by Seth Davis
“I don’t stand up and do anything to excite the crowd”: Wooden interview with Jares.
“I needle, in a soft-sell way”: Ibid.
“he will say, ‘Do I want to meet this Wooden or do I want to meet that one?’”: Powell interview with Jares.
“Wooden was no saint”: Chapin and Prugh, Wizard of Westwood, p. 311.
“I’ve seen him so mad that I’ve been afraid he’d pop that big blood vessel in his forehead”: Sports Illustrated, Jan. 6, 1969.
“The athletic director of the other school came in and talked to me”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.
Wooden also developed a habit of bringing a stopwatch to the games: Wooden interview with Joe Jares.
“I don’t think from an educational viewpoint it’s the way to coach basketball or coach anything”: Jenkins, Good Man, p. 123.
an “antiseptic needle”: Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated by Phil Taylor, July 24, 1968.
“I wouldn’t do that, boys”: “Wizards in the Land of Oz,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 19, 1962.
“Hazzard faked the guy and the guy fell down”: Wooden interview with John Akers, Basketball Times, Jan. 28, 2005.
18. GAIL
Interviews: Stan Andersen, Pete Blackman, Denny Crum, Keith Erickson, Gail Goodrich, Mike Hibler, Jack Hirsch, Bill Johnston, Bob Murphy, Jerry Norman, Barry Porter, Paul Saunders, George Stanich, John Wooden
$150 million to invest in new facilities: Hamilton and Jackson, UCLA on the Move, p. 144.
“Would I grow? Would I be big enough?” Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated by Jack Tobin, Oct. 20, 1970.
“I thought he’d drive me out of my mind”: “New Kingpin of Go-Go Bruins,” Sporting News, Jan. 28, 1965.
“My first two years I was the king of the poor students”: Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated by Jack Tobin, Oct. 20, 1970.
“You’ve never been ripped until he’s ripped you”: Ibid.
“I don’t think he would be ecstatic if his daughter married a black man”: Johnson, John Wooden Pyramid of Success, p. 358.
“The man was one of the most superstitious people I ever met”: Ibid., p. 361.
“Of course, it’s all very silly”: “John Thinks His Pre-Game Bruin Ritual Needs Repairs,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 13, 1960.
Wooden first got the idea when he read that the old St. Louis Cardinals baseball teams did it: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.
He kept in his pocket a smooth rock, which he called his “Indian worry stone”: Joe Jares notes.
The connecting flight he was supposed to take crashed between Atlanta and Raleigh: Krider, Indiana High School Basketball’s 20 Most Dominant Players, p. 249; Chapin and Prugh, Wizard of Westwood, p. 6.
“I don’t think I ever looked at it as being superstitious”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.
“Look,” he said, pointing to the page. “Blue shoes”: Dunphy, John R. Wooden, p. 243.
“They had my home phone number”: Ibid., p. 141.
“to see they’re not getting slovenly”: Johnson, John Wooden Pyramid of Success, p. 123.
“I’m very fond of Keith”: Wooden interview with Jares.
“He was always abrasive”: “Day One of a Dynasty,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 29, 1989.
“I never asked the players to call me ‘Coach’”: Ibid.
the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission had allocated most of the Sports Arena’s Saturday night slots: “West Side Will See Hoopsters,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 30, 1962.
“My guards can’t hit from anywhere past 15 feet”: “A Storm Blows In on Sunshine Square,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 18, 1963.
“I don’t want to schedule them for three years”: “UCLA, USC Begin Big Six Cage Play,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 31, 1962.
“There were nights when I’d come home from practice so tired”: Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated by Jack Tobin, Oct. 20, 1970.
“Freddie has a better attitude”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 33.
“We’re backing in”: Sports Illustrated, Mar. 18, 1963.
“No one likes money anymore”: “No TV, Only 2,000 Seats,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 11, 1963.
The poem was ten verses long: Wooden with Tobin, They Call Me Coach, p. 13.
19: PERFECT
Interviews: Jay Buckley, Keith Erickson, Gail Goodrich, Fred Goss, Walt Hazzard, Jack Hirsch, Rene Herrerias, Jeff Mullins, Jerry Norman, Fred Slaughter, Jerry Tarkanian, Kenny Washington, John Wooden
“give Fred Slaughter all he wants to handle and more”: “Provo Post-Mortems,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 19, 1963.
“He did a lousy job in ’63”: Hall of Fame interview.
“Jerry was not reluctant to make suggestions”: Ibid.
“I’ve always second-guessed myself a little for that”: Bisheff, John Wooden, p. 52.
To that point in his life, he had barely spoken to a white person: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 17; “The Team of ’64,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 26, 1979.
“He had structure, a philosophy built on fairness”: “Birth of a Dynasty,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 19, 2007.
“Our kids got rattled by their press”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 30.
the Bruins were “absolutely the best precision team I’ve ever seen”: “UCLA Climbed Hoop Pinnacle in Topping Michigan,” Sporting News, Jan. 11, 1964.
“it was an innovation that just shocked people”: Heisler, They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?, p. 23.
“Passes are intercepted and teammates will sometimes say, ‘Watch your passing’”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 28.
“Every team we face in the conference will try to do the same thing”: “Sputtering Bruins Catch Fire, 79-59,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 11, 1964.
“I don’t recall ever seeing us break loose the way we did tonight”: “Whew! Bruins Gun Down Injuns, 84-71,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 18, 1964.
“Sure, there’s some pressure on us”: “Pressure Grows for Streaking Bruins; Huskies Next in Path,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10, 1964.
“I had an orange juice and a sandwich and then went right in and got sick”: “The Real Bruins,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 12, 1964.
“I’ve won a lot of ball games in the Bay Area”: “Bruins to Face Bad ‘Press’ at Stanford,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 17, 1964.
“They don’t look like any superteam”: “Five Midgets and a Wink at Nell,” Sports Illustrated, Feb. 24, 1964.
“As soon as we meet a team with a good big center, we may be in trouble”: “U.C.L.A. Five Makes It to Top on Clean Living and Fast Break,” New York Times, Jan. 22, 1964.
“All five. Team. You understand?”: Sports Illustrated, Feb. 24, 1964.
“Yet, off the floor, they were not that close”: John Wooden interview with ESPN, Apr. 19, 2000.
“Hazzard and Goodrich didn’t get along at all”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 36.
“But Hazzard will pass”: Joe Jares notes on Wooden lecture at Kutsher’s Country Club, June 26, 1967.
“He picks up more garbage than anyone I’ve ever seen”: Ibid.
“I remember looking over at him with his legs crossed and program rolled up”: Sports Illustrated, Mar. 19, 2007.
“And we just enjoyed playing for the man”: Ibid.
“We were too busy having fun and beating the crap out of everyone”: Ibid.
“I said to myself, this man is nuts”: Johnson, John Wooden Pyramid of Success, p. 358.
“It’s as if God said, this team is going undefeated”: Sports Illustrated, Mar. 19, 2007.
“I think we can beat their press”: “The Two-Minute Explosion,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 30, 1964.
“Up”: Ibid.
Wooden broke his policy not to call the first time-out: Wooden with Tobin, They Call Me Coach, p. 132.
“We couldn’t beat ’em!”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 39.
“You are champions and you must act like champions”: Sports Illustrated
, Mar. 30, 1964.
20. J. D.
Interviews: Keith Erickson, Gail Goodrich, Fred Goss, Ron Livingston, Mike Serafin
“I’ll take care of the budget”: Wooden with Jamison, My Personal Best, p. 142; Johnson, John Wooden Pyramid of Success, p. 111.
“He was a very dominant, aggressive type of person”: J. D. Morgan Oral History, UCLA Archives.
“I was sitting there during a time-out”: Ibid.
“That was a tremendous load off my shoulders”: Ibid.
“John was never interested in money”: Ibid.
“I’m more inclined toward what Charlie Brown says”: Chapin and Prugh, Wizard of Westwood, p. 308.
“I saw all those games and the preparations”: Hall of Fame interview.
the Iowa players lifted their coach, Ralph Miller: Los Angeles Times, Feb. 8, 1965.
“The crowd was yelling louder and louder”: “The Power of the Press,” Sports Illustrated, Mar. 29, 1965.
21. LEWIS
Interviews: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (including for College Sports Television), Lucius Allen, Jay Carty, Gary Cunningham, Fred Goss, Jerry Norman
the man called him Lewis: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Peter Knobler, Giant Steps: The Autobiography of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Toronto: Bantam Books, 1983), p. 108.
“I am impressed by your grades”: Ibid., p. 109.
even the speculation that he might visit: “Ace Schoolboy Cage Prospect to Visit UCLA.” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 17, 1965.
Alcindor arrived by plane on Friday night (and many other details of Alcindor’s visit): Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated, May 5, 1965.
“That really impressed me”: Bisheff, John Wooden, p. 126.
jammed regularly at the Elks Club: “My Story,” Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 1969.
white barbers in their neighborhood: Ibid.
“You only give people something to laugh about”: Ibid.
“I could see Lewie flush”: “Lewie Is a Minority of One,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 5, 1966.
“You’re acting just like a nigger!”: Abdul-Jabbar and Knobler, Giant Steps, p. 66; Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 1969.
a coaching clinic in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Wooden interview with Akers.
“We’d never have gotten him to come with the old gym”: Ibid.
He said it was because Norman was Catholic: J. D. Morgan Oral History, UCLA Library.
“the first time the press had ever heard the sound of Alcindor’s voice”: “The Big Decision,” New York World-Telegram and Sun, May 5, 1965.
“I have an announcement to make”: “Schoolboy Star Explains Choice,” New York Times, May 5, 1965.
“I’ve seen the kid play several times”: “Big A Guarded,” New York Journal-American, Jan. 16, 1965.
“Anybody who believes that is only displaying his ignorance”: “Alcindor Mature, Modest Young Man,” Christian Science Monitor, May 6, 1965.
“I don’t try to make a star out of anybody”: Ibid.
“Is that Lew Alcindor?”: “My Story.”
“ocean on a raft”: Ibid.
“Yes, I would have hired him”: Bisheff, John Wooden, p. 11.
“I was just astounded”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.
“I was completely impressed”: “UCLA’s Alcindor Rises to Occasion,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 1, 1965.
“We’re way out of place”: Reporter’s file by Bill McWhirter, Time, Dec. 1, 1965.
22. STALLBALL
Interviews: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lucius Allen, Bob Boyd, Gary Cunningham, Dick Enberg, Fred Goss, Ken Heitz, Mike Lynn, Jerry Norman, Bill Sweek, Mike Warren
In the fall of 1965, Sports Illustrated previewed the coming season: “A Press That Panics Them All,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 6, 1965.
“I said I won’t go back to this place again”: Hall of Fame interview.
“Basketball followers have built up something of a hate for coach John Wooden”: “Dallmar Hero in Bay Area,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 31, 1966. The writer is not the same Paul Zimmerman, also known as “Dr. Z,” who spent several decades writing about the National Football League for Sports Illustrated.
“This team has been one of the most difficult teams”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 71.
“played them the only way you can play them”: “Alcindor and Co. Will See More of Stall—Mulligan,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 6, 1966.
“If you drop a pin in Azusa”: “Pressure’s on ‘Poor’ Wooden”: Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1966.
he had worked in the publishing and recording divisions of Columbia Pictures … courtesy of an influential UCLA alumnus named Mike Francovich: Abdul-Jabbar and Knobler, Giant Steps, p. 118.
1958 Mercedes: Ibid., p. 144.
Wooden invited Alcindor and Allen to his home for Thanksgiving: Ibid., p. 153.
he asked Wooden if he could help out in practice: “Naulls Works to Smooth out Lew’s Rough Edges”: Los Angeles Times, Nov. 16, 1966.
“I’m seven feet one and three-eighth inches tall”: Sports Illustrated reporter’s file by Jack Tobin, Oct. 15, 1966.
“He just whipped the crap out of us”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 319.
“At times, he frightens me”: New York Times, Dec. 5, 1966.
“There’s no such thing”: New York Times, Dec. 12, 1966.
“I suppose that if I had one game to play against them”: “He’ll Score 80 Points One of These Nights,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 14, 1966.
“This game proved that we’re going to be down on certain nights”: “Alcindor Gets 34, Bruins Get Scare,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 23, 1966.
“I must be blind”: Ibid.
a referee who had been the best man at his wedding: “Hello, Drip, Drip! Goodbye, UCLA,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 15, 1969.
J. D. Morgan had convinced the pilot to land the plane in St. Louis: J. D. Morgan Oral History, UCLA Library.
he had received death threats: “Alcindor Threatened, Had Police Bodyguard,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 1967.
“Look at that big black freak!”: Wooden with Jamison, My Personal Best, p. 154; Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.
“I’m still amazed at the way Lew can keep his poise”: “Bears Arouse Alcindor,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 14, 1967.
Instead, he needed seven police officers to escort him: “Bruins Survive Trojans’ Stall to Win in Overtime, 40–35,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 5, 1967.
“I don’t think most coaches will try it”: “USC Almost Put Bruins in Freezer,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 5, 1967.
“there was no personal criticism intended”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 105.
“Bob had my support in everything he did”: “Trojans’ Hill Reprimands Wooden,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 7, 1967.
“All Wooden has to do”: “They Don’t Love UCLA’s Wooden in the Bay Area,” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Feb. 16, 1967.
“We didn’t know exactly what he meant”: Bisheff, John Wooden, p. 107.
“Their fans were so happy when they did it”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 108.
“studying the rule book”: “Bruins Figure to Wrap Up AAWU Title over Weekend,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 20, 1967.
“one of the nicest people the Lord ever made”: Hall of Fame interview.
“it was my most enjoyable weekend in the Bay Area”: “Must Have Ball to Defeat UCLA,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 7, 1967.
“I beat him one-on-one tonight”: Bisheff, John Wooden, p. 112.
23. GAME OF THE CENTURY
Interviews: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lucius Allen, Jay Carty, Keith Erickson, Michael Gilbert, Rose Gilbert, Fred Goss, Ken Heitz, Mike Lynn, Jerry Norman, Don Saffer, Neville Saner, Earl Schulz, Bob Seitzer, Mike Serafin, Gene Sutherland, Bill Sweek
“I had a lot of personal contact with both [Alcindor] and Lucius”: Chapin and Prugh, Wizard of Westwood, p. 298.
“one of the mules of the world”: “To Those Who Know Him, Gilbert Is the Godfather,”
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 1982.
“He’s a bundle of dynamite”: Ibid.
“I told Lucius, ‘Man, you become instant Jewish’”: Reporter’s file for Time, Feb. 11, 1974.
“I hadn’t met either of them”: “UCLA’s Good Sam,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 20, 1974.
“took a genuine liking to me”: Heisler, They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?, p. 55.
“Sam is everybody’s Jewish grandfather”: Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 1982.
“I had very little respect for the NCAA”: Heisler, They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?, p. 55.
“Sam introduced me to the language of finance”: Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 1982.
“From what Alcindor told me later, no one had any influence”: J. D. Morgan Oral History, UCLA Library.
“Sam steered clear of John Wooden”: Abdul-Jabbar and Knobler, Giant Steps, p. 158.
“they say you’re high hat”: “Wooden Concedes UCLA Stronger,” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, 1967.
“the rule is designed to curtail the ability of one player”: Chapin and Prugh, Wizard of Westwood, p. 157.
“I’m not guessing on this”: Wooden interview with Rose.
“people are trying to make it a small man’s game”: Reporter’s file for Sports Illustrated, Apr. 5, 1967.
“My jump shot is back from the dead”: “Lynn, Lacey Return Welcomed”: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 27, 1967.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over”: “Whew! Last-Second Basket by Sweek Edges Purdue,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 3, 1967.
“I made a mistake”: Medley, UCLA Basketball, p. 115.
“Lynn and Lacey were buddying up”: Ibid., p. 117.
The seeds for the most significant game in basketball history: Many details about Eddie Einhorn and TVS come from Eddie Einhorn with Ron Rapoport, How March Became Madness (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2006).
“I thought it would be making a spectacle out of the game”: J. D. Morgan Oral History, UCLA Library.
“People were calling and saying, ‘I don’t care where I am’”: Einhorn with Rapoport, How March Became Madness, p. 57.
“It is my understanding that Lewis can’t play”: “Alcindor Still Doubtful for Game with Houston,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 19, 1968.