Friday, November 05, 2004

Put Me In Coach - John Wooden

I had the opportunity to hear Coach John Wooden speak. I passed
on it figuring it would be just a bunch of rah, rah testosterone
soaked trash talking "how we beat this team" stuff.

I am not a basketball fan. Ever since they went to long shorts the
game has no interest to me except for that Nike commercial where
the basketball is the beat and the players the dancers. That I like.

Unfortunately, my images of basketball coaches are associated
with Bobby Knight and others who use intimidation, humiliation
and financial incentives to motivate college teams to the winning
line.

That decision was a huge mistake. Coach Wooden has something
of offer to non-sports minded folks. I stumbled upon Wooden's
"Pyramid of Success" in my local newspaper. It is a building
philosophy of qualities you would want to have instilled in a
young man (or woman) such as industriousness, friendship,
loyalty, cooperation, and enthusiasm.

On deeper level, it is how we use to see ourselves as a people and
as a country. Not liberal or conservative, not democrat or
republican. Self-control, adaptability, honesty, integrity, faith, and
skill. Coach Wooden adds details about how he came to build this
pyramid and life lessons that he has learned in his 94 years.

Tool to Evaluate Presidential Candidates?

So this got me thinking. Could the coach's pyramid be applied to
the presidential campaign? Could a person use the pyramid to
match up qualities each candidate has or is deficient in? To view
the pyramid of success visit http://www.coachwooden.com

I don't know which way Coach Wooden swings politically but the
pyramid contains reminders of lost lessons America needs to re-
learn quick, fast and in a hurry.

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