"Profiles in Badassery": Our "Intergalactic Treasure"

Don't forget folks. We have a very special day coming up on October 14, when the entire Bruin Nation will be celebrating Coach's 100th Birthday. This year the USAC (which seems to have taken their game to a whole another level this year) is organizing a day long celebration in honor of Coach on campus. We wrote about those details here.

Yesterday Hammer and Rails - SBN's excellent Purdue blog -  honored their legendary alum through this "Profiles in Badassery." This is the part that will give you goosebumps:

Once again, I think humility stands out the most to me. He had a great sense of humor, famously telling Bill Walton the team would miss him even if he stood by his conviction to now shave. In this day and age if a coach wins 1 National title he expects a raise, millions of dollars, a Nike contract, etc. Wooden won 10, yet never made more than $35,000 per year and never asked for a raise. He longed to teach. That's it. If he was good at teaching basketball, so be it.

I am honored to have John Wooden associated with me as a Purdue alumnus. As I wrote about his death on June 4th of this year, the world lost John Wooden. To me, he was more than a great basketball coach. he was a great man, and that's more important. He was a personal hero whose death felt like the loss of a close relative even though I never met the man. The world would be a brighter, better place if we could all follow Wooden's values. He is a true badass because of his character. All the accomplishments and honors are merely icing.

Thank you, John, for being a Boilermaker. It is an honor to be associated with you through Purdue University.

The whole post is a must read and strongly recommend every one visit H&R and thank the Boilermakers for that incredible tribute to the greatest Bruin of all time. It just punctuates all over again why Coach is not just a Bruin legend but an "intergalactic treasure":

Our Coach. Forever.

GO BRUINS.