highnote
12-31-2008, 06:34 PM
I'm reading "Wooden -- A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court" By John Wooden with Steve Jamison.
I wanted to post a quote from his book because it reminds me of the old-time values our society seems to have forgotten.
... Mr. Ward ("Piggy") Lambert, my coach at Purde University, demonstrated extraordinary devotion to his principles and was willing to suffer whatever consequences that entailed.
For example, Coach Lambert believed that all intercollegiate games should be played on or near the campus of one of the participating schools. This, of course, ran counter to what was required in the playoffs, where games were often played on distant courts.
Coach felt this deprived the students of the colleges involved and imposted an unfair travel burden on them. He also believed it was inappropriate to hold intercollegiate competitions in commercial venues.
In 1940 Purdue Universitry won the Big Ten title and along with it a trip to the playoffs in Madison Square Garden. Coach Lambert subsequently withdrew Purdue's basketball team from the national tournament. Indiana, the team that had finished just behind Purdue in the standings, was the replacement team and won the national championship that year. Coach Lambert held to his principles. He was true to his beliefs.
Could you imagine that happening in today's money-driven, stadium-naming-rights, seat-licensing world?
I suppose this explains why I get the most enjoyment from watching my young kids play elementary school sports and why the most exciting games I have ever seen were when my home town high school had great teams. It was all about playing for the love of the game.
I wanted to post a quote from his book because it reminds me of the old-time values our society seems to have forgotten.
... Mr. Ward ("Piggy") Lambert, my coach at Purde University, demonstrated extraordinary devotion to his principles and was willing to suffer whatever consequences that entailed.
For example, Coach Lambert believed that all intercollegiate games should be played on or near the campus of one of the participating schools. This, of course, ran counter to what was required in the playoffs, where games were often played on distant courts.
Coach felt this deprived the students of the colleges involved and imposted an unfair travel burden on them. He also believed it was inappropriate to hold intercollegiate competitions in commercial venues.
In 1940 Purdue Universitry won the Big Ten title and along with it a trip to the playoffs in Madison Square Garden. Coach Lambert subsequently withdrew Purdue's basketball team from the national tournament. Indiana, the team that had finished just behind Purdue in the standings, was the replacement team and won the national championship that year. Coach Lambert held to his principles. He was true to his beliefs.
Could you imagine that happening in today's money-driven, stadium-naming-rights, seat-licensing world?
I suppose this explains why I get the most enjoyment from watching my young kids play elementary school sports and why the most exciting games I have ever seen were when my home town high school had great teams. It was all about playing for the love of the game.