The Wizard of Westwood was no Wizard at all
Posted By Christopher Stevenson
Tags: the, wizard, of, westwood, john, wooden, basketball, coach, ucla, master, of, the, simple, pyramid, of, success, leadership, integrity, honest, humble, teachable, bible, god, jesus, christ, success, christian, home, based, business
John Wooden, college basketball's gentlemanly Wizard of Westwood who built one of the 
greatest dynasties in all of sports at UCLA and became one of the most revered coaches ever, has died. He was 99. Over 27 years, he won 620 games, including 88 straight during one historic stretch, and coached many of the game's greatest players such as Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor — later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
John Wooden leaves a legacy; a great achievement to say the least. I don’t watch basketball - don’t know all the rules. I do know that you must put the ball in the other team’s basket more times then they can in your team’s basket within a period of time; the team that puts the most balls in wins… pretty simple, however a great challenge that requires better skills then your opponent.
As a coach, John Wooden was groundbreaking trendsetter who demanded his players be in great condition so they could play an up-tempo style not well-known on the West Coast at the time.
But the Wizard's legacy extended well beyond that.
He was the master of the simple one- or two-sentence homily, instructive little messages best presented in his famous "Pyramid of Success," which remains must-read material, not only for fellow coaches but for anyone in a leadership position in American business.
John Wooden held the Key of the secret that tries it best to remain un-bidden; the secret of teaching his people what really matters. John Wooden did not like to be called a Wizard.
He taught the team game and had only three hard-and-fast rules —no profanity, tardiness or criticizing fellow teammates. Layered beneath that seeming simplicity, though, were a slew of life lessons — primers on everything from how to put on your socks correctly to how to maintain poise: "Not being thrown off stride in how you behave or what you believe because of outside events."
"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player," was one of Wooden's key messages.
Wooden disliked the "Wizard of Westwood" nickname, preferring to be called "Coach."
"I'm no wizard, and I don't like being thought of in that light at all," he said in a 2006 interview with the UCLA History Project. "I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don't want to be thought of in that way."
What was Wooden's secret? Where was he tapping his beliefs from? I was not surprise to find out that John Wooden was a man of God who read the Bible frequently. He lived a long life of 99; surely he was Blessed with his cup running over.
Asked in a 2008 interview the secret to his long life, Wooden replied: "Not being afraid of death and having peace within yourself. All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low."
Asked what he would like God to say when he arrived at the pearly gates, Wooden replied, "Well done."
Even with his staggering accomplishments, he remained humble and gracious. He said he tried to live by advice from his father: "Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books —especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day."
While he lived his father's words, many more lived his. Those lucky enough to play for him got it first hand, but there was no shortage of Wooden sayings making the rounds far away from the basketball court.
"Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow," was one.
"Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you," was another.
UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said Wooden's passing was a "huge loss."
There is a LOT going out there these days.. there is always the Next Best Thing (NBT). People will tell you they are Wizards, Gurus, experts and they have a secret to sell you that is just a click away and is worth thousands of dollars and now for today only Get it NOW for just $97.99.
The real secret is FREE and it has been around forever and is always available for eternity!
If you are in a business or looking to become a partner in a business, your success will rely on your ability to grasp the simple and be a person of integrity, who is honest, teach-able and able to follow simple instructions. You would want to find a team that holds these simple values as paramount in their organization. The Greatest teacher of all time is our Lord Jesus Christ, his words teach us how to live our lives to the fullest, he taught us to Love one another as he Loved us. Jesus taught us that we need to have patience, resilience, compassion and strength. If you are looking for a Leader to guide you in all your life decision, look no further that Jesus.
Our LORD taught us to go and do God’s Will not our own and we will be Blessed for it. This is the mystery that John Wooden tapped into and many other successful people before and after him.
Italic excerpts from this Foxnews article
Additional Resources of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success can be found at http://www.coachwooden.com
See what we are doing as a team of Christians investing in lives by feeding the millions of starving children as paid contributors in a network of givers. Go to http://PaidContributors.com for details. God Bless – Chris Stevenson Founder of Proverbs1917 Network Goodness System of Life.