john wooden paper
...ning to me, and I am sure to anyone else that has ever heard him speak. The most amazing part to me about his life was how caring he is for his family. Wooden has a tight knit family that he loves very much, and one can see and feel this by the was he speaks of them. John Wooden divides Wooden into four sections. The first section deals with morals and values learned from his dad all the way to his wife, Nellie. He explains how his father, Joshua, was a great motivator and loved teaching his sons the value of life. He always told them to read deep into books so that they could learn more about the history of the world. Later in this section, Wooden discusses perfection and how even though his UCLA team may have had four perfect seasons they never played the perfect game. “Perfection is unattainable, but his players constantly strove to reach it (29). At the end of this section, he describes how he felt after losing his wife Nellie. She was his sweetheart for over thirty years, and he was able to deal with his tragic loss because his family was there to help sustain him. Also Wooden is a very religious man, and he states that “He does not fear death because when his time does come, he will be reunited once again with Nellie (44). The second section of Wooden discusses how true success is attained only through the satisfaction of knowing one did everything within his limits of ability to become the very best that he was capable of being. This shows how success is measured by what one does and not how one does things compared to others. Coach Wooden arrived in UCLA due to an unpredictable blizzard that wiped-out power in Minnesota. He wanted to go to Minnesota; but when they did not call and UCLA did, he went with his word and went to UCLA (42). Wooden states that, “No one is an overachiever because no one can be better than one hundred percent” (71). This makes perfect sense and maked me realize when I do not do extra, I will be considered an underachiever. The best title in Part II is “Is Winning the Only Thing?” Wooden disagrees with Vince Lombardi and says, “Winning is not everything, but making the effort is!” (88). This shows that even winning may not be the greatest thing. For example, many coaches have said that their team would have learned and grown more from a loss than a win during some games. In Part II, Wooden discusses leadership, flash versus class, the laws of learning, and being careful who you follow. Wooden tells how leaders lead and how not everyone can be a leader (Wooden 112). I found this somewhat astonishing because I thought anyone could be a leader; all a leader has to do is step up and take over. In “Flash versus Class,” I liked how Wooden stated that, “Show-boating is not wanted on the field or court” (137). I believe it shows lack of character and belittles opponents. When playing as a role model, we are given a responsibility, and we must behave to this responsibility. In “Wooden Laws of learning,” there are four laws that one must follow. They are explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition. Wooden wants his players to create a goal of learning and achieving under great pressure (144). The most outstanding title to me in this section was “Be Careful Who You Follow.” The purpose is to show that I should not follow those who are not sure of where they are going and to make sure that my role models have been there and will lead me in the right direction. The last part is the most important section of the book. In Section IV, Wooden explains his pyramid of success and how his math teacher, Mr. Shindler, gave him the idea to create this pyramid. Mr. Shindler asked John and the rest of the class to describe success. Wooden arranged his pyramid to achieve success. Starting at the cornerstones are industriousness and enthusiasm. In between the cornerstones is the foundation, which contains friendship, loyalty, and cooperation. The next step up consists of self-control, alertness, initiative, and intentnes...