Money Players

Kevin Love's recruitment to UCLA

The NCAA sent a letter of inquiry to UCLA in connection with Coach Wooden's involvement in the recruitment of freshman sensation Kevin Love. Apparently Love met with Coach on his recruiting trip. Spending time with Coach is an amazing experience, something I've been fortunate to do on several occasions. I would liken an audience with Coach to the Pope (but in English and far more entertaining). If invited, you don't consult with the NCAA rule-book, you go -- and if you have to beg forgiveness later, so be it. If this sounds "Onion-esque" read on.

Bill Dwyre, another LA institution, who writes about the episode in the Los Angeles Times, wonders why NCAA protocol was so closely followed. Coach Wooden has been involved in college athletics since 1928, making the NCAA barely old enough to be his father. If you had to name an "All-NCAA" team of those who most embody the values of the NCAA, certainly Coach would be a first teamer, if not Player of the Century. I do think the NCAA is becoming more student-athlete friendly in recent years, but there are still some ole Javert-types who view a rule as a rule. Certainly a phone call to UCLA's compliance guy Rich Herczog would have provided a satisfactory response: "Wooden, as a paid consultant to the school, is permitted to meet with recruits."

Dwrye wonders: "Even though we know better every time we read about big bowl money and the latest zillion-dollar TV network basketball tournament contract, does not the NCAA purport to exist for the betterment of the educational experience? What better educational opportunity anywhere than to meet and talk to John Wooden?""

--Marc Isenberg

Manifest destiny in college sports

Had dinner last night with my good friend John Skinner, a USC grad (and former basketball walk-on). Much of the conversation, of course, was on USC's stunning defeat to Stanford. Skinner, who was at the game, was amazed at the number of fans who booed the Trojans lackluster performance, particularly as the team went into locker room at halftime. He said USC's "35-game home win streak meant nothing." Actually, it meant everything. Anything less than perfection is intolerable.

My favorite illustration of this point: In 1975 Coach John Wooden had just led the UCLA Bruins to its 10th NCAA championship in twelve years. Coach tells the story of being approached by a booster as he walked off the court. The booster said, "Coach, congratulations. It was a great championship, especially after last year's disappointment." That would be the 1973-74 season in which UCLA went 26-4, but lost to NC State in the Final Four semifinal game breaking the string of seven consecutive NCAA Championships. During the seven championship seasons, the Bruins lost a total of 5 games. In 1974, the Bruins lost a shocking 4 games.

Thirty years ago sports was about what-have-you-done-for-me lately? And nothing has changed today, except everybody thinks their favorite team should NEVER lose.

A photo from our recent dinner at Knott's Berry Farm (check out Coach's bolo tie!)

Part IV: My Journey with Coach Wooden

By Bill Bennett

Monday, Nov. 20

NABC Interview
That morning in the Hyatt Regency, Coach Wooden sits for more than an hour for an interview that can be viewed once the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame opens next season at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

The interview spans his entire life, from his upbringing in rural Indiana, to his college days at Purdue, through his UCLA head coaching years.

Coach Wooden will always say one of the great influences in his life was his father, Joshua Hugh Wooden. He talks about the philosophies his father handed down to him: “Two Sets of Threes” –

1. Never lie.
2. Never cheat.
3. Never steal

1. Don’t whine
2. Don’t complain
3. Don’t make excuses

On the day Coach Wooden graduated from elementary school in Centerton IN, he received from his father a two-dollar bill (which Coach Wooden would give to his own son Jim) and a 3 x 5 card. Written on one side of that card was a verse by the Rev. Henry Van Dyke and on the opposite side, Joshua’s  personal Seven Point Creed (Coach Wooden still carries a copy of the Creed with him) –

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, including the Good Book.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his life more true:
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow-man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and Heaven securely.
            --Henry Van Dyke

Basketball Game in Municipal Auditorium
Municipal Auditorium is quite the historic site for college basketball, hosting nine NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours between 1950 and 1964, including three of the first four.
There is a VIP reception at Municipal before the games. Sitting there with Coach  Wooden, Nan and Craig, a family asks if they can have their picture taken with the Coach. Of course he agrees, but the family’s husband is perturbed because his friend, who was to take the picture, was nowhere to be found. Craig then jumps up and happily volunteers to take the portrait – it is a great shot, Coach Wooden with that beaming family. Everywhere we go, everyone wants a photo with Coach.

From the reception, we walk Coach Wooden into the arena and everyone stands and applauds. His front row seat is behind the ESPN broadcast desk. Coach Wooden sits next to Smith, Russell, Robertson and their families. Vitale, who is the ESPN color analyst for the games, turns around and spends a few minutes with all the honorees.

We watch all of the Duke-Air Force game and most of the Marquette-Texas Tech contest. Early in the second half of the Marquette-Texas Tech game, the Hall of Fame inductees are introduced at center court. Back in his seat, Coach Wooden notes that he was most impressed with Marquette’s athleticism and aggressiveness.

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

Part III: My Journey with Coach

By Bill Bennett

The Induction Ceremony

It is a first class, elite event from start to finish.

CBS analyst Billy Packer is the Master of Ceremonies. There are speeches from - Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski; a prerecorded video presentation by ESPN's Dick Vitale; Tom Jernstedt, NCAA Executive Vice President; Kansas City's mayor Kay Barnes and Jim Haney, the executive director of the NABC.

"This is a big night for college basketball," Haney said. "It captures more than 100 years of history and lays the groundwork for the future of it."

Brown presents his college coach, Dean Smith. During his presentation, he looks out into the audience at Coach Wooden and says, "I always felt kind of uncomfortable being introduced as the UCLA head coach, because we all know there is only one UCLA head coach and that's John Wooden (acknowledging and pointing to where Coach Wooden is sitting in the crowd)."

Texas Tech's Bobby Knight, who this season passed Smith to become college basketball's all-time winningest coach, inducts Bill Russell and describes him as the "all-time MVP."

In his speech, Russell says it was the "highest honor he ever had in basketball." He commends coaches Smith and Wooden for their work and efforts during the civil rights movement. Coach Smith participated in sit-ins in North Carolina in the 1960s and Russell says Coach Wooden was the only head coach who played more than one Black player on the West Coast.

Walton's gives a 22-minute tribute to Coach Wooden. It is serious, it is comedy, it is opinionated – it is Bill Walton at his best. Some of Bill's comments include-

"To play for John Wooden was the greatest thrill of my life. They were the most challenging, demanding things I've done in my life".

"We never started a day with Coach Wooden looking at us and saying – What do you men want to do today?"

"Coach Wooden never speaks of himself, he never draws attention to anything he's ever done."

"In four years, Wooden taught us everything we'd ever need to know. Not about basketball, about life."

"Wait a minute Coach, if basketball isn't about size and strength, how come Shaq's got all the money, Kareem's got all the records and Wilt had 20,000 girlfriends?"

Walton then introduces Coach Wooden - "It is now my deepest honor to present the most positive, the most upbeat, the most constructive person I have ever known – John Wooden, a man who never looks back and who's always about what's next."

Coach's speech

Coach Wooden then comes to the stage and looking at Walton, jokingly says, "Now you all know what I had to put up with all those years."

He says it's nice for him to come back to Kansas City. Coach Wooden reminisces about the Bruins' first NCAA title in 1964 at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.

He then talks about his two teams from Indiana State that had a chance to play in the NAIA Tournament, hosted by Kansas City. In 1947, Wooden refused to bring his Sycamore squad because the NAIA did not allow African-Americans in the event and Indiana State had a Black player (Clarence Walker) on its roster. In 1948, Wooden again refused to bring Indiana State to Kansas City. But before the tournament started, the NAIA allowed African-Americans to play (according the Kansas City Star sportswriter Blair Kerkhoff, 1948 was an Olympic year and the NAIA team champion had a spot in the Olympic Trials tournament. The Olympic Committee threatened to pull the invitation if African-Americans were not allowed to play in the NAIA Tournament). The NAACP, Indiana State's university president and Walker's parents also urged Coach Wooden to take his team to Kansas City. While there, the Sycamores stayed at the Muehlebach Hotel and Walker housed with a local minister.

"I'm pleased whenever I think of that NAIA Tournament," Coach Wooden says. "I think that was a big moment in our sports history. A few years later, an All-Black team (Tennessee State) won that tournament. Maybe we opened the door a little bit."

Coach Wooden goes on to say he is proud to have been selected into the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and is "so grateful to those that love this wonderful game."

He ends his acceptance with a poem, entitled God's Hall of Fame:
 
          God's Hall of Fame

This crowd on Earth, they soon forget, the heroes of the past.
They cheer like mad, until you fall and that's how long you last.
But God, He never does forget, and in his Hall of Fame, inscribed up there beyond the stars, engraved you'll find your name.
I'll tell you friends I wouldn't trade, my name however small – inscribed up there beyond the stars in that celestial hall.
For any famous name on earth or glory that they share – I'd rather be an unknown here and have my name up There
                                                --Author Unknown

After Coach Wooden's poem recital, you could hear a pin drop as the tears flowed.

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

Part II: My Journey with Coach Wooden

By Bill Bennett

Daily Diary
Sunday, Nov. 19

Leaving for Kansas City
You get very spoiled traveling with Coach Wooden. There’s the town car that picks him up at his condo in Encino and drives him to the Raytheon private terminal in Van Nuys. There, the private jet is waiting, and in less than three hours, you arrive in Kansas City, where a limousine is waiting to take us to the Kansas City Hyatt Regency.

VIP Reception
Coach Wooden and his daughter are in adjoining rooms on the 15th floor, where I head to escort them to the private reception on the 40th floor of the hotel. Upon entering Coach Wooden’s room, there sits Lee Hunt, with his wife, Elizabeth. Hunt was a Bruin assistant under Gene Bartow, the first UCLA head coach after Coach Wooden’s retirement in 1975. Hunt ended his career as the head basketball coach and athletic director at Missouri-Kansas City.

When the Hunts depart, I escort the Wooden’s to the 40th floor. Walking into the reception, there sit Smith, Russell and Robertson, joined by Coach Wooden. As people gather around the four Hall of Famers, everyone is frantically taking pictures.

Press Conference/Public Reception
From the reception, we head down to the adjoining Crown Center Exhibit Hall for the press conference and induction ceremony. Although this is a celebration for the history of college basketball, it could just as well be a highlight reel for UCLA basketball. Present in the Exhibit Hall for the press conference are –

Coach Wooden, who guided the Bruins to a record 10 NCAA Championships, including seven consecutive from 1967-73 and who led UCLA to a record 88-game overall winning streak and a 38 -game NCAA Tournament winning streak.

Larry Brown, UCLA’s head coach from 1979-81 who led the Bruins to the 1980 NCAA Championship game. He’s the only coach in history to win an NBA Title (Detroit Pistons/2004) and an NCAA Championship (Kansas/1988). Brown was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2002. He is there to present his former coach, Dean Smith.

Denny Crum, a UCLA letterman (1958-59) under Coach Wooden, he was also a Bruin assistant (1959-60/1968-71) under Coach Wooden and was on the UCLA varsity staff for three NCAA Championship Bruin runs (1969-71). After his UCLA days, Crum was the head coach at Louisville for 30 seasons, leading the Cardinals to two NCAA Championships (1980/1986) and six Final Fours. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994. Crum traveled to Kansas City to accompany Coach Wooden to all of Sunday’s events.

Bill Walton, the Bruin star center led UCLA to two NCAA titles (1972-73) and was a three-time National Player of the Year (1972-74). He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1993.

Following the press conference, at the public reception, Coach Wooden stayed seated at the dais signing a steady steam of autographs. The Air Force basketball team is also there, in their military uniform, roaming the Exhibit Hall, taking their picture with every basketball luminary in the place.

Next up: The Induction Ceremony

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

My Journey with the Master Teacher and Coach

Editor's note: "My Journey with the Master Teacher and Coach," a phenomenal piece on Coach John Wooden by my good friend Bill Bennett (not Bill Bennett, the one talks virtues while gambling away huge sums) on Coach's induction last year into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City. Thank you to Bruin Blue, a publication of UCLA Athletics, and Bill Bennett for granting Money Players permission to use.

Bill's article will be posted in four parts.

Part 1: The College Basketball Experience
Part 2: Daily Dairy of Hall of Fame Induction
Part 3: Daily Dairy, Continued
Part 4: NABC interview

Part I: The College Basketball Experience
By Bill Bennett

The National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) is the sponsor of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the weekend was entitled the "College Basketball Experience." On Sunday (Nov. 19) was the press conference, reception and induction ceremony. Coach Wooden joined a phenomenal inaugural class:

Dean Smith, college basketball's all-time second-winningest coach (879 wins) at North Carolina, who directed the Tar Heels to two NCAA Championships (1993/1982). He also led NC to 11 Final Fours and 13 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championships. While a player at Kansas, the Jayhawks won the NCAA title in 1952.

Bill Russell, led the University of San Francisco to consecutive NCAA Championships in 1955 and '56 and was the National Player of the Year in 1956. The 6-10 center's rebounding and shot blocking skills established a defensive mentality that remains a focal part of championship basketball at every level. In the NBA with the Boston Celtics, he was a member of 11 NBA Championship teams in 13 seasons.

Oscar Robertson, the "Big O" was named "Player of the Century" by the NABC. The 6-5 guard led the University of Cincinnati to the NCAA Championship game in 1959 and 1960. He was the first collegiate player to lead the NCAA in scoring for three consecutive years and the first player to be named National Player of the Year three times.  In then played 14 seasons in the NBA with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks and was a 12-time NBA All-Star.

Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, he established the original 13 rules in a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, MA back in 1891. Naismith, who spent his final 41 years as a professor at Kansas and who was the Jayhawks' first basketball coach, was represented by his grandson, Ian.

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

March Moderation in the middle of the Madness

The gym lights gleam like a beacon beam
And a million motors hum
In a good will flight on a Friday night;
For basketball beckons, "Come!"
A sharp-shooting mite is king tonight.
The madness of March is running.

--Excerpted from a poem about the Illinois High School Association's boys' basketball tournament

March Madness is in full effect. Growing up in Illinois, "March Madness" meant the Illinois State High School Athletic Association (ISHA) boy's basketball tournament. Then in 1982 Brent Musburger, who once worked in Chicago as a sports writer and then sports anchor, used the phrase in connection with the NCAA tournament. The phrase caught on. In the 1990s the ISHA sued the NCAA, but both parties agreed to a settlement in order to stop the legal madness.

Now it's full-on Madness. Insanity sells, I suppose, like the current Pontiac ad featuring a crazed Kansas fan abducting Bobby Knight.

Treating mental illness
If March Madness is a psychological condition, 99 out of 100 doctors agree "brackets" is the prescribed drug of choice. I am not a doctor, but I was wondering if we could treat the "Madness" more holistically, say by encouraging fans to passionately celebrate in a civilized, sensible, let's-not-run-over-Jim-Plunkett's-lovely wife kind of way?

Bad Marketing 101, but hopefully good blogging
Here's a not-so-brilliant marketing idea: How about March Moderation?

Moderation is a term often used by Coach John Wooden, the architect of one of -- if not the greatest -- sports dynasties of all time, who won excessive NCAA championships (10 in 12 years). "Coach" definitely favored moderation over delirium.

In the remaining days of March, the Money Players blog will honor Coach Wooden and others who have managed to keep their sanity (if not their jobs) in a basketball world gone mad.

Read Bill Bennett's article: My Journey with the Master Teacher and Coach

Preparing for my big game

In the course of three days starting last Thursday I spent time with Coach Wooden and got married. I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with the former several times; thankfully this was the only time I did latter.

I went to Coach's condo slash basketball shrine with my (now) father in law Art Spander. When Art was a UCLA student in the late 50s, he was a Daily Bruin sports writer and editor.  Read Art Spander's column on the visit.

For me, getting together with Coach just prior to my wedding is like getting a pregame talk from God; the only difference is I know exactly where to find Coach. (In a later post, I will share some of his thoughts on the state of basketball and college sports).

While I was with Coach, I asked him to sign a Pyramid of Success. He wrote, "Dear Debbie and Marc: With best wishes for a long and wonderful life together. John Wooden."

 

Art and Coach Wooden talking

 

 

 

 

At 96, Coach Wooden still has the most beautiful mind I know. He recites poem after poem, many written by his former player Swen Nater. When most people talk about Coach, they mention, of course, the ten national championships, his Pyramid of Success, his commitment to his family, especially his wife Nellie, and his homespun Midwestern values. But more than anything I love to listen to Coach trade barbs with his old (yes old) proteges.

If you want more wit and wisdom from Coach, check out this ESPN piece celebrating his 95th birthday. Make sure you click on the "Breakfast at VIPs" video featuring Coach with my good friend Andy Hill, Marques Johnson, Bill Walton and others.

The wedding was amazing. Weather was slightly warmer than normal, which was good considering the ceremony took place on the beach. Bride was (and is) gorgeous. Groom was not too nervous. Band rocked. Friends and family had a great time.

A few more photos from visit with Coach and the wedding...

Meticulously signing his Pyramid of Success for Deb and me in his famed den

Bride and groom and her family

The groom's cake. Can you guess where I am from?

Go Eagles, Cubs, Bears, Bruins, Bulls, Anteaters, and MJ (he still lights it up on ESPN Classic)!