John Wooden
 

He's on ESPN right now (West Coast) with some of his former players.

Has there ever been a greater man in all of American sports?

Re: John Wooden
 

He's on the very short list.

Re: John Wooden
 

As a young boy growing up in North Carolina, one of the earliest recollections of any sporting event that I can recall was watching N.C. State beat UCLA in double overtime in the 1974 NCAA semifinals. I can still remember to this day how classy John Wooden was in defeat (and losing was extremely rare for his Bruins during that era).

http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/story/7219961

Re: John Wooden
 

95 and sharp as a tack. He was talking about how blessed he is and then, at the end, his former players sang him Happy Birthday. Badly. Wooden then said he's truly blessed because, at his age, his hearing wasn't so good.

Re: John Wooden
 

I was at UCLA from 1969 to 1973. They won the NCAA championship all four years and their overall record was 117-3 (28-2, 29-1, 30-0, 30-0).

Re: John Wooden
 

Playing for the Midwest Basketball Conference Indianapolis Kautskys in the 1930s, Wooden once made 138 straight free throws.

Re: John Wooden
 

If I remember correctly, back then only conference champions qualified for the tournament. And that wasn't always that easy because USC (tapping my fading memory once again) was often a very good team (top 10?).

Re: John Wooden
 

[ QUOTE ]
If I remember correctly, back then only conference champions qualified for the tournament. And that wasn't always that easy because USC (tapping my fading memory once again) was often a very good team (top 10?).

[/ QUOTE ]

That is correct. Each conference was only allowed to have one entry into the NCAA tournament. In the 1974 ACC Championship game, Maryland lost to N.C. State 103-100 in double overtime. Maryland had one of the best teams in the country and finished 23-5 (with three of those losses to N.C. State), but they had to settle for an NIT bid.

Re: John Wooden
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was at UCLA from 1969 to 1973. They won the NCAA championship all four years and their overall record was 117-3 (28-2, 29-1, 30-0, 30-0).

[/ QUOTE ]

We've all heard the old adage "never say never", but if there is such a thing as an unbreakable record, I would say that Coach Wooden's 88 consecutive wins would certainly qualify. The 38 consecutive wins in NCAA tournament play is also extremely unlikely to ever be broken. I would just check it off as impossible.

The man was a true champion, gentleman, teacher and a great sport. We shall not see the likes of him again.

Re: John Wooden
 

I heard Walton tell a great story about six months ago on a show with Wooden and Bill Russell. His first year on the team, UCLA went undefeated, won the NCAA and Walton was player of the year. He reported to practice the next year, Walton-like: long, long hair, and a beard. Coach Wooden said he needed to get a haircut and a shave.

Walton responded that he had no right to tell him how to wear his hair or to shave. Wooden said, "You're right. I don't. But I do have a right to decide who's on this tema and who's not. And I'll tell you one thing.

"We're gonna miss you."

Walton said he ran out of Pauley, onto his bike, and went flying into Westwood. He burst into a barber shop, filled with UCLA kids, who all knew him as the basketball hero, and they let him go ahead of them, getting a haircut and a shave and he flew back to Pauley.