by Irene Daniel
March Madness is upon us once again. I was never a big sports fan growing up. In fact, my family and I would be disappointed when our favorite TV shows, like Family Affair, The Carol Burnett Show, or MASH were pre-emtped for some sporting event. The Daniel Family hearth did not entertain athletics much at all. Aside from my one season on our high school tennis team, and my brother David's distance running on the track team, we didn't play team sports either.
The woman I am today, however, could not be contained watching my beloved UCLA Bruins beat UAB last week, making it to the 'Sweet 16' in the NCAA's Big Dance! So what changed?
Well that's easy. I had, on more than one occasion, the esteemed honor to meet the late and perennially great, John Wooden. I have a Wooden Award basketball, as well as other memorabilia, personally autographed by him. I was privileged to attend the Wooden Award Ceremony for a couple of years when he was still alive and always showed up to present the award named after him, to the likes of Ed O'Bannon and Marcus Camby. It was an extraordinary thrill to introduce my teenage son to this legend of a man. It was an experience that changed us both, and turned us into life-long Wooden disciples. How could it not?
I met other great coaches too; like Dean Smith, Tubby Smith, Lute Olsen, Coach K and Tark the Shark, to name but a few. I have a vivid memory of Jason Kidd -- pre-Suns, Knicks and coaching -- shooting a game of pool in the Main Bar at the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) with his dad, Joe Kidd. Just father and son having some beers and shooting some pool. The LAAC was, and still is, the host of The Wooden Award, and I was at that time a member. I joined the Wooden Award Committee mostly because I didn't know anything about it, even though I was an alum of UCLA by then. What an eye-opening experience for my 13 year-old son and me.
We both learned about a lot more than college basketball. We learned that true greatness isn't possible without humility and integrity. John Wooden was one of the most humble and unassuming men I have ever had the privilege to meet. He never sought the limelight, but he didn't try to avoid it either. While the press thronged around the candidates and their coaches, Wooden would sneak away to fix himself a little plate from the grand buffet served in his honor. Mostly fruits and vegetables. Nothing fancy.
And it was in those quiet moments, far from the madding crowd, that I was able to engage him in conversation. Those brilliant blue eyes of his were always sparkling. And even though he was rather short by then, the power of the spirit behind them gave me a sense that he could see right through me.
He didn't talk about himself much. He talked a bit about basketball, but his eyes really lit up when an admirer would start talking about faith. He was a Presbyterian. He was also always gracious when speaking of his wife Nell, who predeceased him; leaving him lonely but not bitter. He lived, not in a mansion, but in a small apartment -- a nice apartment, but small. It was all he needed. He was such a sweet, sweet soul. It was worth all the dirt and noise and traffic one must tolerate in the City of Angels, just to meet John Wooden and have a couple of nice chats with this legendary coach.
John Robert Wooden remains unequaled among college basketball coaches, Coach K (now the most winningest coach in college basketball history) notwithstanding. I doubt that Wooden's record of 10 NCAA Championships in 12 years will ever be matched. Of course, the rules have changed and coaches today generally don't have the opportunity to hang onto their superstars for a period of years, as Wooden did in the 1960s and 70s. That being said, Wooden's true greatness came not from himself, but from what he inspired in others.
And inspire he did, the likes of Lewis Alcindor, Jr.(aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and Bill Walton, by using his famous 'Pyramid of Success' to illuminate what they had inside of their hearts and souls. He never, ever swore at them or showed aggression toward them or minimized them, especially in public. He always treated them with dignity and respect because he knew that true greatness is an inside job. Drills and skills are nothing without the motivation to struggle through those last 5 minutes of a game, when your thighs feel like they are on fire and your whole body aches. That's toughness! Maybe that's why John Wooden is the only person I know of, with the possible exception of family members, who ever got away with calling Kareem "Lewis" publicly.
Wooden wrote about this fact in some of the many, many books he wrote; most of which I've read. He explained that he meant no dishonor or disrespect to his former center. In fact, he tried to use the name several times, but it lacked the intimacy he had come to know with this superstar he helped to create. Wooden knew him as Lewis. He had come to love and admire him as Lewis. Knowing first-hand the genius, humility and integrity of John Wooden, Kareem understood.
John Wooden had the uncanny ability to find the light in others. Moreover, he offered a blueprint for excellence in his 'Pyramid of Success.' While skills are at its center, its foundation is based upon honesty and integrity. Again, nothing fancy, just an authenticity that keeps on giving. Thanks Coach. Thanks for influencing my life and that of my, now adult (sometimes) son, Daniel James Boise.
And so, now when I tune into The Big Dance over the next few days I will, undoubtedly, get out of control, especially when the Bruins play the Bulldogs tomorrow. There is a heart and soul to college hoops that just doesn't exist anywhere else. The way they link arms on the bench during clutch free-throws; it's a different vibe altogether.
Perhaps it is that suspended hope and hunger of youth that calls to me. Maybe it's the chasing of a call to excellence that embodies Wooden's 'Pyramid of Success.' Whatever it is, I find myself once again lost and found in the Madness of March.
GO BRUINS!!!
Copyright 2015, Irene Daniel, All Rights Reserved.
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