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.

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More Stupid Coaching

by Tony Medley

How many times do sports coaches have to prove how little they know their game? In today’s Pittsburgh-Jacksonville playoff game, Pittsburgh scored a touchdown with around 8 minutes left in the game, putting the score at 28-23. Pittsburgh incredibly chose to go for two points, figuring that they would then only need a field goal to tie. But what these coaches always fail to realize is that if they don’t make it and the other team kicks a field goal, they are down by 8 and then they have to score a touchdown and make the two point conversion just to tie. If they just kick the field goal, accept being down by 4, if the other team kicks a field goal, they can tie with a touchdown and one point conversion.

So Pittsburgh made the two point try, but it was called back by a 10 yard holding penalty. Beyond all reason, with the ball now on the 13, they again tried for two points. The odds are about 99-1 against gaining 13 yards on one play in this situation, and they didn’t, so they were down 28-23.

Pittsburgh then scored another touchdown, putting them up 29-28 and went for two, which was the correct decision at that point because being up 1 or 2 was irrelevant. A field goal would still beat them. So they went for two again and failed and lost the game when Jacksonville kicked a last-second field goal to beat them 31-29. But had Pittsburgh made the correct decision and gone for one at 28-23, making it 28-24, they would have gone for one again at 30-28, making it 31-28 and meaning that Jacksonville’s field goal at the end of the game would have just put it into overtime, not won the game.

Lest you think this is Monday morning quarterbacking, I was jumping up and down castigating Pittsburgh when they went for two the first time at 28-23, even though they made it, only to have it called back. To go for 2 again from the 13 was sheer lunacy. They deserved to lose with this kind of thinking. Someday maybe somebody who can actually add 2+2  and get 4 will be named the coach of a football team, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

January 5, 2008