Taking out the Trash
Theme of the Week: Watch Your Language
John Wooden
Sunday, March 20, 2005
 1 of 1
Who Said It…John Wooden
John Wooden is the only person inducted into both the basketball Players' and Coaches' Halls of Fame. Before he retired in 1976, his UCLA Bruins won 10 NCAA basketball championships (7 in a row). During one 1971-to-1974 stretch, they won 88 games straight!
"There has never been another coach like Wooden," wrote Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated, "quiet as an April snow and square as a game of checkers; loyal to one woman, one school, one way." What He Said…Taking out the Trash
When I was in the sixth or seventh grade, we boys were in the barn cleaning the horse stalls when one of my brothers threw horse manure in my face. I dropped my shovel, cursed, and went after him. My dad stopped the fight, listened to our stories, and gave us both a whipping. My brother got his for starting it. I got mine for using profanity. Dad never cursed and he wouldn't allow us to.
When I overheard one of my players use profanity during practice, I'd dismiss him for the day. My boys all knew that practice was where they earned their playing time, so I used the sessions themselves as a disciplinary measure. If anyone cursed during a game, I'd sit him on the bench for a while. It didn't take long for the players to clean up their language.
One of my players was asked if I ever used profanity. "Absolutely," he replied. "'Goodness, gracious, sakes alive' is profanity for Coach."
Adapted from Coach Wooden: One-on-One (Regal, 2003) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Take control of what I say, O Lord, and keep my lips sealed. —Psalm 141:3
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