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 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 Jan 10

by Tony Medley

True Grit (9/10): Jeff Bridges and 13-year-old newcomer Hailee Steinfeld are as good or better than 1969’s John Wayne and Kim Darby, in this film that disdains contractions á la Damon Runyon. The characters’ manner of speaking is one of the film’s many charms. But to advertise Josh Brolin as the third lead when he’s onscreen for probably less than 3 minutes borders on fraud. Even so, this is a movie so good that time passes without your knowing it.

The Fighter (9/10): Boxing is an anachronistic remnant of gladiators, so movies about them are generally deplorable. But this, based on a true story of real people, is not your typical boxing movie. Shot in 33 days in Lowell, Mass., spectacular performances by Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, and the luscious Amy Adams make this wonderfully involving. The end credits are shown over a clip of the real people portrayed by Wahlberg and Bale which shows the remarkable similarity between Bale’s performance and the real person.

How Do You Know (8/10): Terrific performances by Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson highlight this romantic comedy that rivals the best of the past. Reese Witherspoon gives a perfect, Doris Day-type performance as the woman in the middle. As if that isn’t enough, thrown in are delightful supporting turns by Jack Nicholson, and Kathryn Hahn.

Black Swan (7/10): This is a horror film that defames the world of ballet, containing a graphic lesbian scene of oral sex and also graphic scenes of violence. While involving, this is not an easy film to watch, despite fine performances by Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Barbara Hershey. 

The King’s Speech (7/10): Notwithstanding Guy Pearce’s misleading representation of abdicating King Edward VIII as outgoing and self-confident, and Timothy Spall’s mystifying, wholly inaccurate interpretation of Winston Churchill as an unsmiling, unappealing grump, director Tom Hopper gets magnificent performances by Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in this little known story of the courage of King George VI assuming the throne despite a debilitating speech stammer.

Faster (7/10): The Rock (the movie star sometimes known as Duane Johnson) is back! The performances are all very good, especially Johnson who has yet to disappoint me. The story line, which includes a theme of moral renascence of forgiveness and redemption, is elevated above what one generally gets in the action film genre. Even so, it’s a film with quite a bit of violence that will probably appeal to guys a lot more than gals.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (6/10): Disney walked after the second in the series, Prince Caspian, made only half the money of the first, so Fox stepped in and picked it up. The 3D, while very well done, was pretty much wasted on me. After a few minutes you forget it’s in 3D, but the special effects are spectacular. Even though the fantasy is entertaining, it dragged even though it’s 20 minutes shorter than Prince Caspian.

The Tourist (3/10): Who woulda thought that you could concoct a recipe including heartthrobs Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, supporting actors like Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, and Rufus Sewell, all directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmark (The Lives of Others, which won the 2007 Oscar® for best foreign language film) and come up with a plodding turkey like this. The lack of chemistry between Depp and Jolie is stunning

Tron (1/10): Poor Jeff Bridges, stuck inside a bleak, high tech computer game full of mindless special effects in 3D with no discernable escape. I could empathize; I was stuck inside a theater having to watch it.

Little Fockers (1/10): Worse than awful.