Five Years Later, Remembering UCLA's Coach Wooden

John Wooden passed away on June 4, 2010.

Nestor wrote the initial news here, and that day and the the following days were marked on BN by articles, tributes, anecdotes, remembrances. You can read some of them here and here and here.

On announcing Coach's passing that evening, the legendary announcer for the LA Dodgers and Coach's good friend Vin Scully looked to Shakespeare to find the words:

His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, "This was a man".

It's hard to believe that five years have passed since that day, because it still seems so fresh and so painful. But as we should have known, Coach's legacy and inspiration are stronger than ever. Remember, he always saw himself first as a teacher. Coach was never about winning, he was about was about encouraging everyone to find and express the best within them him or herself.

Of all of Coach's wonderful quotes, I think this one stands above all as a measure for our own lives, day in and day out.

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

The bronze statue stands outside Pauley, but it is the intangible memories and inspiration that make Coach live on in our lives, this day and always.

The Pyramid stands strong.

Make each day your masterpiece, Bruins

GO BRUINS!