John Wooden Wins the Last Big Game

A legend has gone home:

John Wooden has died at age 99.

The legendary former UCLA men's basketball coach preferred to be called not a coach, but a teacher. "That's what any coach should be,'' he once told an audience in Indianapolis in 2001. "You should follow the laws of teaching.''

That would still make Wooden one of the greatest teachers in the history of sports, not just in college basketball, where his team at UCLA won more championships than any other school and has the longest winning streak in any major sport in North America.

Wooden died June 4 in Los Angeles, Calif.

In his 27-year career at UCLA, from 1948-75, Wooden -- nicknamed "The Wizard of Westwood,'' although he reportedly disdained the moniker -- led the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships, including a record seven in a row from 1967-73; that run included 38 straight NCAA tournament wins. From 1971 to 1974, his teams won 88 straight games, a streak that encompassed three of the last four of UCLA's seven-title streak, eclipsing a 47-game streak under Wooden in the late 1960s, and ending in unforgettable fashion Jan. 19, 1974, with a one-point defeat at Notre Dame.

Wooden's teams at UCLA defined the term "dynasty'' like few others in sports; their run of success -- the 10 championships took place in a 12-year span, interrupted only by Texas Western in 1966 and North Carolina State in 1974 -- puts them in a category with the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics and Montreal Canadiens.

I'm old enough to remember watching Wooden coach UCLA, and when I was in high school our tennis coach used his "Pyramid of Success" as part of his coaching technique. He was a legendary coach, leader and man.

There's an old story that says the reason Billy Graham has lived so long is that the angels have been having a hard time coming up with a suitable welcome. That may explain Wooden's 99 years as well.