Touchy Topic
Here's a question that would require a book to answer.
Q: I know your job isn't following the Bruins but I figured you had some insight into Sam Gilbert and his "involvement" with their program. Are any of his actions what you may call questionable and how does it compare to some of the individuals that seem to be circling the USC programs.
A: Thanks to covering Henry Bibby (former UCLA basketball player) for eight years and college basketball in general, there are some outlandish stories I've heard and that are well-known in college basketball circles about what those players received, where they lived, services provided, etc.
I don't really know anyone in basketball (coaches, players of that era) who disputes a lot went on in that ``golden'' era. I know a former Pac-10 coach who said he could write a book one day on all the stuff he knows that went on, but is waiting because right now it is not considered politically correct to do so.
Those were days when a lot more stuff could happen without ESPN, etc., around to investigate.
Thanks Scott
You're right ESPN wasn't around, but the L.A. Times and the NCAA were around and investigated Sam Gilbert thoroughly. UCLA was stripped of a Final Four and forced to disassociate with Gilbert.
But whatever, you guys keep praying for that book. I'm sure the NCAA will be more sympathetic to this Mayo/Bush/USC fiasco because a 35-year-old Gilbert rumor gets printed that begins with "According to Jerry Tarkanian..." Yup, this is your way out of the ****storm. LOL!!
You can bet that when Wooden eventually passes on, all this stuff will be brought out again. Maybe not immediately, but I'm sure there are those who have been waiting to put it out there but know that they would be destroyed in the media if they did it when saint John is still alive.
As a Trojan I hope the stuff on the Wooden Era at UCLA is NEVER brought out. There are no heroes anymore. Everyone is picked apart so we can see their foibles, warts and faults. Wooden is a great man. Let his legacy go on. He has done so much good and this Trojan doesn't need to see his legacy destroyed to reap some benefit from it.
What Grover said but replace "Wooden" with "Carroll"
Wooden is "a great man"? Not. He is a fraud. He is a blatant liar and a cheater. In fact, the magnitude of his lying and cheating dwarfs anything Bush and Mayo ever dreamed of doing. If there is a hell, and lying is a sin, Wooden better be ready for REALLY hot weather.