White House Blog: March Madness...They Called Him Coach...

About seven or eight years ago, I had the great honor of meeting legendary coach John Wooden. If you do not know of him, you must read about his life and legacy as a basketball coach. He is one of the "winning-est" coaches in history and is still very highly respected in the sports world today. You can reach his website here.

At age 99, he passed away in June 2010. Ironically, I was in Indiana (Indianapolis), his home state, on the day that he passed away. My heart absolutely sank. But I was happy for him. He had a very full life, had gone to be with Jesus, and his beloved wife Nell, whom he lost to cancer.

I worked at Williams Energy Marketing & Trading at the time, and Coach Wooden was a good friend of the CEO of the company. That particular morning, an all company email was sent, stating there were a limited number of seats available to hear Coach speak that afternoon. Seats were available on first come, first serve basis by answer of that email. THANK GOODNESS, I was at my computer and was able to answer IMMEDIATELY. I about jumped out of my chair when I received an email stating that there was a seat with my name on it! I was beyond excited, I mean ECSTATIC at this opportunity! I frantically tried to think of something for him to sign for me. Then I remembered his Pyramid of Success. It was painted on the wall, just outside the practice gym, at ORU, where I played basketball. I saw it every day I went to, and when I left practice. I got online, found one, and printed it off.

All of us that "got a seat" at the speaking engagement were "giddy" as we sat and waited for him to arrive. I think there were about 50 of us, if that many. He arrived, at this time he was in his early 90's, he looked a little frail, but I will tell you, this man was still SHARP AS A TACK. He sat and spoke to us for about 30 minutes, talking of his life experiences, life lessons, coaching, his players, winning, and wisdom. He spoke about two players in particular, Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He spoke of both of them like they were his children. You could definitely tell there was a close relationship to that day with both of them. You could feel how fond he was of all of those that played for him. I can't describe to you how amazing it was to be there listening to the years of knowledge and experience that came out of his mouth. He was definitely one of the most genuine, kind hearted people, I have ever met.

After Coach's speech, we got the opportunity to take pictures with him and get autographs. Also, we received a free, autographed copy of one of his books that he had written, titled, "Be Quick, But Don't Hurry."

These are iphone pics, they're not the greatest, but you get the idea. ;)