful of the glass house you live in....

[horseofcourse]

ok...Sam Gilbert research...

Monday, April 03, 2006
Adrian Wojnarowski: UCLA's Tainted Dynasty
April 3, 2006
The Bergen County Record

INDIANAPOLIS -- Everywhere Jerry Tarkanian goes at this Final Four, the blue and gold, the magical four letters, the thunderous U-C-L-A chants on the streets, bring Tark back to college basketball's greatest dynasty, back to a name most synonymous with the championship seasons.

Only, it isn't John Wooden.

Or Lew Alcindor.

Or Bill Walton.

"I think about Sam Gilbert," Tark said Sunday afternoon.

And that's the name that causes a roomful of frolicking Bruins boosters and fans to go uneasily quiet. Sam Gilbert, the two dirty little words of the dynasty.

For the record, Tark will go where others genuflecting at the altar of John Wooden will never journey. He'll say the name that amid the hype for tonight's UCLA-Florida national championship game, you're guaranteed to never hear on CBS. The NCAA tournament loves its nostalgia, its mythology and you'll be getting the full force of this farce from the RCA Dome.

"To people, John Wooden is a god," Tark said.

It is a losing proposition to suggest that UCLA's 10 national championships under Wooden were won with anything but the talent of great players and the lessons and leadership of a legendary coach. It just is never talked about -- out in the open, anyway.

It was what it was, though: Sam Gilbert was a Los Angeles construction man who lavished the Wooden-era UCLA players with money, cars, gifts, the run of his mansion, whatever. Anything those players wanted, the dynasty's sugar daddy was reputed to provide it.

"To this day, what blows me away -- what still makes me angry -- is that Sam Gilbert never tried to hide what he was doing," Tark said. "But the NCAA was never going to investigate UCLA. They were the marquee team. They had all of the games on television. But I lived 20 minutes away in Long Beach and I knew what was going on there. The whole country, the NCAA, they all knew what Sam Gilbert was doing at UCLA.

"Hell, he bragged about it to a lot of people. He bragged about it to me. Once, he liked my point guard [Robert Smith] and said, 'Why don't you send him over to UCLA so I can take care of him?' The NCAA was always harassing me, but Sam Gilbert was violating more rules than anyone in America.

"I was told that John Wooden used to always say that he wished Sam would stay away from the program. I was told that he went to [the AD] J.D. Morgan about it, and Morgan told him that he would take care of it. But it went on and on."

These days, Tark is hardly on the UCLA warpath. Truth be told, he loves the Bruins' coach, Ben Howland. As funny as it sounds, Tark will be sitting in Howland's seats for the game tonight.
What's more, Tark's never had a personal problem with Wooden, who always was very nice and very generous with him through the years. His issue isn't with Wooden, but a system that selectively punished cheaters.

This isn't to absolve Tark by means of some great conspiracy to get him. He is a well-deserved and well-decorated NCAA probation loser at Long Beach, UNLV and Fresno State. I covered him for 2½ years in Fresno, had my drag-outs with him, but the years have taught me that some of the most respected names in the sport -- some of the so-called giants -- are the biggest crooks going. Tark always told me, and only in the last few years have I come to agree with him.

Ultimately, Tark thinks that if you want to believe that his four Final Fours and his 1990 national championship are tainted, then you have to take a look at UCLA, too. I always believed that his fight with the NCAA wasn't so much about his own innocence, but the fact that there were competitors of his who had been deemed untouchable and never got popped too.

If you think this is just Tark barking at the moon, trying to justify his own misdeeds, consider a different source, someone whose agenda is beyond reproach. While working with Tark on his memoir "Running Rebel," author Dan Wetzel dug up a Bill Walton quote from a 1978 book, "On the Road with the Portland Trail Blazers."

If you ever want to debate that there is a double standard between the chosen programs and those branded as renegade by the NCAA, consider this stunning passage.

"UCLA players were so well taken care of -- far beyond the ground rules of the NCAA -- that even players from poor backgrounds never left UCLA prematurely (for pro basketball) during John Wooden's championship years," Walton said. "If the UCLA teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s were subjected to the kind of scrutiny Jerry Tarkanian and his players have been, UCLA would probably have to forfeit about eight national championships and be on probation for the next 100 years.

"... The NCAA is working night and day trying to get Jerry, but no one from the NCAA ever questioned me during my four years at UCLA."

Here's the thing, too: This doesn't make Wooden less of a philosopher, less of a teacher, less of a great American icon. To me, it doesn't change the fact that the afternoon I spent in his condo two years ago rates as one of the best days I've ever had in this business. It's just a reminder there is no Camelot in sports. And there are no saints.

Wooden is 95 years old, bigger and more beloved than ever, and as Tark said one Hall of Fame coach told him this weekend, "People won't really start talking about [Wooden's] legacy until he's gone."

Wooden is still the kind of man, just like those Bruins were the kind of champions, who never will be duplicated. The banners are still hanging in Pauley Pavilion, the 100 years of probation that Walton swears would've been warranted never did come. Admire the UCLA history tonight, but don't let yourself get lost in the mythology. There was no Camelot in college basketball, no saint.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by otisotisotis

lol! too funny! you guys should do a little research about UCLA and Sam Gilbert......he could have made me the greatest coach ever also.....

Funny he didn't make Gene Bartow, Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown or Larry Farmer great coaches during thier time at UCLA after Wooden.


Wooden had already won 2 championships along with having an undefeated season before Gilbert was even around. Calipari? Not only a walking violation machine but an average at best, poor at worst game coach.

[timmgirvan]

Not really a fan of Rick Reilly....but he has a nice article on ESPN about Wooden....worth the time.