So here's the deal with this book. I have three copies of it! My father has purchased it for me on two separate Christmases and I just got it last year from my uncle. Suffice to say, this is very popular among our parents' generation. John Wooden is one of the most beloved and respected coaches of all time. He led UCLA to 7 straight NCAA National Championships and quit after they won 10 Championships in 12 years after he realized he no longer wanted to deal with the press. Though this book is not particularly well written (like I can talk), it's a very pleasurable read. It's aptly named as it is just a bunch of observations. There's no real flow to the book. It reads the way my grandpa talks. He just jumps from topic to topic randomly. I guess that makes sense seeing as Coach Wooden was in his late 70s when he "wrote" it. Anyway, the real take away from this book is just that winning isn't everything (that's easy for a 10-time National Champion to say). He loved coaching because he spent every day trying to get each and every one of his players to be their very best. To him, that was winning. Now, it's very expiring, but this can come off as disingenuous if it weren't for the millions and millions of people that back this guy as being one of nicest people of all time. Anyway, my favorite story was one in which Bill Walton came to practice after a break with a beard. Coach Wooden asked him why he had a beard when the team policy was to not have a beard. Bill said that he thought he deserved to wear the beard and Coach Wooden told him that the team was surely gonna miss him. Anyway, I'm not doing the guy justice but he was a incredible coach. Interesting side note, he forced all of his players to put their socks on the same way because he said it taught them to follow directions. This should count as three posts.
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