He Was Shut Down During, and After, Game

Joe B. Hall, the former Kentucky coach, and Denny Crum, the former Louisville coach, began doing a radio show for three Kentucky stations this week, and John Wooden was one of their first guests.

According to C. Ray Hall of the Louisville Courier-Journal, Joe B. Hall brought up a story about former Kentucky player Kevin Grevey’s encountering Wooden on an airplane not long after UCLA had defeated the Wildcats in the 1975 NCAA championship game.

The way Hall remembered it, Grevey suggested that Wooden’s decision to retire had motivated the Bruins, and Wooden replied that if Grevey had played defense the Wildcats would have won.

Wooden’s reply, as he recalled it, was: “Now, Kevin, if you have to do something like that [retire] to get your team ready to play better in a championship game, you’d never be in a championship game to begin with.�

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Trivia time: In 1977, the second season after Wooden’s retirement, UCLA was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by what team?

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Foul mood: Assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr.’s infamous test suggests Georgia doesn’t have the smartest players in the world, and here’s more evidence.

Associated Press reported that the Bulldogs, in their 82-74 loss to Iowa State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night, kept fouling even after it was evident they were going to lose.

The crowd at Ames, Iowa, booed, and Iowa State’s Will Blalock, frustrated at being fouled with two seconds left, threw up a high-arcing shot on his second free-throw attempt.

The amazing thing was, the ball swished through the net, providing a fitting ending to Georgia’s season.

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Lofty goal: From Channel 9’s Alan Massengale: “Dodger co-owner Jamie McCourt says the team should draw 4 million fans to Dodger Stadium. That’s 50,000 a game. To do that, they would need to be one of the best teams ever. Oops, there went that idea.�

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Wigging out: The Detroit Pistons are going for a record in their home game against Denver tonight. The team will pass out 5,000 red, white and blue wigs to fans 14 and under, while others are also encouraged to bring wigs. According to the Guinness book of world records, the most wig wearers in one place was 5,574 at a rugby match in Australia last year.

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That certain look: TNT’s Doug Collins, on San Antonio Spur Coach Gregg Popovich: “He has that look that says, ‘I don’t know whether to smile, I don’t know whether to cry.’ �

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Looking back: On this date in 1956, the Minneapolis Lakers, in a playoff game, defeated the St. Louis Hawks, 133-75, which is the biggest rout in NBA playoff history.

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Trivia answer: Idaho State.

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And finally: Reader Jeff Seitz of Corona, responding to an item suggesting that Terrell Owens could have been called a “Raven lunatic� had he stayed with Baltimore, offers this nickname: “Eagle maniac.�

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].