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Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
There was only one Lombardi, but John Wooden comes close
The sports world mourns the loss of one of the greatest coaches, period, in John Wooden. The Wizard of Westwood built a college basketball dynasty at UCLA with a motivational style that stressed success on the court and in preparation for life.
The New York Times has published a marvelous piece about this great man. Here are a few interesting excerpts:
"Wooden was a dignified, scholarly man who spoke with the precise language of the English teacher he once was. He always carried a piece of paper with a message from his father that read:
'Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day'."
"At the start of (Bill) Walton’s senior season, in 1973, his U.C.L.A. teams had won 75 consecutive games and 2 N.C.A.A. titles. But when Wooden walked into the locker room before the first practice and saw Walton’s just-trimmed but still long hair, he said: "Bill, that’s not short enough. We’re sure going to miss you on this team. Get on out of here.' Walton jumped onto his bicycle, raced back to the barber shop where his hair had been trimmed the day before, got his head almost shaved and rode back. He made the last half-hour of practice."
"During the Vietnam War era, Wooden’s young players, including Walton, asked permission to stage an antiwar protest. 'He asked us if this reflected our convictions,' one player, Steve Patterson, told Sports Illustrated in 1989, 'and we told him it did. He told us he had his convictions, too, and if we missed practice it would be the end of our careers at U.C.L.A'."
"(Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar recalled, 'Coach Wooden enjoyed winning, but he did not put winning above everything. He was more concerned that we became successful as human beings, that we earned our degrees, that we learned to make the right choices as adults and as parents'."
Read the entire piece here.
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