A week or so ago, we finished off the season for college basketball (“March Madness”). It is my favorite sporting event of the year. And UCLA has been my team since the early 70s. In part, it is because of the incredible testimony of John Wooden, their legendary coach.

I have a great story regarding Coach Wooden. About 30 years ago, I was a Pauley Pavilion watching a game with my dear friend Dennis Bock. As usual, during half time Coach Wooden was sitting down behind the team’s bench signing autographs. The line was long and filled with mostly kids.

But I had a new UCLA hat on and sure did want Coach to sign it. So, I wormed my way around the ushers at each level and made my way to the end of the line. I started to rehearse exactly what I wanted to say to him.

Up to that point in time, Coach Wooden was the most decorated basketball coach of all time. His teams had won 10 national championships, seven in a row. In forty years of coaching high school and college teams, he only had one losing season. He nourished the skills of NBA greats like Gail Gooodrich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. He was a very big deal!

But mostly I admired him for his incredible focus on behavior, character, initiative, self-control and faith. (His “Pyramid for Success” is still used by CEOs around the world.) And I wanted to mention how much I appreciated his approach to his work. I was mulling over all those thoughts as it was my turn to stand before him.

And stand I did. I just stood there. I couldn’t think of what to say. Perhaps for the first time in my life I was tongue tied. I just stood there looking at him with my hat in hand. Seconds went by that felt like weeks.

Finally, he said, “Would you like me to sign that?” And I just slowly nodded my head, handed him the hat and then walked away. No encouraging words spoken. No mention of his great work with young men. No acknowledgement that he had a terrific Christian testimony. I just walked away.

A few years later, a dad at Stoneybrooke heard my silly story. Come to fine out, he was personal friends with John and told him the story. They both had a serious laugh at my expense. But Coach ended up sending me all kinds of material that he personalized to me! I cherish those gifts.

Basketball season always provokes me to reconsider Coach Wooden’s many maxims. This week, let’s think about this one: “Be more concerned about your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”