USC fans have to salute John's life

John Wooden was bigger than UCLA. In fact UCLA might be ucla if John hadn't coached there.

His principles of success go well beyond sports and if politicians adopted them we would have representation that is honored, not representation that is ridiculed.

If you haven't noticed......public opinion, regarding political figures, is at an all time low......I think.

In the early days of the 20th Century great humorists like Will Rogers made it pretty clear that all politicians were crooks. But when one applies humor to a critical anaylisis than often times the public doesn't take it seriously.

The current group of satirists and political naysayers seem to either not be as funny or the targets are just too controlled by corporations to be considered humorous.

We are not laughing like we did in the past. And I honestly believe it's not just me.

I want to laugh but something's wrong with the picture.

When Bill Maher attacks it seems less funny and more serious even though it is intended to be funny....I think.

The same applies to Glenn Beck.

We either need a new Will Rogers or we need a new John Wooden to explain how to be civilized and respectful even in the throngs of intense complaining.

I'm pretty sure that is what separated John from the rest of the pack.

HE WAS EXTREMELY DIGNIFIED.

I think that's what we are missing in sports and politics....and I blame a lot of the problem on reporters for not setting the tone of civilized and respectful questionering......

(I realize that questionering is not a word but I'll be submitting it to Webster and perhaps it can be added to the 450,000 plus words in the English language)

If sports writers respected the effort being put forth by athletes and coaches....the questions would be much more intelligence and insightful. But there seems to be a lack of knowledge and a jealousy that permeates the questions from reporters.

There is no dignity involved when addressing Phil Jackson. I realize it is because he can be a bit sarcastic but when you have to listen to the same ridiculous negative statements over and over and over.....then sarcasm becomes the only outlet.

Everytime I heard anybody ask John Wooden a question over the last 20 years it always had a touch of dignity. I think back to when he was coaching and it seems to me that dignity was always the tone.

Of course after you win 10 NCAA championships it's pretty hard not to get the total respect of the scribes........BUT Phil Jackson has won 10 NBA championships and the reporters ask him questions that just seem stupid and trite. Instead of listening to his wisdom they like to ignite his sarcasm and then we, as fans, don't get the true experience.

WE GET ATTITUDE and then we develop attitude and before the dust has settled everybody has got a tude on.....

John Wooden had a way of leaving encounters with thought provocations.

He helped make the public smarter by helping make the reporters smarter.

How fortunate is Los Angeles to have had the two greatest basketball coaches in the history of organized sports.

The beauty is that we still have one and the other almost made it to 100.

The legacy of John Wooden will be covered intensely over the next few days and it's not a sad memory by any means.

All sports fans....no matter what school they support...... feel privileged to have experienced the life and times of

COACH

Michael Timothy McAlevey