A Snapshot Of What We Once Were and the Death of THE Role Model

As many long time readers are aware, I not only love baseball, but am a retired NCAA umpire, having worked from JC ball all the way to Division I. I also did post season, which is one of my fondest memories and best ever experiences in life — baseball or not. I bring this up today as I was saddened at the depth of our loss yesterday of John Wooden, who, in my humble opinion was the best coach in American history, regardless of sport or amateur/pro status.

Yet what made him such a priceless American treasure was his value to our youth, as they transitioned from young adults playing kids’ games to adult leaders in American culture at large. When Coach Wooden entered a room full of ‘Hall of Fame’ coaches, whether limited to basketball or not, all attention was redirected to him. He was not only the most respected coach of the last century, but very possibly the most universally respected man in the sports world.

His first year of coaching was his only losing season — ever. Yet he never talked about the importance of winning to his players. He taught teamwork, pride in quality, industriousness, excellence, and most of all, humility. Among the coaching elite, he was THE giant among giants, the gold standard.

Compare what he taught to the current behavior we all see in today’s sports world. It’s nauseating to be kind. It’s all about ‘look at me’. Maybe the best (worst?) example is Major League Baseball umpires. It wasn’t long ago that they literally rewrote the rulebook as it related to the strike zone. By the time they were done with it, some shoeboxes were bigger. It was a travesty. My first few years umping college ball I was forced to call it. Pretty much anything above the belt, surely nothing higher than the bellybutton, was a ball! No wonder there was such a long stretch where hitters dominated — even taking steroids into account.

Open arrogance shown by MLB umpires and the undisguised contempt with which they treated not only players, coaches, and managers on the field, but their own employers, was an ignominious disgrace. In fact, when they overplayed their hand in a workplace dispute by offering their resignations in mass, management accepted many of them. The public’s reaction was almost unanimous, as they applauded the virtual firing of the most egregiously arrogant offenders.

Fast forward to the present.

Umpires were appropriately chastened, and came back happy to be employed, behaving like umpires should. That behavioral change was all too brief, as the Joe West’s of the umpire world took over leadership, proving not to have learned the lesson previously taught. A case in point is the shameful story of Joe West and the White Sox about a week ago. Joe made a couple calls against a pitcher, threw the pitcher out, then threw the manager out for daring to object in public to Emperor West’s edict.

Don’t get me wrong, players/managers/coaches aren’t all angels. Many are as bad as some of the umps. The point here is that if they’d operated under the principles taught for decades by Coach Wooden to his players, baseball would be a far better game than it is today. For instance…

Contrast some of the umpires’/teams’ abhorrent behavior to what just happened the other day in the Tiger/Indian game in Detroit. 1st base umpire JIm Joyce literally cost Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game with his clearly blown call — on a play that would’ve been the last out.

How rare are perfect games? In an estimated (mine) 240,000 games over the last 125 years or so, including regular/post season, there have been just 20 of ‘em. They’re rare as hen’s teeth. The reaction of the aggrieved pitcher? He smiled. No jumpin’ up and down pointin’ to the bag, throwing a tantrum. He smiled. That’s what Wooden taught — Excellence, Grace, Humility, and Class.

Jim Joyce, the umpire? Though the video replay clearly showed him to be wrong, by over half a step, he genuinely thought he got it right. Then he saw the replay. He was devastated. He immediately took full responsibility for his mistake. He said it was the worst call of his career, and he felt horrible for Galarraga. As Joyce put it, “I just cost that kid a perfect game…”

Joyce then sought and gained permission to enter the Tigers’ locker room, an act I’ve never heard of before, and offered his sincerest apology to Galaragga in person. Galaragga was very touched by this courageous act, and basically told Joyce he was human, and that was that.

Tiger manager JIm Leyland, a classy guy, pretty much echoed his pitcher’s sentiments in post game interviews with the press. Then he really showed what leadership was the next game, which was yesterday.

As luck would have it, the natural rotation of umpiring teams had Joyce behind the dish Friday, calling balls and strikes. The commissioner’s office offered Joyce the option of taking the day off — an option he flatly refused. How’s that for character. Coach Wooden would’ve been proud.

Anyhow, instead of following normal pre-game procedure, which requires team managers to bring lineup cards to home plate, Manager Leyland sent Armando Galarraga himself up with the card. What an incredibly generous act. Joyce was so touched by the kindness he was seen wiping tears.

Sadly, that story, though reminiscent of times past, is anomalous in today’s sports world. It showed strength of character, humility, respect for authority, class, and great compassion from all sides.

I wonder what Joe West and his ilk thought of it as it played out? Not much, I suspect.

All this to underline what Coach Wooden taught several generations of young adults. He lived as a giant among men, and died as a humble servant, never wanting the spotlight of fame or glory focused his way.

If ever there was a sports figure we should hold up as an example of how to live life, Coach Wooden was that man. His life was a monument to all that he taught and held dear. His legacy is one of love, strength of character, humility, and rock-ribbed integrity.

We could all do well to emulate him.

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