LOS ANGELES -- We've lost so much more than John Wooden, it seems. We also have lost the strongest and keenest way to coach young people, to shape meaningful lives, to help find an equilibrium, to keep life and sport in a sensible and yet inspirational cocoon. His death comes when so much about college basketball is filthy, when too many coaches and players obsess over the money grab and forget that they're on campuses to learn lessons and build foundations, not to cheat and Tweet and commit major rules violations, nor to preen and talk smack and leave for the NBA after one season. "Learn as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were to die tomorrow," he always urged his players.
Who talks that way now? Who will talk that way ever again?




