THE JOURNALS

>>> GENUINE CONCERN

There are so many positives about our profession and so many examples, too many to count, of coaches that have done so much for their fellow coaches, their respective schools and their communities.

Take one negative incident that happened in the past six months and I will give you a hundred positives that never saw the light of day of television or print.


>>> A LOT OF CLASS

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to meet a lot of very good people in the coaching profession. But unfortunately, I have never had the pleasure of meeting coach Jim Phelan. Like so many people, I have admired him from afar, but our paths have never crossed.

Those who know him well, speak very highly of his abilities as a coach. Those same voices also exude pure pleasure when speaking of Jim Phelan, the person. By all accounts, coach Phelan is a gentleman who -- throughout his 49 years as coach -- has done everything with a lot of class.


>>> LEFTY

Since his recent retirement, there have been some wonderful features and accounts of the coaching career of Charles "Lefty" Driesell. Some have focused on his 786 wins, taking four different schools to the NCAA tournament or his invention of "midnight madness."

Each is a part of what Lefty Driesell was as a coach, but there is one thing that comes to mind when summing up the coach and the man. He is genuine.

>>> A COACH AND A GENTLEMAN

When I arrived at Iowa, prior to the start of the 1974-75 season, coach Taylor was putting the finishing touches on his marvelous coaching career. His achievements on the basketball court are well documented, but as great of a coach as he was, he was an even better person.

>>> GOD BLESS AMERICA

As Americans, it is beyond our comprehension how people can give their own lives to take the lives of countless others. Life is a precious commodity in our society. We all view every day as being so precious, which makes it even more difficult to comprehend such an act of terror.

Many comparisons have been made to the events of 60 years ago when Pearl Harbor was attacked killing thousands of Americans. On December 7, 1941 we knew our attackers and the nation rallied for the cause.