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.

Thoughts Medley 16 July 2024

by Tony Medley

I thought maybe Donald Trump had learned something about politics, but apparently not. His choice of Senator Vance as VP was ill-advised for at least two reasons. One is that it’s two white males running together. Two is that Vance was just elected two years ago and has four more years to go on his term. That means that if they are elected, he will need to be replaced as Senator. And although the Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine, is a Republican, he’s a RINO, a career politician who has accomplished nothing in his life but being elected (and defeated), and is no friend of Trump.

There is a strong possibility that this Never Trumper would appoint Matt Dolan, whom he supported before Dolan lost in the 2024 Senate primary. Dolan is a neocon’s neocon supporting massive amounts of money going to Ukraine. For this reason alone, choosing Vance was a bad choice politically. Thump had enough problems with RINO Republicans like Romney and Paul Ryan in his first term. He doesn't need more.

DeWine should appoint Bernie Moreno, who beat Dolan in the primary to run against incumbent Dimm Sherrod Brown. If Moreno beats Brown, the last person DeWine should appoint to fill out Vance’s term is Dolan, but my money is on DeWine doing exactly that, or at least a neocon who would not be a Trump supporter.

My choice for VP would have been Tulsi Gabbert. A former Dimm, she seems to have strong Conservative tendencies, has apparently changed her formerly pro-abortion beliefs, and would have appealed to women and Independents. To whom does Vance appeal? Answer: to MAGA Republicans. Trump doesn’t need help there. On the positive side, though, he has an impressive background and a brilliant wife, even though they both graduated from Yale Law School, which was a joke when I went to Law School and still is.

Believe it or not, Dave Roberts has done it again, twice! What’s that? Inserting a new pitcher who immediately surrenders a home run to the first batter he faces. In the top of 7^th inning on July 7, Roberts put in Ryan Yarborough and Chris Perkins of Milwaukee hit his second pitch for a home run. Then on July 11 v. Philadelphia, in the bottom of the second inning (! Why would Roberts insert a new pitcher in a 1-0 game at the start of the second inning?) Landan Knack was inserted and he immediately gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Brandon Marsh.

I had estimated that over the past few years before this season started this had happened at least 15 times. But now it has happened seven times in just the first half year, which averages out to 14/year. Someone should research all of Roberts’ years as a manager and find out exactly how many times this has happened because it is undoubtedly an unbreakable record of poor judgment.

The LATimes published four letters to the editor regarding the idiotic idea of closing Wilshire Boulevard through MacArthur Park. All were in opposition.

According to Judicial Watch, here is the makeup of voters in Washington, D.C.:

·         Total Voters: 457,302

·         US Citizens: 456,719

·         Foreign Nationals: 583

·         Democrats: 353,048

·         Republican: 23,482

·         No Party Affiliation: 73,760

·         Other: 7,012

Does anybody wonder why the Dimms want to admit DC as a state?