The Wizard of Westwood

Issue: College basketball already??

Short Answer: Sort of...

Reasoning: I was dallying around on Facebook the other day (which means I was so bored I didn't know what to do with myself), when I came across the following video.  Now, before you click play, let me warn you, it is long (something like 17 minutes), and the star of the video, John Wooden, may ramble from time to time (the guy lived to be almost 100...give him a break).  So, for those of you who do not have 17 minutes (I know you are reading this at work right now, soooo, c'mon, let's be honest), I will summarize for you after the video.

The first thing I notice is the title: The difference between winning and succeeding.  Most people would think they go hand-in-hand.  Mr. Wooden believes differently, and he does a great job explaining the difference.  A few other points worth noting:

• "Mr. Webster defined [success]: as the accumulation of material possessions or the attainment of a position of power or prestige...but in my opinion [that is] not necessarily indicative of success."
• "Dad tried to teach me and my brothers that you should never try to be better than someone else...always learn from others."
• "Never cease trying to be the best you can be - that's under your control.  If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to the things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect those things over which you have control."
• Mr. Wooden's definition of success: "Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable."
• "Your reputation is what you are perceived to be; your character is what you really are."
• Mr. Wooden's number one rule in life: "Never be late."
• Mr. Wooden's advice to young coaches: "Don't run practices late.  Because you'll go home in a bad mood.  And that's not good, for a young married man to go home in a bad mood.  When you get older, it doesn't make any difference."
• "And I say to you, in whatever you're doing, you must be patient."
• "I think our tendency is to hope things will turn out the way we want them to much of the time.  But we don't do the things that are necessary to make those things become reality."
• "Don't whine.  Don't complain.  Don't make excuses.  Just get out there, and whatever you're doing, do it to the best of your ability."
• "My idea is that you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game.  And you can win when you're outscored."
• "I used to say that when a game is over, and you see somebody that didn't know the outcome, I hope they couldn't tell by your actions whether you outscored and opponent or the opponent outscored you."
• "I've had some players the could and wouldn't [pass the basketball], and I've had some that would and couldn't."

Those are the highlights.  What I can't show in my synopsis is Mr. Wooden quoting poetry as if he is reading it out of a book, somewhere in his mid-90's.  It's uncanny.  The video is worth the watch, because, in my opinion, anything Mr. Wooden says is worth listening to.  He is the greatest teacher of all time.