John Wooden passed away late yesterday on June 4, 2010 at the age of 99. He lived his life with humility and is an example of the spirit of greatness that mankind is able to achieve.
"He set quite an example. He was more like a parent than a coach. He really was a very selfless and giving human being; but he was a disciplinarian. We learned all about those aspects of life that most kids want to skip over. He wouldn't let us do that."
~Kareem Abdul-Jabbar~
Speaking of John Wooden
The passing of John Wooden sadly reminds me of the legacy he actually lived out with a life with many virtues. I feel ashamed that I'm writing about this man of great character and success after his death instead of writing of his many accolades in the human spirit while he was alive. And while I'm fully aware of the successes he had on the basketball court, his life transcended that part of his life and mine. There is no doubt that I don't minimize the fact the Mr. Wooden is a Hall of Fame coach and player, or that he won ten collegiate national championships in a 12 year period. The closest coach to come close to that is University of Tennessee Woman's Basketball coach, Pat Summit, who has won eight. On the men's side it is only four. And it is also valid to note that Mr. Wooden had several seasons where his teams were undefeated. But what endears me to John Wooden is his social and spiritual value he had on everyone he met or knew of him.
Wooden's life wasn't about winning and losing, it was about how he affected young men's lives. He was far more concerned with Character and the Ideals of life. He once said "Character is what you are, while reputation is merely what others think you are". That is the sort of impact that John Wooden had on mankind. Personally, I don't see a college athletic coach as just that which you'll find on the sports pages. A university coach should be a teacher of academics and life. And Wooden was certainly that. It wasn't only his students or players that learned these lessons, his thoughts and ideas rose well beyond that.
"I always tried to make it 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 one that places faith in the hands of the Lord."
Wooden was a very spiritual man, a Christian in his heart. But his faith in God wasn't something that he pushed on others; rather his actions and words really defined his faith. His own life and love with his wife, Nellie, was a lesson in spiritual values. Nellie was his childhood love and they married in 1932, and remained so until 1985 when Nellie passed away from cancer. The impact that Nellie had on his life was substantial, and the love that they had was permanent. Wooden never remarried and in fact continued a love affair with his wife after she had passed, writing letters to her and leaving them under her pillow. It's is a fabulous lesson about the meaning of true love. It is the greatest of all things, and real love is forever and never ending. Something that that only few can ever realize in their faith.
Wooden coached basketball in the 60's and 70's during times of tremendous social turmoil in the nation. It's a tremendous story of how his successes only were greater in this period. In 1947 after his team won their conference, Wooden declined an offer to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) championship tournament because of their policy of banning Black players from playing. Clarence Walker became the first African American player to play in the NAIB Championship Tournament a year later when Wooden's team, which included Walker, won their conference title again, forcing the NAIB to reverse its policy of banning Black Players in order to include Wooden's team. This type of social impact was part of the ordinary nature of Mr. Wooden. These type of views and ideals carried forward for many years that set standards that we now take for granted.
Wooden always said that "one should consider the rights of others before your own personal feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights." He earned his Masters Degree in Education from Indiana Teacher's College (Indiana State University) and served in the Navy as a Lieutenant during WWII. He and his wife Nellie always prefered having their life in Indiana and dreamed of one day going back there to coach after signing the contract with UCLA. But instead of taking that opportunity when it came, Wooden decided to honor his contract in Los Angeles because it was a matter of integrity. His wonderful character prevented him from breaking his contract because it was as if he was breaking his word, and he wasn't comfortable in doing that. That kind of innocent honor is almost lost in our society today that is full of greed and corruption. The ideal of honest integrity as a journey to success and ultimate goodness is not lost in this lesson from Mr. Wooden.
His now famous philosophy of the Pyramid of Success again transcends athletic competition. The foundation of the Pyramid is moral standards that include values such as poise, loyalty, friendship, and cooperation. Imagine that, cooperation, something that I feel is lost in our nation these days and is perhaps replaced by adversity these days. His philosophies are based in his faith and require personal effort for peace of mind in becoming the best person that you can.
Yes, John Wooden's passing will leave a void in a way of life that we all should live. But we shouldn't lose his personal ideals of life. Although Wooden described himself as a liberal-democrat, he also said he voted at times republican. He was able to think outside the box of what we as Americans tend to place ourselves and our views in, and challenge himself and his students to greater potential. These days we get caught up too much in content and lose the ability to think and feel freely in our nature. We have become a society that doesn't do conversation well, instead of listening, we just wait 'til it's our turn to speak. Well, John Wooden was always thinking, and his thoughts came from his uncanny ability to listen with humility. He always said that a life should be a journey of continued learning. And "its what you learn after you know it all that counts."
I'll leave this with one final Wooden quote:
"Talent is God given, be humble; fame is man given,
be grateful; conceit is self given, be careful."
God Bless John Wooden.
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