Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Hear, Hear
I feel it necessary to follow Paul's post with my hollow echo inasmuch as he raises some very good points. First, as much as I appreciate Coach K and Dean Smith, John "The Wizard of Westwood" Wooden was not among the best college coaches - he is the best college basketball coach of all time. His record will never be matched, due in part to the changed nature of the game. It takes many more wins, and more chances to lose, to grab a national title now than it did in UCLA's heyday.
Which is not a criticism because everyone he coached against faced the same set of circumstances. I take a little pride in that the Vic Bubas Duke teams of the 60s were one of the very few school programs to challenge the Bruins during their era. It would have been nice to steal one of those championships though ... dagnabbit.
Wooden was a true gentleman. He never beat up on his players to win; he insisted that they play to their capacity. And he aggregated enough talent that playing to their capacity produced win after win. I don't think that level of class is abroad in the game today.

So bracket yourself against the ill winds of the fortunes of the round ball in March. No one gets all the games right. Unless you fill out a couple of hundred brackets. And that's not the gentlemanly way to win.
I'll not be diving into any pools myself.

No comments: