fans, like Mayor Tom Bradley and entertainer Bob Hope, paid tribute, and Wooden received a Mercedes-Benz car, and a watch, tie clip and cuff links with I0 diamonds each in honor of UCLA's 10 national championships. New coach Gene Bartow looked on with interest. " I figure this nostalgia for Coach Wooden will pass in about a year," he said at the time, "as long as UCLA keeps winning. But they love him here, don' t they?" Empty words of prophecy? Or just wishful thinking? Bartow lasted two seasons, winning 52 games and making the Final Four, but it wasn't enough for UCLA fans, who were conditioned to winning it all. Coaches Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown, Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard also have followed the Wooden era, with Brown taking the Bruins to the Final Four in 1980.
WOODEN'S WISE WORDS WOODEN, who's currently working on a book of poetry, has collected many proverbs and sayings. Even today he'll pull from his wallet many of his favorite clippings. Here are a few of them:
Wooden celebrates with exuberant players and fans following UCLA's first national championship In 1964.
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OODEN, the one-time English professor, stressed academics to his young men, and today likes the NCAA's tougher entrance and eligibility standards. "For every person they hurt, they'll help several," he said. "I never agreed with the freshman rule [that allowed freshmen eligibility in 1972]. Like everything else in society, it was because of money. Out of high school you need a good year to adjust, particularly socially. You can cut class, and there's no one to make you go to class. The academic adjustment, especially at UCLA, is tough. Athletics is the least adjustment of all. I'd recommend no freshmen teams - only practice and no games." Wooden's conversation is peppered with proverbs, wise sayings and clever phrases with positive twists, showing the influence of his father, who read to the Wooden family extensively in the evenings from poetry books and the Bible. He quotes from Abraham Lincoln ("There is nothing stronger than gentleness;" "You do not help a man permanently by doing for him what he can do for himself') to describe his own dad, who would always discipline in a gentle, yet firm, way. That fatherly influence causes Wooden to relate character and reputation with winning. "Character will make you more consistent. Without character, regardless of ability, you will have more highs and lows. I never wanted to create an emotional peak. for our teams, because for every artificial peak you create, there's a valley," commented Wooden. "Character gives you the avenue necessary for success in whatever field you choose - in law, medicine, business or whatever. "If our aim in basketball was winning, I don't think we would have won all the championships we did. Winning comes as a result of something else -character. Reputation and character always need to be good, but you must always be more concerned with what you ARE than what others think you are." Wooden has deeply enjoyed his involvement in sports, particularly the teaching and building of relationships. He commented that he hears regularly from his former players, with phone calls from more
'"Wnning comes as a result of character.'
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SECOND LOOK
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• "Don't mistake activity for achievement." • "A leader is interested in finding the best way - not in having his own way." • "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change may be." • "I will get ready and then, perhaps, my chance will come." • "Talent is God-given, be humble; fame is man-given, be thankful; conceit is self-given, be careful." • "There is no progress without change, but not all change is progress." • "You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence." - Abraham Lincoln • "You do not help a man permanently by doing for him what he can do for himself." -Abraham Lincoln • "After practice, the real practice of selfdiscipline begins." than a few each week. "Athletics is in a good position to build up character and also tear it (!own," he said. " But parents can't expect teachers to do what they're not doing at home. The coach is important in developing character but not nearly as important as the home. I used to tell my players after practice that now the real practice and self-discipline would begin." Wooden today remains very active, although in the last year he has had to deal with the difficulty of adjusting to the death of his wife, Nell. He said she influenced him more than anyone and was respon.sible for the fact that he finished college. She supported him during the rough times, never wanting much. Wooden displays a yellow legal pad full of speaking engagements and dinner banquets. He seems content, traveling and also attending UCLA basketball games when he's home. While he was coaching at UCLA, he walked 5 miles daily. He has had to cut down because of an arthroscopic knee surgery, so now he regularly walks a mere 4\1 miles. He pulls out another quote. "Real happiness cannot be attained by things that can be taken away from you." His life has been lived by that motto, which he says the Bible states this way in Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." "All things" would include that inner peace and happiness. Wooden wisdom - 'wooden' he know? •