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. This is the only book that gives a true picture of the character of John Wooden and the influence of his assistant, Jerry Norman, whose contributions Wooden  ignored and tried to bury.

Compiled with more than 40 hours of interviews with Coach Wooden, learn about the man behind the coach. The players tell their stories in their own words.

Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information. Also available on Kindle.

Sports Medley: Athletes and Owners Behaving Badly 8 Aug 16

by Tony Medley

Aroldis Chapman: 105 mph closer was accused by his girlfriend of choking her, pushing her and then firing six shots into the wall of a garage, which caused her to hide from him, take their out-of-wedlock infant child and flee. Because of conflicting stories and uncooperating witnesses, police did not press charges. To their discredit, the Cubs traded for him. I guess for the Cubs, winning trumps decency.

Chris Sales: Chicago White Sox star pitcher didn’t like the throwback uniforms the team was going to wear one day so he threw a tantrum, got there early and cut them all up because his didn’t feel comfortable, poor baby. Self-centered behavior by superstars is relatively common, but this was egocentricity beyond the pale.

Cris Carter and Ray Lewis:, Two NFL Hall of Famers, Carter was the subject of a scathing column by this writer over his encouraging rookie NFL players to cover up wrongdoing and take the criminal fall for veterans, and Lewis was deeply involved in a murder indictment in which he pled out in return for a slap on the wrist. ESPN is apparently firing both of them. It’s about time.

Ray Rice: He was caught on videotape cold-cocking his girlfriend Janay Rice knocking her unconscious in an elevator, was suspended, and now can’t get a job in the NFL. Criminal charges were dropped because Janay, now his wife, refused to cooperate.

However, an experienced prosecutor told me that prosecutors are not bound by a victim's refusal to testify if they possess admissible evidence to prove all elements of a criminal offense “if after a consideration of all admissible evidence a reasonable fact finder could find the accused guilty of the charges filed beyond a reasonable doubt after a consideration of any plausible defense.”

There is little doubt that the videotape evidence would be compelling in a criminal trial and that Rice was let off by craven prosecutors because he was a great football player. Anybody who gratuitously slugs a woman in the face for any reason other than legitimate self-defense belongs in prison, I don’t care how baby-faced he looks, how many self-serving apologies he makes, or how many yards he ran from scrimmage.

Greg Hardy: NFL defensive lineman threw his girlfriend into a bathtub then threw her on a couch covered with weapons and threatened to kill her. Photographs showed her body covered in bruises. She failed to show up at a hearing and charges had to be dismissed. The supposition is that she feared for her life and that he paid her off, but there is no record of this.

Afterwards, this brute was signed by Owner Jerry Jones to play with the Dallas Cowboys. Athletes of almost superhuman strength who physically abuse women like this have no place in society other than jail, regardless of their physical prowess. I don’t know who is the lower lowlife, Hardy, who did the deed, or billionaire Jones, who didn’t care.

Josh Rosen: UCLA sophomore quarterback who played golf at a Donald Trump resort wearing a hat that said “F--- Trump.” This green, 19-year old naïf is representative of today’s spoiled athletic divas who are pampered by their parents, friends, and coaches starting in high school, and have little or no manners or respect for anything but themselves.

As a citizen, he has the right to “speak out” on issues if he wants, but that doesn’t include the right to gratuitously insult other people just because he is a famous quarterback. His juvenile rudeness disgraces himself and the team he plays for. But his ambitious coach and school let him get away with it, with nothing more than a mild rebuke. Hey, he’s a potential All-American!

One note samba: NBC’s Michelle Tafoya has created a career asking the same uninformative and uninformed question over and over and over, no matter whom she’s interviewing. Taking her one question to the Olympics, she asked Gold Medal winning swimmer Adam Peaty, “Adam, what does it feel like to be the guy who swims the fastest time in this event in the history of swimming?” For asking this “how does it feel to…” question of everybody she interviews, she is reportedly paid $200,000 per year.

Humiliating Anniversary: Sixty-five years ago this Thursday, August 11, 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13 ½ game lead over the New York Giants for the National League Pennant. 7 1/2 weeks later, on October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit his home run heard ‘round the world, sending the Dodgers to their most ignominious defeat before only 34,320 (capacity 54,500) fans in a game that took but 2:28 to play.