{"id":413,"date":"2010-06-10T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=413"},"modified":"2010-06-10T20:58:22","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T01:58:22","slug":"john-wooden-confucius-of-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/413","title":{"rendered":"John Wooden: Confucius of the Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary college hoops coach John Wooden passed away last Friday, June 4.\u00a0 The renowned strategist and mentor, best known for his 10 titles in 12 seasons at UCLA, was ninety nine years young.\u00a0 Wooden was revered by those who played under his tutelage, remembered fondly as a strict disciplinarian and master motivator.\u00a0 He accumulated a vast amount of wisdom throughout his years, eventually earning the nickname the Wizard of Westwood.\u00a0 Since his death many articles have been written sharing some of his greatest nuggets of knowledge.\u00a0 The old man really was a modern day Confucius, and his words will surely be passed down for generations to come.\u00a0 While reflecting on some of these axioms, it occurred to me that many could be useful in either describing or advising some of our greatest sports heroes.\u00a0 So call me Big Pun, because what we\u2019ve got here is a list of pro<\/em>verbs from Mr. Wooden himself dedicated to some of sport\u2019s biggest stars<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Baseball:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

For one of MLB\u2019s greatest inspirations, pitcher Jim Abbott:<\/p>\n

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”<\/a><\/p>\n

For the Kid, Ken Griffey, Jr.:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn’t what you do, but how you do it.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For Mr. Lollygagger, Hanley Ramirez:<\/p>\n

\u201cSports do not build character. They reveal it.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

For Mr. Angry Old Man, Roger Clemens:<\/p>\n

“Be prepared and be honest.” <\/a><\/p>\n

For baseball\u2019s answer to Ron Artest, Milton Bradley:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t let praise or criticism get to you, it\u2019s a weakness to get caught up in either one.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For baseball\u2019s biggest little man, Wee Willie Keeler:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Basketball:<\/strong><\/p>\n

For physical freak\/cry baby\/underachiever Lebron James:<\/p>\n

“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have \u00a0\u00a0accomplished with your ability.”<\/p>\n

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren’t able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mr. I\u2019m-Old-And-Play-Hard-In-The-First-Quarter-But-Need-to-Retire, Shaq:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

For the guy who needs to stop and take a breath before acting, former Golden State Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo:<\/p>\n

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” <\/a><\/p>\n

For one of the biggest wasted talents in sports history, Tracy McGrady:<\/p>\n

\u201cAbility is a poor man\u2019s wealth\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA player who makes a team great is much more valuable than a great player.\u201d<\/p>\n

For long-time loser, pick-and-roll devotee, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan:<\/p>\n

“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” <\/a><\/p>\n

For the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant:<\/p>\n

“Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself,<\/a> being especially free of admirers then.”<\/a><\/p>\n

For one of the greatest displays of basketball teamwork, 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.\u201d\u00a0 (http:\/\/www.associatedcontent.com\/article\/1242135\/the_nbas_greatest_upset_how_the_detroit.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n

For one of the toughest little white guys out there, despite his defensive woes, Steve Nash:<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is absolutely no excuse for a good offensive man to not be a good defensive man. You have to be committed to it.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For the guy who never needed to practice, Allen Iverson:<\/p>\n

\u201cCervantes said the journey’s better than the end. Practices, to me, were the journey.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

And, for a whole bevy of NBA players\/criminals:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Football: <\/strong><\/p>\n

For Mr. All-American D-Bag, Tom Brady:<\/p>\n

“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”<\/a><\/p>\n

For Mr. I\u2019m So Thankful to be Allowed to Practice with the Team Again, Ben Roethlisberger:<\/p>\n

\u201cI always told my players that our team condition depended on two factors: how hard they worked on the floor during practice and how well they behaved between practices.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

For the Master of Mediocrity, Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher:<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mistake activity for achievement.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

For the man who finally got what he deserved, OJ Simpson:<\/p>\n

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”<\/p>\n

For the man with the sickest moves ever, Barry Sanders:<\/p>\n

\u201cQuickness under control is the most valuable physical aspect of any sport.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks for everything you taught us, coach.\u00a0 We\u2019ll never forget your lessons.\u00a0 And one more quote for all of us to be inspired by:<\/p>\n

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legendary college hoops coach John Wooden passed away last Friday, June 4.\u00a0 The renowned strategist and mentor, best known for his 10 titles in 12 seasons at UCLA, was ninety nine years young.\u00a0 Wooden was revered by those who played under his tutelage, remembered fondly as a strict disciplinarian and master motivator.\u00a0 He accumulated a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,292,6],"tags":[348,503,504,506,505,507,273,376],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}