"Believe"

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love the Apple + television series, Ted Lasso.  Someone once said that "timing is everything" - that's certainly true for television and it's also true for life.  Ted Lasso came out just at the right time.  It's a lighthearted (usually - this season not always), "feel good" television show that came out in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic when everyone needed a reason to feel good again.  Would the show have been as successful if it had been released at a different time in history?  Maybe not, but who cares.

The show is packed with motivational quotes about leadership.  If you watch the show, you will definitely notice the "Believe" sign hanging in the fictional football team AFC Richmond's locker room (see picture below).  

If you pay really close attention, you will notice a poster of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success".  Coach Wooden based his Pyramid partially on a "Seven Point Creed" which was given to him by his father after he graduated from grammar school (and which he continued to live by throughout his life):

1. Be true to yourself.

2. Make each day your masterpiece.

3. Help others.

4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

5. Make friendship a fine art.

6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.

7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

I think Coach Lasso would agree with both the "Seven Point Creed" and the "Pyramid of Success".  I would bet that Coach Wooden is one of Ted Lasso's heroes!  Why would Ted Lasso try to emulate Coach Wooden?  That's an easy question.  Just take a look at his long and distinguished resume.

Coach Wooden was a three-time consensus All-American basketball player for a Purdue University team that was recognized (before the NCAA Tournament) as the college basketball national champion in 1932.  His nickname says it all - he was known as the "Indiana Rubber Man" for the way he always dove for the ball on the court.  He played professionally (for the Indianapolis Kautskys, Whiting Ciesar All-Americans, and Hammond Ciesar All-Americans) while also teaching and coaching basketball in high school.  His high school coaching record over 11 seasons was 218-42.

Wooden joined the Navy shortly after the U.S. entered World War II.  After leaving the military, he coached at Indiana State Teachers College (later Indiana State University) for 2 years.  His 1947 team was invited to play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournament, but Wooden refused the invitation because of the organization's policy of banning Black players.  He was actually invited to be the Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Purdue University for one year until then Head Coach Mel Taube's contract expired but refused, citing loyalty to Coach Taube.  His 1948 team was again invited to the NAIA National Tournament, which had reversed the policy of banning Black players.  His team lost in the finals to the University of Louisville, the only time that a Wooden team lost a championship game.

Shortly after the 1948 season, Coach Wooden was hired as the Head Coach at UCLA, where he would coach until 1975.  There was another interesting twist of fate here - both Wooden and his wife wanted to remain in the Midwest.  The University of Minnesota expressed interest in hiring him as their next head basketball coach, but inclement weather prevented them from contacting Wooden by telephone with their offer.  Believing that they had lost interest, Wooden accepted the UCLA job instead!

Coach Wooden was immediately successful at UCLA, taking a team that had finished 12-13 the previous season to a 22-7 record in his first year as head coach.  His success continued, but he was apparently not happy living on the West Coast.  When Mel Taube retired at Purdue University, he was offered the head coaching job again at his alma mater.  He refused a second time, because he had not finished out his three year contract (imagine that today - coaches break contracts all the time).

Coach Wooden would go on to lead UCLA to unparalleled success.  His team would go on to win the NCAA National Tournament an unprecedented 10 times, which included a streak of national championships for 7 years in a row!  The "Wizard of Westwood" would coach his team to 620 wins over 27 seasons, including a record winning streak of 88 games that still stands today (it will probably never again be touched).  He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1960) and coach (1973), and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.

If you look closely in the picture below, you will see his "Pyramid of Success" mentioned above:

The Pyramid is as simple as it is profound.  It consists Coach Wooden's philosophical building blocks for succeeding at basketball and at life.  He wanted his players to be just as successful off the court as they were on it.  The Pyramid was developed over the course of his career, beginning when he was a high school coach and nearing completion when he ended his coaching tenure at the Indiana State Teacher's College.  There are 14 building blocks of human determination that lead to the apex block (the fifteenth), which is "Competitive Greatness."  The 10 words on each side of the pyramid - literally holding the pyramid together, if you will, lead to the top, where Faith ("Believe") and Patience overlook Competitive Greatness.  

Following his death at the age of 99 years in June 2010, all UCLA sports teams wore either a patch or helmet sticker with the initials "JRW" inside a black pyramid for the remainder of the season, in honor of his philosophy of coaching and life.  He said, "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result in self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

In the spirit of Ted Lasso, I will leave you with one more quote - this time, an exchange between the owner of the AFC Richmond football team and her head coach, Ted Lasso:

Rebecca: Do you believe in ghosts, Ted?

Ted: I do. But more importantly I think they need to believe in themselves.

Believe in yourself (apparently, even if you are a ghost).  Believe - I think Coach Wooden would agree too.