Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

False Expectations

When Sports Illustrated came out with its poll each year saying UCLA was going to be number one in the nation again, what did it mean?

I told our players to remember that that poll was just somebody else’s opinion, their guess. Sports Illustrated doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the future, and if you let yourself believe it, you’re in trouble because you will have false expectations.

The so-called experts are basing their opinion on the past, and if you try getting by on that, you’re in trouble. Yesterday’s gone. It’ll never change. What you do today will determine what’s going to happen tomorrow, not what you did yesterday; certainly not a poll—somebody else’s guess about what’s going to happen tomorrow.

Here’s the ...