About that smear job of Coach Wooden & UCLA basketball

by Nestor on Mar 17, 2009 7:48 PM PDT Comment 9 comments

bruin8uclap spotted an article in esquire.com written by some guy named Sean Cunningham which did a total hit job on Coach John Wooden based on the tired smears related to Sam Gilbert.

We stripped out the link to that article because there is no reason for giving traffic to garbage. But what we can tell you is that the only evidence the article provided was to link to a piece written by Yahoo.com's Dan Wetzel from few years ago. We have already writted about that particular hack job and debunked it here, here, and here.

Also, Cunningham tried to discredit the 1995 championship without being able to offer a single piece of evidence that established that anyone from the 1995 team had committed an NCAA violation that season. It tried to debase that championship based on the mistakes Harrick made in 1996 recruiting season, for which UCLA fired him immediately.

So, basically it was a garbage piece that doesn't merit any attention via traffic from this community. I will leave it at that.

GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

0 recs | Comment 9 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Drivel

As usual, a poorly researched topic by a lazy hack who just parrots crap.

by UCLA4Life on Mar 17, 2009 8:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Man bites dog

Writing about justsc being dirty is passe and won’t sell. This hack assumes that if he makes up some stuff about Coach that he’ll get all sorts of press and ultimately a raise. In a month this no-name will still be a no-name, his piece of crap article will be on the bottom of bird cages, and Coach will still have his reputation intact.

The more I think about it, the more I think this whole issue will be forgotten before the end of the evening.

by Fox 71 on Mar 17, 2009 8:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Umm...

…writing articles about college basketball in Esquire is like being a 34 year-old batting eighth for a single-A club. Sure, you’re technically a pro, but everyone knows you’re going nowhere.

What a joke.

by Bellerophon on Mar 17, 2009 9:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL

O.A.

by Ollie on Mar 18, 2009 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You hit the nail on the head

when you called it a smear JOB. It is so clearly an attempt to assassinate UCLA’s and Wooden’s character that in my mind it was contracted out by someone with an agenda to a someone who either agrees with this drivel or has no moral compass and doesn’t mind performing a hack job like this.

What blows me away is how stories like this get written with (as you have illustrated) no evidence and only casual relationships while Reggie Bush and the University of Successful Cheaters get a free pass with an overwhelming preponderance of factual details and some pretty damning circumstantial evidence to boot.

It really is Us against the World. Go Bruins! time to play smash mouth with our enemies.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Mar 17, 2009 9:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL @ Esquire

I would sooner get my sports opinions from the National Enquirer, The Onion, and Cracked than I would from Esquire.

by Tydides on Mar 18, 2009 10:34 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I read that slop yesterday....

It quoted Tark the Shark, so the calibre of investigative reporting is evident.
They make the case that UCLA would never have recruited any players or won any titles without Sam Gilbert paying people. This disregards the fact that Sam had no interest in the program until after UCLA had started winning championships. The “journalists” should have interviewed Hazzard, Goodrich, Slaughter etc. and asked them how many times they went to Sam’s house; they apparently would be shocked by the facts.,

by ucla7477 on Mar 18, 2009 7:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

good job buddy

way to write about a 90 year old man that just got out the hospital after battling an illness. why do people even bring up this stuff other than the fact that it’s march and it has the tiniest correlation to college basketball? shouldn’t they be writing about adolph rupp’s racism and bob knight’s temper as well then? the media acts as if we as UCLA fans are shoving UCLA’s basketball legacy down their throats. If anything I find that we true fans and alum are just as proud of all the other championships in volleyball, gymnastics and softball etc as well as our academics and just being a part of the larger community of UCLA and socal. I’m just happy to be a spectator to a new tradition in basketball. I guess this is just what happens when insecure little boys discuss what perfume to wear. Go back to writing about the latest man-purse and we’ll promise to stick to rooting for our team. Let’s play some ball tonight guys~!

by lilbobdog on Mar 19, 2009 1:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs