This was a man

Coach John Wooden went home tonight. There will be a ton of stories and retrospectives on his life and work, most of which will be better than mine, but I still wanted to add my short memorial.

I never got to see Wooden coach, as he had retired long before my time. I never met the man despite sharing a city with him my whole life. I never even really played the sport at which he was such an amazing talent and had unmatched success as a coach. And yet he did touch my life in some small way.

Like most who have played sports, I've read his seminal book, Wooden, and tried to glean whatever I could from it. I wish I could say that he's inspired me to be a great person and succeed both on and off the field of play, but that wouldn't be accurate. To be sure, I've tried many times to follow his advice, but I've always fallen short.

Despite this, his words stick with me. I can still quote a lot of it from memory. I read from his book when I was asked to lead prayer in school. One of my favorite passages has nothing to do with basketball, but about appreciating what you have. Wooden tells the story of a graduation at which he got a $2 bill as a present, along with the sage advice that as long as he kept that he would never be broke. Its a simple story but its always stuck with me, as has most of his advice.

At my high school graduation I gave a copy of Wooden to each of my closet friends. Who knows if they ever read them, took the messages to heart, or tossed them at the first convenience, but I'm still glad I gave them out, as I cannot imagine a better gift for a young person.

I already knew of Wooden's passing, but there was one voice I longed to hear tell it. Thankfully, we still have Vin, and as expected he was touching and poignant through the grief of the moment.



I would say Rest in Peace, but I can't imagine a more useless urging. Coach Wooden lived in peace, he'll surely rest just fine.