Out of print for more than 30 years, now available for the first time as an eBook, this is the controversial story of John Wooden's first 25 years and first 8 NCAA Championships as UCLA Head Basketball Coach. Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps said, "I used this book as an inspiration for the biggest win of my career when we ended UCLA's all-time 88-game winning streak in 1974."

Compiled with more than 40 hours of interviews with Coach Wooden, learn about the man behind the coach. Click the Book to read the players telling their stories in their own words. This is the book that UCLA Athletic Director J.D. Morgan tried to ban.

Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information.


Thumbnails July 07

by Tony Medley

Evening (10/10): This is a romantic, emotional journey back to one weekend in the past life of Vanessa Redgrave as she lies dying, with her daughters, Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson (Redgrave’s real life daughter), standing vigil and interacting. The intricate story of the wedding of her best friend, Meryl Streep/Mamie Gummer (Streep’s real life daughter), is told in flashbacks. Claire Danes gives an Oscar®-deserving performance as the youthful Redgrave. Although I approached it as just another chick flick, it is not so. The beautifully told story captivated and drained me.

Knocked Up (9/10):  There are two kinds of movie laughs; chuckles and uncontrollable belly laughs. I had the latter. I haven’t laughed this hard since Freaky Friday. That said, with prolific use of the “f” word, this low class film has content that could easily be offensive to many segments of society, like pro-abortion advocates on one side, and people who think babies should be the result of marriage on the other. I say, relax and enjoy it. Despite the controversial subject matter, this is a very funny movie.

Vitus (7/10): A good last half makes up for a slow beginning in this film that highlights the talents of real-life piano prodigy, 14-year-old Teo Gheorghiu, who plays Vitus (pronounced Vee-tus), the 12-year-old talent who is unhappy with his parents for pushing his music career. Gheorghiu is a good actor, but wait until you hear him play the piano!

Ocean’s 13 (4/10): George Clooney, Matt Damon, & Co. all walk around with looks on their faces that seem to be yelling, “We’re cats like Frank and Dean and Sammy!” That’s hardly enough to base a movie upon. Indeed, the only thing that could possibly interest anyone in this weakly plotted film is their sex appeal for an audience of women. At 113 minutes, this movie makes almost two hours seem like almost an eternity…unless you’re a woman who likes Clooney & Co. Ringadingding…or not.

Once (4/10): With music that struggles to achieve mediocrity, this is a bland story of an unnamed busker, a person who sings in the street for money. Subtitles should have been a necessity because it’s burdened with people speaking in a thick Irish brogue which is often indecipherable. Why this has generated such a positive buzz is beyond me.

Waitress (3/10): The men are mostly selfish louts (except for a callow wimp) and all the women are wonderful. Oh, yeah, and a child doesn’t need a father. Feminists should love it.

Sicko (1/10): Poor Michael Moore. He spends a quarter of this film interviewing a few Frenchies telling how much they love their government. But after wrapping the film, the vast majority he didn’t interview repudiated the surprisingly leftist government of the corrupt Jacques Chirac his subjects extol, by electing in a landslide conservative Nicolas Sarkozy to replace it. In typical Moore fashion, he extols Cuba’s system, claiming that Cuba has lower infant mortality and a longer life span than Americans. Michael fails to mention that Cuba has the highest abortion rate in the Western Hemisphere, the highest suicide rate, and the lowest fertility rate. But, hey, those facts would be pretty inconvenient to Michael’s point. These are mere smidgens of the half-truths in this boring film that reinforce Moore’s reputation as a man who doesn’t let facts interfere with his pathetic propaganda.

You Kill Me (0/10): Totally devoid of humor and chemistry between the stars, Tèa Leoni and Ben Kingsley, this is one of the worst films I’ve had to endure this year, and that’s saying a lot.

 

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